Still laughing

I follow one of the many book lovers groups that are on Facebook. The other day there was a request to find out what everyone was reading, my current read was P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and the feudal spirit. There was a swift response from another group-member, who loved Wodehouse, and wanted to know if this was a good one. My reply - "I don't think it's one of his best, but it's still very funny. Only about a third of the way through, though, so it could get even better."

As it turned out I was correct, as Jeeves and the feudal spirit got funnier and funnier. I adored it. It helped (though was certainly not essential) that I had previously read The code of the Woosters. Although you don't have to read this first, it really helps as many of the characters and incidents featured in Feudal spirit are related to the earlier book.

Bertie Wooster is in trouble when having dodged an engagement he finds himself re-engaged to the girl after she has a falling out with her current beau. Could life get any worse? Yes, it can, as Wooster's favourite aunt, Aunt Dahlia, in financial crisis, persuades Wooster to steal a necklace, only for Wooster to end up with someone else's pearls in his paws. Can Jeeves rescue Wooster from a woman and the police, sort out Aunt Dahlia's money troubles, and keep Anatole the cook in the family? Of course he can.

After an initial slow start the novel gallops along at the pace of a particularly good French farce. There are guffaws aplenty, some nimble thinking, some great Wodehousian sayings, and one scene that was re-used to great comic effect in Fawlty Towers. This is quality comic writing, Wodehouse at his superb best.

Reading these two novels back-to-back would be a great introduction to the wonderful mad world of P.G. Wodehouse. What ho, Jeeves?