One of my goals in 2021 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.
I had read most of Carry on Jeeves by PG Wodehouse on audio before. I was happy to pick up and read the entire book with my eyeballs.
When doddery Bertie Wooster loses his gentleman’s gentleman, he meets his match when he meets his new man, Jeeves. This collection includes some early adventures of the perfectly paired duo.
I had watched Jeeves and Wooster before I listened to the audio book of Carry on Jeeves. Then I read other books in the Jeeves and Wooster series, now I have read this book. So I have a pretty good handle on not only the characters, but these stories in particular. And yet there was still surprises when reading this book. I really liked reading physically although it did take me a few month to get all the way through. Partly, I think that was bc it’s very easy to read most of the Jeeves and Wooster books as a collection of short stories. They are more chapters, but can be read almost apart from each other. One might think that that makes it hard to get back into upon picking it up again, but the sill and easy style of these books and characters, makes it simple to fall back into almost immediately. There are a lot of people to keep track of in each book, but one gets into the flow quickly and easily. Perhaps you don’t remember each person every time, but Bertie often give a background on someone you might have forgotten. I love that many of these books are self referential. Carry On has the tale of Bertie and Jeeves first meeting and then jumps in time to the duo living in NYC to avoid the strict and disapproving eye of Aunt Agatha. I had listened to the audio book so many times but I did not realize that in the print edition there are two additional stories. The last story is told from Jeeves perspective and is unique in all of the J&W series, as far as I can tell. I greatly enjoy these stories and would highly recommend them to any J&W fans, those who like British humor, anyone who likes bumbling and silly characters, and those familiar with the TV show.
This book is featured in my Feb Wrap Up.