"To compensate a little for the treachery and weakness of my memory, so extreme that it has happened to me more than once to pick up again, as recent and unknown to me, books which I had read carefully a few years before . . . I have adopted the habit for some time now of adding at the end of each book . . . the time I finished reading it and the judgment I have derived of it as a whole, so that this may represent to me at least the sense and general idea I had conceived of the author in reading it." (Montaigne, Book II, Essay 10 (publ. 1580))

Monday, November 02, 2015

The Code of the Woosters (PG Wodehouse, 1938)

I keep seeing the most positive reviews of Wodehouse, but so far haven't been moved to read his works.

While I don't expect to spend a lot of time with Wodehouse - I will say that this book was thoroughly enjoyable, and I can really see why he is popular.  Incredible skill in telling the stories here.

Main characters:  Bertie Wooster and his (marvelous) valet, Jeeves.  They run into all sorts of difficulties and - primarily through Jeeves's ingenuity - come out on top.

The author's facility with the English language was consistently pleasurable if not amazing.  I read a lot, and don't run into this kind of thing.  Constantly expecting him to say something other than what appears on the page.  Nice.
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