I love PG Wodehouse. If it is one with Jeeves, then I’m in love with it before I even open the first page. This book is a collection of short stories, the first I’ve read by Wodehouse. And interestingly, the last story is one written from Jeeves’ POV (again, my first).
The plots of the stories are, of course, same as usual. Wooster or one of his friends gets in trouble, and Jeeves helps them out. But honestly, who reads PGW for their plot? The writing is what brings a smile to your face, time and time again, and Carry on Jeeves is no exception.
The character references to the Wooster family and friends are there and you get to know a lot of things – for example, how Jeeves came to be in Wooster’s employment, how Anatole (the famous cook) started working with Wooster’s aunt etc.
Many of the stories are set in New York. There is one where his aunt’s friend arrives from London with her socially inept son, whom she leaves in Bertie’s care. Needless to say, tragedy ensues and the son finds himself in jail.
In another Bertie helps his friend, a poet and recluse, who as most of these men in the stories, are dependent on their aunts and uncles for their sustenance. The aunt wants this man to experience New York to its fullest and send her detailed reports, but he likes to live a quiet life in the country. Jeeves comes to the rescue and helps by giving accounts of his experiences which the poet then details out. To their horror, the aunt decides to visit her nephew in New York and it is up to Bertie and Jeeves to bail the man out.
There is another where Bertie ‘helps’ a friend get over his bad mood by pinching a policeman’s helmet. The friend is then arrested and Bertie visits some family pretending to be this friend in order to save him from humiliation.
The stories continue in these very typical Wooster-Jeeves combo and are fun to read, though I must say, I prefer the novels.
Interesting set of 10 stories!