More Jeeves

I’ve got to say, I am really enjoying Wodehouse’s Jeeves stories. They are each a gorgeous English comedy of manners where the silly Bertie Wooster has to be rescued by his loyal (and far cleverer) butler, Jeeves.

In Joy in the Morning, it is (again) an unwanted romantic entanglement that Bertie is trying to extricate himself from, whilst helping some good friends get the permission of the formidable Uncle Percy for marriage – the very same Uncle who makes him shiver in his boots.

In this story, the incredible intelligence and insight of Jeeves was recognised by more characters, as even lords requested his counsel. Very cool. This nearly matches the coolness of listening to this on CD, and hearing the crisp British accents. Mwah!

The Riders

This isn’t my first foray into Winton, I’m a fan of some of his short stories, and really loved the strangeness of Cloudstreet. There were these gorgeous chapters from the perspective of a boy with a mental disability.

The Riders is much more mainstream – and probably the most commercial and well-known of his works. Fred Scully is fixing up an old place in the Irish countryside, awaiting the arrival of his wife Jennifer and daughter Billie who are selling their house in Fremantle. They have been travelling around Europe for years – Greece, London, Paris… Scully is looking forward to settling down, but when he goes to the airport to pick up his family… Billie emerges from the plane alone. She is clearly traumatised, and takes days to speak to Scully, who is frantically trying to figure out what happened to his wife.

What follows is an Odyssey throughout Europe, with Scully trying to re-visit the towns of his past – not only to look for physical signs of Jennifer, but also metaphorically to re-visit those places for clues as to what lead her to leave him.

It is frantically paced, and includes interesting characters. Scully, described as a man who looks like a serial killer, is surprisingly gentle. He has been the main caregiver to Billie for years and is a man who can do “womanly things” such as cooking, cleaning etc. Yet he drags poor Billie around, obsessed with finding his wife. Ironically it is Billie who understands Jennifer more, and who longs for Scully to give up his search and accept that nothing will be the same again. The roles are gradually reversed as Scully’s desperation leads him to drink, and Billie is left picking up the pieces.

It is the emphasis and greater understanding of their love that pulls the novel together. I didn’t find it as riveting as the quotes on the front cover, it was interesting and a worthwhile read.

Send Kerouac back On The Road

This book – although on my list due to it’s cult status – was definitely not my cup of tea. It is semi-autobiographical and unfortunately reads more like non-fiction than fiction. The cast of characters, some of whom are based on prominent figures of the time, are all in love with the idea of going out on the road, and leading a kind of baseless, wandering life, going from town to town and woman to woman. I simply found it difficult to relate to any of the characters. I would not have even finished it if it had not been so short. I would be interested to hear from anyone who would like to passionately argue the case.

On a Pale Horse

This book was a recommendation from one of my new students, and I thought it was only fair to try to read something that they recommended to me, before I make recommendations for them.

Written by Piers Anthony, On a Pale Horse begins with Zane – a man who is down on his luck. Being broke brings out the worst aspects of his personality. He trades a blossoming romance for a wealth stone, which works dismally. In utter desolation, Zane picks up a gun and points it at his own head. Then everything slows down and as the black-caped death approaches, Zane turns the gun onto him. Having killed death, Zane must thus take his office.

While it seems to Zane like a strange twist of fate, it soon becomes apparent that his becoming death has been orchestrated by the highest powers. Zane is to become an important player in the destiny of the planet.

The book is full of personified forces – death, fate, time, war and nature. Not to mention God and Satan.

It took me a while to get into this, but the storyline is rather intriguing and Zane is an interesting character who develops and changes throughout the novel. In the (rather long) author’s note, Anthony has some interesting things to say about how the novel is a comment on life, death and the status of the soul. In several places the novel discusses how good deeds can also be sins, whereas doing nothing to stop evil can sometimes keep your soul clean.

It is the start of a series of you are interested in getting into it, each of which deals with a different personified force (called "Incarnations"). Here is a link to some info on the other books:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_A_Pale_Horse

Chuzzlewitt v. Copperfield

I have been re-reading quite a lot of books for work these holidays, but have also managed to ingest a bit of Dickens in a variety of ways. David Copperfield is apparently the most autobiographical of Dickens’ novels, and thus I find it interesting that much of the plot goes on around David, who takes on more of a spectator role to what is going on around him. Of course, many of Dickens’ concerns about the social classes in his England, and the prison system are certainly reflected (largely through Wilkins Micawber), however the novel certainly lacks the fascination of Great Expectations.

Martin Chuzzlewitt has more plot, although the concerns may not resound as well with modern readers. There are two characters in the novel by this name – a rich grandfather and his namesake. The elder Martin Chuzzlewitt is convinced that his wealth means that everyone around him is only after his money. So, he adopts Mary, an orphan girl and trains her to be his nurse in his old age. He promises her he will look after her while he is alive, but will leave her nothing upon his death. Thus, he ensures that she will work to keep him alive. However, when the younger Martin falls in love with Mary, his plans are ruined. If they marry, she will inherit upon his death.

Young Martin defies his grandfather and sets out to make it on his own. This involves a disastrous trip to America (showing Dickens’ distaste for the place) which nearly kills him and his companion – a man who is so good –natured, he puts himself into dire straits to see whether he can keep it up. The younger Martin returns penitent and apologises to his grandfather for his arrogance.

Interestingly, the elder Martin had planned the match all the time, and had actually been helping Young Martin all along.

One of the best characters is the odd little Pinch, a truly good-natured and kind man. Poor Pinch falls in love with Mary, who of course marries Martin in the end. But this only serves to make us like him more.

Obviously I was also attracted to this particular story due to its association with The Eyre Affair - I just had to see what Fforde was on about!

Anyway, I will report on more Dickens when I have time.