Carry On, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse
This is the second short story collection devoted entirely to Wodehouse’s famous characters Bertie Wooster, the wealthy, idle, single, not bright, young gentleman, and Jeeves, his patient, efficient, crafty valet or “Gentleman’s gentleman.”
The first collection of stories, The Inimitable Jeeves, was published in 1923 and included stories originally published in magazines from 1918 to 1922. That book revised the earlier stories somewhat to make them work as a quasi-novel with the through story of Bertie helping his friend Bingo Little settle on a girl and get married. This collection of ten stories published in 1925 includes four earlier stories that were originally published in magazines in 1916 and 1917 and published in book form, in a book called My Man Jeeves that also included four non-Jeeves and Wooster stories. There is also one even earlier story from 1915 titled “Extricating Young Gussie” published in 1917 with twelve other, non-Jeeves and Wooster stories in The Man With Two Left Feet.
The stories in this collection are not connected in a novelistic way but they do follow each other chronologically, with incidents building on each other and remembered from past stories.
The stories follow a similar pattern. Bertie or one of his friends gets into trouble. Jeeves is enlisted to help them out. Complications ensue. The situation seems to get worse, before, in the final page, Jeeves appears to have worked it all out. Some of the plot elements are lifted from one story to the next. Bertie is engaged but doesn’t want to be, or one of his friends is. Someone gets in trouble with the law for slugging a policeman. Bertie pretends to be someone he’s not, or someone pretends to live in Bertie’s flat in order to persuade a relative that he’s more successful than he is. Very often the final resolution depends on Jeeves having inside information received through a friend or relative on the staff in another household. Many stories continue a running joke of Bertie wanting to update his wardrobe in some flashy manner: purple socks, a red cummerbund, spats in school colors. Jeeves disapproves of any sartorial innovations. Bertie resolves to have his way, but at the end Bertie gives in, in gratitude to Jeeves’ service in getting him out of whatever rough spot he was in.
Most of the stories take place in London or the English countryside, but several are set in the Washington Square neighborhood of New York. One begins in Paris before returning to London. Wodehouse was raised in England but lived in New York during the first World War. He worked in Hollywood, unsuccessfully in the earlier 1930s. He moved permanently to the US after World War II and spent the rest of his life on Long Island.
All the stories are narrated by Bertie Wooster except for the last, “Bertie Changes His Mind” which is narrated by Jeeves. This story, unlike the others, doesn’t begin with Bertie confronting a problem and asking for help from Jeeves. Instead, it’s Jeeves having the problem. Bertie imagines it might be nice to buy a house and allow his sister and her three daughters to live with him. Jeeves grieves the perceived end of he and Wooster’s bachelor existence. Jeeves then arranges for Wooster to spend some time with actual young girls and convinces Wooster to change his mind. Obviously only Jeeves could narrate that story. But it doesn’t work as well as the other stories. I missed Bertie’s singular slangy narration. And I didn’t like Jeeves being shown to use actual lies and subterfuge to manipulate Bertie.
I won’t summarize all ten stories. Suffice to say I enjoyed the read. It’s quick. It’s funny. I believe I’ll read the third collection of short stories, Very Good, Jeeves, then take a break before I continue on to the novels.