more jeeves
Wednesday, 26 March 2008
For those interested in reading from the Jeeves & Wooster sagas by P.G. Wodehouse and are curious about the order, I've compiled a list here based on a couple found on Wikipedia.
There are 39 short stories and 11 novels :
: The Man With Two Left Feet (1917 - 13 short stories, only Extricating Young Gussie features for the first time Jeeves, Bertie and Aunt Agatha)
: My Man Jeeves (1919 - 8 short stories, 4 about Jeeves, 4 about Reggie Pepper)
: The Inimitable Jeeves (1923 - US title: Jeeves - 11 short stories related to each other)
: Carry On, Jeeves (1925 - 10 short stories, 5 repeated in some form from My Man Jeeves)
: Very Good, Jeeves (1930 - 11 short stories)
: Thank You, Jeeves (1934 - first full length novel)
: Right Ho, Jeeves (1934 - US title: Brinkley Manor)
: The Code of the Woosters (1938)
: Joy in the Morning (1946 - US title: Jeeves in the Morning)
: The Mating Season (1949)
: Ring for Jeeves (1953 - US title: The Return of Jeeves)
: Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit (1954 - US title: Bertie Wooster Sees Through It)
: A Few Quick Ones (1959 - 10 short stories, only Jeeves Makes an Omelette features Jeeves, a retelling of a Reggie Pepper story originally told in My Man Jeeves)
: Jeeves in the Offing (1960 - US title: How Right You Are, Jeeves)
: Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves (1963)
: Plum Pie (1966 - 9 short stories, only Jeeves and the Greasy Bird features Jeeves)
: Much Obliged, Jeeves (1971 - US title: Jeeves and the Tie That Binds)
: Aunts Aren't Gentleman (1974 - US title: The Cat-nappers)
To really confuse everyone there are several omnibuses out there that seem to collect the stories in different ways. Either in collections of short stories, the best of or the stories are collected by location; i.e. Life at Blandings only contains stories that take place at Blandings. From this I really get the feeling that the stories can be enjoyed in any order. Hope this helps anyone who was interested in taking up a Jeevesian novel. And don't forget Wodehouse wrote several other novels, short stories and series. For the entire list click here.
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Labels: book
posted by Ashleigh @ 12:12,
2 Comments:
- At 27 March 2008 at 01:41, Danielle said...
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I had not thought of reading any of his short stories--what a good idea. I'm going to see what my library has on hand tomorrow. Thanks for putting together the list--I'll print that out as well. What's confusing (aside from there being so many books and some related and some not) is the alternate titles. Why do they change titles here in the US rather than keeping the original? I have a feeling he's an author I'd really like!
- At 27 March 2008 at 09:00, Ashleigh said...
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I'm not sure why they changed the titles. I think the originals were perfectly fine. I don't like when they change the title of book either to match the movie that's just been made. For example yesterday I was looking for a copy of Schindler's Ark and the lady kept telling me that they didn't have a copy and I had just checked under the author's name and knew they did. Turns out the book had been republished as Schindler's List after the movie was made. (and darnit the book was in transit anyway) There's a reason why an author chooses a certain title, and it may not sound like the best title in the world but publishers should just leave it alone.
You're welcome for the list. I want to pick up another Jeeves novel or collection of short stories soon. I like their humor and they remind me a bit of Waugh.