Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves
by P. G. Wodehouse
read by Jonathan Cecil
BBC Audiobooks America, 1992. 5 hours, 11 minutes, on 5 CDs.
Starred Review
There’s nothing like a P. G. Wodehouse audiobook to make a long drive seem short! I so love his understated humor, Bertie Wooster’s way of speaking and outrageous similes. And Jeeves! Always, he saves the day.
P. G. Wodehouse books remind me of a Seinfeld episode. Several different threads all get entwined together, and at the end, Jeeves works them all out. And you laugh hard along the way.
I have lost track of which Jeeves and Wooster books I have read and which I haven’t, and on top of that, I’ve watched the wonderful Jeeves and Wooster BBC video series. So I was very happy when it turned out that this book comes after the events in the series, and I’d never read it before. I was familiar with all the characters, but this was further adventures, with Bertie going back to Totleigh Towers, because it looks like the marriage of Gussie Fink-Nottle and Madeleine Basset is in jeopardy — and Bertie knows that if that happens, Madeleine will insist on marrying him. And at the same time, Stephanie Bing has a little job she wants Bertie to do for her, which can never be good.
All the same characters are there from Bertie’s previous narrow escape from Madeleine Basset, but he’s in an entirely fresh fix.
Of course, Shakespearean actor Jonathan Cecil reading this book is the only thing that could make it even better than the print version. This audiobook is an absolute delight.
Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/stiff_upper_lip_jeeves.html
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Source: This review is based on a library audiobook from Fairfax County Public Library.
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