a fun and charming book! P, G. Wodehouse has a funny, witty style of writing, His characters are wonderfully detailed, and he manages this detail in only a few paragraphs, A great blend of comedy and real people,
The book itself is set in London and a nearby castle with neighboring town, Several characters, each with a unique charm that you can't help falling in love with, . . I'd say more about them, but it would give away too much,
Highly recommended!: Reading P, G. Wodehouse is like eating bread and jam: I always know what I am getting and I am always pleased, A Damsel in Distress is a very early novel by P, G. Wodehouse, so early it is astonishing that it gives no hint there ever
was a World War I, It contains only glimmers of the deft comedy that has made him such an enduring favorite, and it is less stylized and less uproarious.
That's not altogether to this A Damsel in Distress's detriment,
A successful young American composer of stage musicals, George Bevan, encounters by chance a beautiful English girl in London and falls instantly in love.
Lady Maud, however, is in love with another and her family has immured her in their castle to keep her from an unsuitable alliance.
Bevan, unaware of any previous attachment, tracks her down and lays siegean effort made difficult by the fact that she is not supposed to leave the property.
Various secondary figuresher whipped father, who wishes only to tend his garden her fat snob of a brother her arrogant aunt, and the aunt's devilmaycare stepson Reggie an American actress and a cast of ethically challenged servantsdip their fingers into this unlikely romance to complicating effect.
It is a setup for the kind of class comedy and romantic comedy that have made Wodehouse famous, but here the comedy is a little more rooted in real life than it is in his frothy later work.
Unlike Jeeves, the servants here are not more noble than those they serve, or even more intelligent, only sneakier, And the instalove experienced by the hero deepens into friendship and real affection based on the loved one's character, so that the pain he feels when things go awry is real pain.
Wodehouse had already grasped the essentials of his artwe find the trivial described in the language of heroic geste and real emotion reduced to slapstick by juxtaposition to the trivialbut there are fewer laughoutloud moments in this book.
For me, though, the imperfections in the wit opened up spaces for more genuine emotion, and I rather liked the more grounded humor that resulted.
A wee bit less on laughs from what you would expect from PGW but nonetheless has a great plot, Was great fun.
Rating: More like.stars. I chose this novel as it was the only one of themost often rated Wodehouse books on Goodreads that I hadnt read yet.
I entered the reading with some trepidation as it was a standalone written inand I usually prefer Wodehouse from abouttoand that are part of a series.
My trepidation was needless, I loved this one. I would read this book directly after first reading a more serious book, so it served as a wonderful dessert or much needed tonic.
Id start grinning after only a few paragraphs, and the grin only ceased when it broke into a snicker or guffaw,
This was a wellplanned novel, The plot is typical Wodehouse, shenanigans involving coupling at a country estate with an American protagonist, George, who is in London to observe the staging of his musical there.
George, as a composer for musicals and golf fanatic, is clearly someone close to Wodehouses heart,
Wodehouse is dialed in here as his comments seemed especially sharp, witty and fresh to me, possibly since this is written inand one of his first attempts at such a novel.
Other reviewers mention a preference for later Wodehouse works of a similar nature and felt he was still finding his way at this time.
That may be so, but I didnt feel it, I thought it was Wodehouse at a high level, I do agree that Georges love comes too quick and the heroine at times a nonheroic fatshamer, but these are minor trifles and not atypical of the Wodehouse world.
For some reason, this one just hit me the right way at the right time and, as a reward for its medicinal service, I will give it one of the fewstar ratings Ive assigned to theWodehouse books Ive read.
It hit the spot.
"Trouble sharpens the vision, In our moments of distress we can see clearly that what is wrong with this world of ours is the fact that Misery loves company and seldom gets it.
"
An enjoyable standalone comedy by the creator of Jeeves, The plot is madcap and convoluted, Enjoyable, if lightweight fare.
“'Whats all this' A vast policeman had materialized from nowhere, "
Lampooning English nobility as a matter of course, Wodehouse inserts an American hero, who may be slightly autobiographical, One character bears a striking resemblance to Bertie Wooster,
“Between ourselves, laddie, and meaning no disrespect to the dear soul, when the mater is moved and begins to talk, she uses up most of the language.
” “Outspoken, is she” “I should hate to meet the person who could outspeak her, ”
As with all the Wodehouse I have yet encountered, I enjoyed this immensely, Some of my favourite scenes were those surrounding the Lord Marshmoreton, who reminded me of a more lucid Lord Emsworth, Despite the noblesse of the lead characters, this book gives a lot of screen time to the working class characters unlike the Jeeves books, whosestperson narration rather precludes this, and Something Fresh, which deals primarily with the affairs of the lower orders from the very beginning.
When Maud Marsh flings herself into George Bevans cab in Piccadilly, he starts believing in damsels in distress, George traces his mysterious traveling companion to Belpher Castle, home of Lord Marshmoreton, where things become severely muddled, Mauds aunt, Lady Caroline Byng, wants Maud to marry Reggie, her stepson, Maud, meanwhile, is known to be in love with an unknown American she met in Wales, So when George turns up speaking American, a nasty case of mistaken identity breaks out, In fact, the scene is set for the perfect Wodehouse comedy of errors, "For a year she had prayed that Geoffrey might be given back to her, and the Gods had heard her prayer, They had given her back Geoffrey, and with a careless generosity they had given her twice as much of him as she had expected.
"
"She was oppressed by the eternal melancholy miracle of the fat man who does not realise that he's become fat.
"
"The hunt had been in progress full ten minutes before she and Lord Belpher finally cornered the poor wretch, that was Lord Marshmoreton.
"
"Lord Marshmoreton: As if there weren't better things to do with one's time than writing all day about my infernal fools of ancestors.
"
"Percy felt for his complaisant friend something of the annoyance which a householder feels for the watchdog whom he finds fraternizing with the burglar.
"
Need I say more, Loved it!! I've read most of Wodehouse's books, All of them, for the most part, are excellent, He has a genius for comic dialogue, as well as impossibly ridiculous plots that somehow manage to be deliciously fantastic, Anyway, A Damsel in Distress is one of his better books, in my opinion, The main character, George Bevan, has a kind of appealing Everyman quality, regardless of his fortune and accomplishments, He's a downtoearth, comedy straightman, with a humble, genuine heart, He makes for an immensely satisfying main character, Maude is the perfect motivational foil,
The book is also chockfull of amazing side characters: the Earl, Maude's fathead brother, Alfred the page, the butler, etc.
The further one reads, the richer they become and the more they add to the main plot,
Damsel is one of those books that you can read multiple times, It's definitely a keeper. I recommend owning a copy,
However, humor is rather an odd and subjective thing, If you are more in tune with modern American humor, whether it be David Sedaris, SNL or your standard Adam Sandler/Judd Apatow film humor, you very well might not like this book.
Wodehouse's humor, while over the top in many ways, is definitely a lot drier than the American counterparts,.stars. What a delightful romp! I love Wodehouse anytime, but this first read of one of his earlier titles was a real treat read with the Retro Reads group, it was perfect pandemic reading and listening the Audible was delightful.
So far, Ive been a huge Jeeves and Wooster fan, and dabbled in a few visits to Blandings Castle this farcical and funny earlier outing features American songwriter George Bevan, gardening enthusiast Lord Marshmorton, his daughter Maud, and his priggish son Percy.
George and Maud meetcute in London very funny scene early on, as Maud is trying to escape her bossy, prying brother and meet up with her true love.
Percy and Aunt Caroline the snobbish battle axe, tough older lady character known and beloved by all Wodehouse fans, dont approve of Mauds choice, but George instantly falls in love and follows Maud down to Belpher Castle.
What follows, of course, is a farcical and fun early comedy with devious servants, nosy relatives and friends, and true love triumphing over all!
What fun not quite up to the later gold standard of the Jeeves and Wooster outings my personal favorites but the wit, charm and sheer fun are there in abundance! Recommended as The Times of London said on my books dust jacket, “A brilliantly funny writer perhaps the most consistently funny the English language has yet produced.
” My son has long sung the praises of P, G. Wodehouse and encouraged me to read more of him, It has been years since I picked up a book of his, and can't imagine what I was thinking, waiting so long.
Wodehouse is charming, witty, and an absolute master of description, Just one example:
Such a one, in George's opinion, was this gurgling excrescence underneath the silk hat, He comprised in his single person practically all the qualities which George disliked most, He was, for a young man, extraordinarily obese, Already a second edition of his chin had been published, and the perfectlycut morning coat which encased his upper section bulged out in an opulent semicircle.Ah, so lovely, and so very British,
He wore a little moustache, which to George's prejudiced eye seemed more a complaint than a moustache, His face was red, his manner dictatorial, and he was touched in the wind, Take him for all in all he looked like a bit of bad news,
Because his books are so determinedly lighthearted, it is easy to dismiss Wodehouse as merely a comic writer, But this is to entirely ignore the fact that he is a master of language and plotting, and takes one from an absurdity to a silliness with adroitness and skill.
And what a plot! There is intrigue and mystery, love lost and regained, and a hilarious trip for one character through a roadside ditch.
Highly recommended! Always a delight, I enjoyed this a lotI think I was in the perfect mood for it, It's got humor and heart, and I loved the protoBertie Wooster elements, Unfortunately, it's one of those books where I instantly forget the names of the characters except George and Maud, so I can't remember the name.
. . Reggie, I think of the very funny young man who needed to get out from under his stepmother's thumb, I was also rooting for .
And that's about it, I got this through Gutenberg, but I think I'll have to track down a physical copy, It's not a strong romanceI can think of how easy it would be to fix thatbut it was still satisfying, .