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[blamebrampton]

On several topics:

* Fathers who could ... I so nearly managed to finish it last week, despite the ENTIRE UNIVERSE coming up with ridiculously stupid ways to delay me. But it's still not there, and I really will not have time to do it before I hand in my worldcup fic. I am sorry! And now to get cracking with said worldcup fic. Absolute deadline is March 15, so not that bad.

* The cat does have pneumonia. She has at least one and probably two months of antibiotics ahead of her, along with bronchiodilators, which will be reassessed in a fortnight to see if she gets a puffer. She must be sick, she put up with us dosing her with pills and paste. The vet says that he thinks it will all be well at the end of her travail.

* The peachicks down to one survivor, last I heard. Sorry.

* The peafowl farmer, it occurs to me, looks very much like Lucius Malfoy, especially the hair. But shiv5468 would not  want to associate with him, too broad an Australian accent and too great a tendency to tear apart walls in order to re-engineer.

* P.G. Wodehouse is one of those writers whose works you assume you know, because you read him many years ago, or because people quote him all the time, or because you are a great fan of Stephen Fry. I have spent all of February in a complete Wodehouse binge, and if you never listen to me on anything else, listen when I say: Read Wodehouse!

Two quotes to convince, both from Summer Lightning. In the preface (I apologise for the length, but couldn't bear to cut it):

A certain critic – for such men, I regret to say, do exist – made the nasty remark about my last novel that it contained 'all the old Wodehouse characters under different names'. He has probably now been eaten by bears, like the children who made mock of the prophet Elisha: but if he still survives he will not be able to make a similar charge against Summer Lightning. With my superior intelligence, I have outgeneralled the man this time by putting in all the old Wodehouse characters under the same names. Pretty silly it will make him feel, I rather fancy.

And then half-way through:

'Oh?' said Millicent dully. She had dropped into a chair and picked up a book. She looked like something that might have occurred to Ibsen in one of his less frivolous moments.

He really is as good as I remembered him being, which in my experience is very rarely the case.

* I am so far behind with my recs that I am declaring the month after Worldcup to be rec month, and I shall catch up!

I had more, but after a month of wheezy cat on end of bed and subsequent sleeplessness, I am too stupid to continue without a nap.

Comments

[calanthe-fics.livejournal.com]

You? Too stupid? Surely not.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Alas, frequently. But I have a large supply of diverting anecdote, so people only tend to notice when paying strict attention.

[who_la_hoop]

I think it's fair to say that anyone who doesn't like Wodehouse has no sense of humour. Wodehouse rocks so hard <3 You only need to mention the words "luminous rabbit" or "giant squirt" and I get the giggles :) I adore Bertie so very much.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

YES!!! YES!!!

Although I suspect I like Galahad most, he's tremendously disreputable. And you are right, Wodehouse should be given to people as a sort of test. If you laugh you are allowed out and about. If not, condemned to something officey with a cubicle.

On to the Code of the Woosters this morning, nearly died of holding in guffaws on train.

[who_la_hoop]

I love Galahad too - but I think my favourite of those books is Lord Emsworth himself. Seems I like the dopey characters the best :)

Code of the Woosters! The cow creamer! *dies* Good luck with the laughter-holding-in-ness. I find it impossible with Wooster. I prefer to think that my fellow train-riders are jealous of my excellent book when I break into laughter, rather than thinking me peculiar!

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Oh Emsworth is nothing short of joy! But I have just reread Summer Lightning and Gally is so lovely!

AND YES! But I try only to laugh on the afternoon train where I tend to have my own seat and people are not crammed cheek-to-jowl. The morning train is too close for personal expression.

[tnumfive.livejournal.com]

Sorry about your cat, that sounds terribly expensive. I took mine to the vet and she came out pretty easy. A week of antibiotics and she should be fine again. The vet said that the lump was from a fight with another cat (that I assume she lost). It actually burst Friday morning and was all oozy and gross through the weekend. She goes back next Monday to have it looked at one more time and to get her yearly boosters.

Poor peachicks.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

That's great news! Get well, kitty! It is expensive, but given that Min's total cost to date has been $3000, plus food, she's not been too ghastly. The whole of the vet bills can be mostly accounted for in two incidents. She is outraged that we are dosing her, but breathing more easily, I hope that your moggie is happier about her treatment!

[blindmouse.livejournal.com]

Wodehouse is marvellous, and I'm glad you're rediscovering him, old thing. I can't manage a binge of more than about four books at a time, because, sad to say, the critic-eaten-by-bears has the certain ghost of a point, and they do feel same-y after a while. But they are wonderful, and I love them with all my heart.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

When I read him the first time I discovered the trick was to move sets regularly, so one Wooster, one Ukridge, one Blandings, etc. In those days I thought Jeeves was his masterpiece. Now, much older, I find myself loving the Blandings novels more, though I am hardly any way into the opus, so perhaps I'll swing back and it is not an artefact of middle age ...

(And I already numbered you among Right Thinking People, an obvious PLU.)

[blindmouse.livejournal.com]

I first discovered him at the age of about thirteen, when I was a hopeless romantic (*cough*totallyoverthatphase*cough*), so my favourites were the stand-alones - Jill the Reckless, Sam the Sudden etc. I rediscovered him a few years back, though, when I realised that the university library had every single Wodehouse ever printed, and nearly passed out with pleasure. That was when I discovered most of the Ukridge and Blandings novels.

I still prefer the ones with a resolved love story, if only for the narrative satisfaction of shifting the status quo, but I don't think anybody could not love Bertie.

[lackofmendacity.livejournal.com]

Oh, your poor cat. :( And the poor peachicks too! *feels oddly hungry now* :/

Heheh, the quote had me chuckling madly, PG Wodehouse sounds hilarious indeed. ^_^

*hugs your busy self*

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

It's the exhaustion rather than the busy-ness that is hurting. Off for a nap when I finish this reply!

Cat is not deteriorating and didn't have a severe attack last night at all! And yes, poor peachicks. But they are really not that tasty! Although hugely better than swan ...

If you have no Wodehouse in your house or library, email me at my lj name @gmail.com with an address and I will arrange for one to come to your house, given that the local postage is reliable here.

[lackofmendacity.livejournal.com]

I am hopeful that my library shall not fail me, and there's always Borders. :) But thank you for the offer, I shall keep in mind you're a cunning stalker who seems to want my address. ;D

Yes, nap more, I say! *sprinkles sand on you* ^_^

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Slept through to midnight. Goodness!

Heh, my stalking would not be that cunning. But yeah, most good local libraries will have a supply.

[snottygrrl.livejournal.com]

[*takes a moment to love wodehouse all over again*]

alas for the cat, but not so much as for the peachicks and their rather short stint on the planet. cat will most likely hack her way better and be clawing you with your vain pill attempts in no time.

[*mourns slightly for lack of fathers, but totally understands*]

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry. There are thousands of words there and just four remaining scenes, but I really must do Worldcup first as the deadline is seriously looming.

The cat is considering smothering us in her sleep at the moment over the pills, though, happily, she quite likes the taste of the antibiotic paste. Strange cat ... she likes chilli and carrots, too.

Of course you love Wodehouse, you are a PLU!

[cordelia-james.livejournal.com]

I've never read a thing by Wodehouse, but I've been hearing quite a bit about him lately. Can you recommend something to start with?

[rocket62204.livejournal.com]

I second this! I'm curious to find out what all the fuss is for. ^.~

[themadpoker.livejournal.com]

Would love to hear a good starting point too. :)

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I'm going to have this on the page three times now, but better that than assuming you'll just look at the answer above ... Cordelia asks good questions. As I said to her:
Probably the best starting point is What Ho! The Best of P.G. Wodehouse with an introduction by Stephen Fry, pub Penguin, ISBN 0 14 029748 0

It's a good selection of scenes and shorts from across the novels and introduces all the major characters in settings that are both representative and appealling. There's also a fair wodge of his Hollywood stuff at the end. And Fry's introduction is hilarious.

If you just want to leap into a novel, it would be hard to go past Right Ho, Jeeves or Summer Lightning which are both full of archetypal moments and can be read by someone who has no idea who any of these characters are without stress.

Having said that, at some point you should put your hands on the Pengun Classics The Code of the Woosters, ISBN 0 14 118597 X, because the introduction by Joe Keenan is hysterically funny. You can probably inhale it in a bookshop over lunch without attracting too much attention. Unless you actually start sniffing ... inhale may not be the best choice of words ...

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Cordelia asks good questions. As I said to her:
Probably the best starting point is What Ho! The Best of P.G. Wodehouse with an introduction by Stephen Fry, pub Penguin, ISBN 0 14 029748 0

It's a good selection of scenes and shorts from across the novels and introduces all the major characters in settings that are both representative and appealling. There's also a fair wodge of his Hollywood stuff at the end. And Fry's introduction is hilarious.

If you just want to leap into a novel, it would be hard to go past Right Ho, Jeeves or Summer Lightning which are both full of archetypal moments and can be read by someone who has no idea who any of these characters are without stress.

Having said that, at some point you should put your hands on the Pengun Classics The Code of the Woosters, ISBN 0 14 118597 X, because the introduction by Joe Keenan is hysterically funny. You can probably inhale it in a bookshop over lunch without attracting too much attention. Unless you actually start sniffing ... inhale may not be the best choice of words ...

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Probably the best starting point is What Ho! The Best of P.G. Wodehouse with an introduction by Stephen Fry, pub Penguin, ISBN 0 14 029748 0

It's a good selection of scenes and shorts from across the novels and introduces all the major characters in settings that are both representative and appealling. There's also a fair wodge of his Hollywood stuff at the end. And Fry's introduction is hilarious.

If you just want to leap into a novel, it would be hard to go past Right Ho, Jeeves or Summer Lightning which are both full of archetypal moments and can be read by someone who has no idea who any of these characters are without stress.

Having said that, at some point you should put your hands on the Pengun Classics The Code of the Woosters, ISBN 0 14 118597 X, because the introduction by Joe Keenan is hysterically funny. You can probably inhale it in a bookshop over lunch without attracting too much attention. Unless you actually start sniffing ... inhale may not be the best choice of words ...

And that was a good question, I'll have to copy the answer twice since you;ve started a trend!

[cordelia-james.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'll be making a trip to the bookstore this weekend.