The Monkey King's Used Primate Emporium and Book Reviews

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P.G. Wodehouse, �Summer Lightning�

Started December 28, 2003 � Finished Jan 1, 2004; 256 pages. Posted 08 January 2004

Last Christmas, in 2002, I was at my aunt�s house. One of my cousins, after getting a gift from me, ran into his room, reemerging with a small bag, which he presented to me. The bag contained this book. I knew it was more of a situation where he realized he hadn�t got me anything and grabbed something from his own shelf, but still — I had heard great things about Wodehouse.

One more author to read wouldn�t hurt — or perhaps it would. After all, Wodehouse wrote over 90 books in his lifetime. If it turned out to be something I liked, that could mean serious setbacks to my �To read� list.

So I put it off for a long time. Now, exactly a year later, I finally got around to reading it. This should give you an idea how far behind I am.

There�s an episode of The Young Ones where Neil�s parents come to visit. The parents start complaining about why their son has to appear in such a vulgar sitcom, and why can�t he star in something more uplifting — something like The Good Life. On cue, the theme music and title card for The Good Life begins, at least until Vyvian freaks the fuck out and rips apart the set screaming about how it�s all too bloody nice and he hates it.

That�s how I feel about this book. Wodehouse is working in the Uppity English mannered genre where everybody is pithy and oblique while misunderstanding each other; a high-class version of Three�s Company. And it�s all so bloody nice! By the time I was finished with this book, it was painfully obvious that all the problems would have been solved if one of these limey bastards had just popped somebody in the mouth.

Maybe the other 89 novels are better.

I�m not about to find out.


Rating: Worth popping somebody in the mouth over.

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