The third book in the Blandings Castle series (following Something Fresh and Leave it to Psmith)and one senses that PGW is really getting into his stride. The old favourites are back: The vague but affable Earl of Emsworth, his sister Constance, his erstwhile secretary the Efficient Baxter, the butler, Beech, and two sets of young lovers whose hopes and thwarted dreams provide the motivation for abduction of the Empress of Blandings, a potentially prize-winning pig. Add to the mix that Emsworth's brother Galahad has decided to write his memoirs, which seem likely to libel half the aristocracy, and the inevitable imposter and the stage is set for another classic Wodehouse farce.
As usual the playful prose delights.
Selected quotes:
- "It was that gracious hour of a summer afternoon, midway between luncheon and tea, when Nature seems to unbutton its waistcoat and put its feet up." (1.1)
- "the bullfinch ... continued to chirp reflectively to itself, like a man trying to remember a tune in his bath" (3.4)
- "In moments of stress, the foolish question is always the one that comes uppermost in the mind." (6.1)
- "The only man who was ever thrown out of the Cafe de l'Europe for trying to raise the price of a bottle of champagne by raffling his trousers at the main bar." (7.2)
- "Every day you seem to know less and less about more and more." (8.1)
- "He was oppressed by a feeling that he had gone considerably farther than was prudent. Samson, as he heard the pillars of the temple begin to crack, must have felt the same. Gestures are all very well while the intoxication lasts. The trouble is that it lasts such a very little while." (13.1)
- "It was not that he had any objection to Millicent as a wife. He had none whatsoever - provided she were somebody else's wife." (13.1)
The usual joy to read.
Other books by P G Wodehouse reviewed in this blog can be found here.
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