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From Blackbird Spyplane: There’s too much T.V. and so much drama!! Enter “Wodehouse Summer,” baby.
The “Seinfeld” of books??
P.G. Wodehouse books are a perfect bridge out of “t.v. brain” because they are kind of like the Seinfeld of books: They revolve around a few core heroes and recurring side-characters, all of whom have extremely frivolous concerns, manias and problems that they take extremely seriously, which lead them into all manner of low-stakes capers and jams … but instead of ‘90s-era NYC they hang out at private clubs in ‘20s and ‘30s-era London / cool manors in the British countryside.
When you pick up a Wodehouse joint — such as Joy in the Morning or Summer Lightning, two of our favorites — U R rocking with a master. He writes sublime sentences, each one carefully constructed to be as un-boring as possible. On a word-to-word level, no English-language author surpasses him for craft, rhythm, or ear.
A huge part of the delight of reading Wodehouse is submitting yourself to his zigging, zagging clauses, like you are a feather caught in a series of updrafts, wondering, as you float, how he is going to stick the landing — which he always does, in surprising & unpredictable ways.
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