Why You Should Read P G Wodehouse - Shishira Muralidhara

Books are and have always been a portal to a whole new world of adventures. And I, for one, am always too keen to journey through a myriad of these portals. But of all the portals I’ve gone through, stories of PG Wodehouse have been one among the best. His creation of a world so different and so idyllist from ours has captured my attention.

Right place, wrong time

One such attention-grabbing quality is the situational humor throughout the books. Bertie and Jeeves’ adventures are an example to this series of unfortunate events. More often than not, Bertie Wooster finds himself in awkward situations. Often, these situations result in Bertie being unknowingly engaged to a girl, and who better to pull him out of this mess than his butler, Jeeves.

The Code of the Woosters was my very first book by Wodehouse, and by the time I was done, I knew I was hooked. It is a story in which Bertie’s uncle, Tom Travers, wants to buy an antique cow creamer, but instead loses it to another collector. Bertie is asked to steal this object from him, and the series of events that followed were so eccentric, I couldn’t stop laughing till the end. Every step of the way is so beautifully executed, and it just leaves me wanting more.

Characters full of quirks

In all his books, I believe that his characters are the most engaging, more so than the situation itself. Jeeves’ quick-wittedness and logical reasoning have left me wanting someone like him to help me through my mess. He is a character with few words, but a deep sense of loyalty to his employer. Bertie, on the other hand, is a young and rich gentleman, and a naïve character who often means well but ends up making the situation worse. Both characters with so much in contrast manage to keep me laughing till the end with their antics. They keep you interested with their personalities and their reaction to the environment. Each of them has their own quirks and yet somehow, through all this mess they get into, they manage to retain their gentleman and ladylike qualities. Unlike most novels where the villains often twirl their moustache, Mr. Wodehouse’s characters are very simple to the point where they fight amongst each other with subtle comments that not only adds to the humor but also makes us question their antagonistic status. Not to mention the kind of language used in each of his books. It is another aspect that makes it so humorous. The descriptions of people and places are unique, and the oddity of it simply makes me laugh harder.

The odd relatability

But of all the reasons why I love reading Wodehouse, it is the relatability of his characters that I find quite enjoyable. I see bits of them spread within my own family and it’s very amusing to read these stories and imagine the equally odd situations that I have seen my family in. It takes a great author like PG Wodehouse to keep his readers laughing from the beginning to the end. His ability to write humor and be successful at it is quite commendable. It is a difficult genre to write and I believe he is one of those few authors who has mastered the art of writing humor.

The world he has created is one that would never run out of date. It is a timeless classic that I can read and re-read a countless number of times and still laugh just as hard as the first.