PG Wodehouse secures redemption as British Library acquires priceless archive

Re:PG Wodehouse secures redemption as British Library acquir... by wyclif on Friday December 09, 2016 @11:13AM (#13139558)

One of the greatest writers, even beyond considerations of humour. Reading PGW for reasons other the pleasure is probably misguided, but if you want to improve your English prose there is gold in those pages. This possibly explains his enduring popularity in India.

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Re:PG Wodehouse secures redemption as British Library acquir... by luckydude on Friday December 09, 2016 @11:48AM (#13139826)

There are some authors where you can read their work only once, it's just not fun the second time around. Wodehouse is the opposite of that, the way he strings words together is just laugh out loud fun every time you read them.

One of my favorite authors, worth a read if you haven't already.

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Re:PG Wodehouse secures redemption as British Library acquir... by lobster_johnson on Saturday December 10, 2016 @01:54AM (#13144455)

What's a good book to start with?

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Re:PG Wodehouse secures redemption as British Library acquir... by wyclif on Saturday December 10, 2016 @04:43AM (#13144900)

Carry On, Jeeves is chronologically the first book where Jeeves appears. Any of these are good starts, though:

The Inimitable Jeeves

Thank You, Jeeves

The Code of the Woosters

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Re:PG Wodehouse secures redemption as British Library acquir... by not_that_noob on Friday December 09, 2016 @01:10PM (#13140481)

Condescending much?

There is a sophisticated and voracious readership of English in India. And it has given the world many great writers with unparalleled output in English - see http://www.inflibnet.ac.in/ojs/index.php/JLCMS/article/viewF...

And the writer RK Narayan, with his distinct characters and humorous stories, is the Indian response to Wodehouse. PGW is read, as he is all over the world, for his humo(u)r, wit and brilliance.

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Re:PG Wodehouse secures redemption as British Library acquir... by Veen on Friday December 09, 2016 @01:31PM (#13140666)

I'm British and I make a living as a writer. I wouldn't find it condescending to be told that I can learn something from Wodehouse - his prose is sublime.

Perhaps you overreacted to what was an innocent and general comment about learning from Wodehouse's prose, rather than a condescending suggestion that Indians could benefit in particular.

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Re:PG Wodehouse secures redemption as British Library acquir... by grzm on Friday December 09, 2016 @03:04PM (#13141388)

The majority of your comment is useful and substantive. (Thanks for the link!) The leading Condescending much? is unnecessary and uncivil regardless of the interaction, which is likely why you're being down-voted.

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Re:PG Wodehouse secures redemption as British Library acquir... by kranner on Friday December 09, 2016 @10:20PM (#13143829)

> RK Narayan, with his distinct characters and humorous stories, is the Indian response to Wodehouse.

I don't understand this. It's not a competition. The two are not even comparable. RK Narayan's novels have great characterisation, and a much more diverse range of plots than Wodehouse attempted, but not all of his work seems intended to be laugh-out-loud funny. And his prose seems quite dull, until you come to accept the plainness as having some kind of charm of its own.

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