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I love Wodehouse; this is not his best  
The titles a little misleading; this is a set of 12 stories and only the first six are at Blandings Castle. Im a particular Blandings Castle fan -- theyre my favorite Wodehouse -- so I was a little disappointed in this one. But hey there ARE six fairly good Blandings Castle stories here. Then again I recommend the novels over the short stories; theyre much more fun and engaging. The stories are like eating one M&M and not having any more in the bag. Not enough THERE there. The novels have more time for P.G. to do what hes best at -- weaving tangled plot lines and setting up slapstick. : 2010-09-16 00:33:50

Emsworth Stories Are a Stitch; The Mulliners Are Missable  
The first half of the book which is devoted to Blandings Castle and Lord Emsworth is a sheer joy to read (5 stars!). The final chapter of the first half is the oft-anthologized short story "Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend" an exquisite tale of how the permanently befuddled old man befriends a young lass from London who is summering in the countryside and together the two of them set the world straight. In fact thats just what the Emsworth stories are always about: People thrown together each having his/her own set of priorities and how they get what they want by practicing "You scratch my back I scratch yours." Communicating over the din of one anothers priorities is a constant source of humor the unexpected combination of actions and outcomes is another and the whole reveals Wodehouses virtuosic gift for storytelling. The Emsworth stories are hard to beat.

Not so the Mulliner stories that make up the second half of the book (3 stars). Here we have a set of stories with improb : 2010-09-16 00:33:50

Eclectic Mix of Blandings Castle and Hollywood Satire  
Blandings Castle is an unexpected mix of short stories. After P.G. Wodehouse began to weave his novels about Clarence Ninth Earl of Emsworth and his improbable family and friends into a series of hilarious stories he realized that he needed to fill in a gap. He warns that the first six stories in this collection constitute "the short snorts in between the solid orgies." Specifically these stories tell us about happenings between Leave It to Psmith and Summer Lightning.

You find out more about why Clarence doesnt like to have his son the Honorable Freddie around. You also learn about how the Empress of Blandings won her first Fat Pigs competition. The Custody of the Pumpkin shows Clarence as a plant-focused competitor before he became a pig-focused one. Mr. Wodehouse also lets us know how Freddie came to marry his wealthy wife and join the dog biscuit business in the States. Some of these stories have plots that could have been turned into novels which makes the sh : 2010-09-16 00:33:50

Not as good as the novels  

Perhaps its because I am not a great fan of the short story form but I did not find these short stories as enticing as the full length Blandings novels. Even so the fun is there galore and I often laughed out loud at the nonsense. Let me give an example of the kind of desciptions that makes Wodehouse a genius. Lor Emsworth looking out his telescope takes interest in a cow but: "Presently the cows audience-appeal began to wane. It was a fine cow as cows go but like so many cows it lacked sustained dramatic interest". Curiously I though Freddie Threepwood began to sound more and more like Bertie Wooster in these short stories than I had noticed in the novels.

I did not really get into the Mulliner stories but perhaps this is because I am single mindedly focusing on Blandings at the minute.
: 2010-09-16 00:33:50

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