A recent post in one of the blogs I follow lists 20 Insults from P.G. Wodehouse (http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2009/06/17/20-insults-from-p-g-wodehouse/). Well, instead of posting the link in some corner of the forum, I have created a whole thread dedicated to the man who was arguably one amongst the great writers of the last century.
Quote from: PlumEvery author really wants to have letters printed in the papers. Unable to make the grade, he drops down a rung of the ladder and writes novels.
I expected better...
She didn't say 20 Best Insults.
I know all about Eulalie, Dave.
Quote from: MN Dave on June 19, 2009, 10:14:43 AM
You'll let me know then?
There's no way to understand that phrase, and its dramatic weight, save through reading
The Code of the Woosters.
Yet its yoke is easy, and its burthen is light.
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on June 19, 2009, 10:18:48 AM
There's no way to understand that phrase, and its dramatic weight, save through reading The Code of the Woosters.
Yet its yoke is easy, and its burthen is light.
Yeah, I'll have to add this to my reading list and see if it can fight its way through all the garbage I crave. ;D
Never quite got on with the really famous parts of Wodehouse, but oh, I always wanted to be like Psmith - ever since I was about sixteen. But I always wished I could bat like Mike, too. So I suppose I really wanted to be someone like Psmike.
Greetings, Comrades Opus, Dave and Karl. I know a bank whereon the wild thyme grows. Shall we stagger?
Wodehouse had almost unequalled comic timing; the rhythm of his writing is almost like chamber music. The characters he created, and the way in which he describes their foibles and pratfalls, inevitably finds me laughing, often for his sheer virtuosity in assembling a particular sentence.
--Bruce
Quote from: bhodges on June 19, 2009, 11:19:58 AM
Wodehouse had almost unequalled comic timing; the rhythm of his writing is almost like chamber music. The characters he created, and the way in which he describes their foibles and pratfalls, inevitably finds me laughing, often for his sheer virtuosity in assembling a particular sentence.
Welcome, Comrade Bruce. Let us chat among the teacups. You might make a long arm and pass the plum jam? Preserves as a rule give me the pip, but plum preserves are just the thing for delicately-constituted coves like ourselves.
Quote from: Elgarian on June 19, 2009, 11:29:39 AM
Welcome, Comrade Bruce. Let us chat among the teacups. You might make a long arm and pass the plum jam? Preserves as a rule give me the pip, but plum preserves are just the thing for delicately-constituted coves like ourselves.
;D
Excellent! I can tell that you have completely assimilated the subject in question, so I have changed my signature to incorporate one of my favorite Wodehouse tidbits. Another:
"A melancholy-looking man, he had the appearance of someone who had searched for the leak in life's gas pipe with a lighted candle."
--Bruce
Quote from: bhodges on June 19, 2009, 11:34:16 AM
"A melancholy-looking man, he had the appearance of someone who had searched for the leak in life's gas pipe with a lighted candle."
That's me, alright.
Quote from: Elgarian on June 19, 2009, 11:08:23 AM
Greetings, Comrades Opus, Dave and Karl. I know a bank whereon the wild thyme grows. Shall we stagger?
Nice monocle!
I love Wodehouse. The Jeeves books have been my 'bedtime reading' for a long time.
I'm coming to the end of the Jeeves books now.
I don't really know anything from his other stories. Where to go after Jeeves, then, in the Wodehouse oeuvre?
D.
The Blandings Castle series and Psmith stories (the P is silent as in pshrimp). I have till now come across only one from the former. While it doesn't offer you the vantage point as in Jeeves and Wooster, namely Bertie's mind, it is all top-class Wodehouse. As for Psmith, I have a 3-in-1 sitting on my shelf for a long time, as I have been busy with other books in general.
Quote from: opus106 on June 21, 2009, 07:53:27 AM
The Blandlings Castle series and Psmith stories (the P is silent as in pshrimp). I have till now come across only one from the former. While it doesn't offer you the vantage point as in Jeeves and Wooster, namely Bertie's mind, it is all top-class Wodehouse. As for Psmith, I have a 3-in-1 sitting on my shelf for a long time, as I have been busy with other books in general.
Thanks
opus106.
D.
Not so much an insult, more a subjective description; I had assumed the following would nevertheless be in the top 20.
'She has a voice like a cavalry troop charging over a tin bridge.'
Also, he delightfully describes one tough minded female as being, 'a 14 minute boiled egg.'
The language has an immense amount of life in it, constructed with great brio. It always ensure I am in a good mood, just 10 minutes with him and I am smiling.
You might enjoy these short stories, 'The Oldest Member' Although I have minus interest in golf, the tales are diverting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldest_Member
Quote from: knight on June 21, 2009, 08:25:04 AM
The language has an immense amount of life in it, constructed with great brio. It always ensure I am in a good mood, just 10 minutes with him and I am smiling.
So true.
QuoteYou might enjoy these short stories, 'The Oldest Member' Although I have minus interest in golf, the tales are diverting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldest_Member
I recently read three or four of the golfing short stories. Had it been something like cricket though, I would have read them all. ;D
Quote from: opus106 on June 21, 2009, 07:53:27 AM
The Blandlings Castle series and Psmith stories (the P is silent as in pshrimp). I have till now come across only one from the former. While it doesn't offer you the vantage point as in Jeeves and Wooster, namely Bertie's mind, it is all top-class Wodehouse. As for Psmith, I have a 3-in-1 sitting on my shelf for a long time, as I have been busy with other books in general.
I say, Comrade Opus, it's awfully decent of you to take an interest in the activities of Psmith - but a quiet word in your shell-like, if I may: the finest tale is the first one, about Psmith and Comrade Jackson at Sedleigh school. It is a tale to gladden the hearts of men from Barsetshire to Loamshire (are you acquainted with Loamshire, Sir?) It expands before one like a beautiful flower. I earnestly commend it to you, Comrade Opus.
Quote from: Elgarian on June 21, 2009, 11:46:39 AM
I say, Comrade Opus, it's awfully decent of you to take an interest in the activities of Psmith - but a quiet word in your shell-like, if I may: the finest tale is the first one, about Psmith and Comrade Jackson at Sedleigh school. It is a tale to gladden the hearts of men from Barsetshire to Loamshire (are you acquainted with Loamshire, Sir?) It expands before one like a beautiful flower. I earnestly commend it to you, Comrade Opus.
I presume you're referring to
Mike? That's the only one not featured in that volume I mentioned. It has
Psmith in the City,
Psmith Journalist, and
Leave it to Psmith. I'll get hold of a copy soon.
Quote from: opus106 on June 22, 2009, 12:14:58 AM
I presume you're referring to Mike? That's the only one not featured in that volume I mentioned. It has Psmith in the City, Psmith Journalist, and Leave it to Psmith. I'll get hold of a copy soon.
Yes - but it has also appeared in various guises. Psmith only appears halfway through
Mike, when Mike switches schools from Wrykyn to Sedleigh, and this last section has been published separately as
Enter Psmith. That's the form in which I first encountered it, and it's been one of those 'lifetime companion' books ever since. Literally, I've read it dozens of times, and I'm still laughing. The later Psmith books don't quite capture me in the same way. (Of course that might be because I'm just an overgrown schoolboy.)
Leave It to Psmith was how I made his acquaintance.
"Across the pale parabola of Joy" . . . .
Mac had many admirable qualities, but not tact. He was the sort of man who would have tried to cheer Napoleon up by talking about the Winter Sports at Moscow.
--Summer Lightning
Really, do you need a reason for bumping a Wodehouse thread up? ;D
Quote from: opus106 on September 30, 2009, 08:17:28 AM
[Really, do you need a reason for bumping a Wodehouse thread up? ;D
When faced with a situation like this I always ask myself, 'What would Napoleon have done?' And I believe, Comrade Opus, that Napoleon would have bumped the thread up regardless.
So bump away, old chap. Bump away.
Neither stint thou on the whisky-&-splash.
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on September 30, 2009, 09:52:19 AM
Neither stint thou on the whisky-&-splash.
I have no doubt Napoleon would have advised that too, Comrade Henning. Following which: shall we stagger?
Napoleon was more one of those cognac-swilling, empire-building birds; but the principle is much the same.
Bump-away. Wodehouse crept up in a strong sort of way in the Purchases thread, where his comic genius was likened to the restorative effect Haydn has on mind and sold. The milk of human kindness and such sloshing about in it and so forth.
Quote from: jlaurson on October 25, 2012, 09:32:22 PM
??? So much new music for you? You blessed, blessed man. That's like never having read any Wodehouse.
And worry not. Haydn is not an addiction. It is a blessing, it is a grace.
Quote from: Brian on October 25, 2012, 05:08:30 PM
Now I'm very excited as I've never read any Wodehouse.
Ah! Start here, if you are intrigued... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jtZMAFA2Zo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jtZMAFA2Zo) and here Richard Dawkins and Stephen Fry et al. repeat what I insinuated. :-) Takes a while to get into Wodehouse (depending on the book and your background a quarter novel, or half a novel, or max. 1 1/2...) but it's like a perfect drive in the perfect countryside. "Where are we going? Who cares. What a wonderful drive this is!"
Quote from: jlaurson on October 26, 2012, 05:49:21 AM
Quote from: Opus106 on October 26, 2012, 12:25:00 AM
I'd suggest him to read the books first. And as famous as they (Wooster and Jeeves) may be, the Blandings series is equally impressive.
Agree entirely! The Blandings stories are probably even funnier and better... than Jeeves/Wooster. (Not that I have all those, too.) Summer Lighting (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/158567477X/goodmusicguide-20), or Something Fresh (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1585676586/goodmusicguide-20) are perfect starting points, I think. You read along, merrily, perhaps a chuckle here or there... and then out of nowhere, the turn of a phrase, a word, a response on pg. 158 -- not at all funny in isolation -- has you snort your morning coffee across the table to the other side of the room. The Everyman Library Edition (in England; for the US it's Overlook Press who publishes the analogue, identical, gorgeous edition) is the one to have. (Everyman-UK link (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&field-keywords=wodehouse%20everyman&linkCode=ur2&sprefix=wodehouse%20every%2Caps%2C356&tag=goodmusicguideuk-21&url=search-alias%3Daps) | Overlook-US link (http://www.amazon.com/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&field-keywords=wodehouse%20overlook&linkCode=ur2&tag=goodmusicguide-20&url=search-alias%3Daps))
And the Fry and Laurie stuff, although I like it in is own right, gets progressively worse towards the latter seasons and you'll never get their voices out of your head, after having seen it.
Bumping this Wodehouse thread for Elgarian to find. :)
Oojah-cum-spiff!
Quote from: knight66 on June 21, 2009, 08:25:04 AM
Not so much an insult, more a subjective description; I had assumed the following would nevertheless be in the top 20.
'She has a voice like a cavalry troop charging over a tin bridge.'
Also, he delightfully describes one tough minded female as being, 'a 14 minute boiled egg.'
About one of Bertie's short time fiancées, probably Florence something or Honoria Glossop, there is some expression like that "she was training to become an aunt", presumably Aunt Agatha, not the more agreeable Aunt Dahlia (although I think it was her who enlisted Bertie to steal that silver cow creamer...)
Quote
The language has an immense amount of life in it, constructed with great brio. It always ensure I am in a good mood, just 10 minutes with him and I am smiling.
You might enjoy these short stories, 'The Oldest Member' Although I have minus interest in golf, the tales are diverting.
I shrank back from them because I also have negative interest in golf (and cricket, that's why I am not sure I ever finished Mike and Psmith or whatever the one is with cricket).
It's been years I read any Wodehouse. I basically started with Jeeves & Wooster (not the TV show, I saw it but after I read most of the stories) and I believe I read all of them, a large part of Blandings and some odds and ends. Overall I think Jeeves & Wooster are the best (nonwithstanding a few weaker late ones), precisely because of the language that is unique with Bertie as narrator. Blandings is usually good when focussed on Lord Emsworth but I dislike Galahad (Uncle Fred is o.k.) and I generally missed the dimension of the special Bertie language.
I'll bite... what's a Wodehouse?
And as l expect at least one respondent to have entirely too much fun educating me, I'll add:
You're welcome. ;D
An old fashioned English (usually wooden) outhouse.
Quote from: Brian on October 12, 2022, 10:28:14 AM
Bumping this Wodehouse thread for Elgarian to find. :)
And the word goes around the clubs: 'Elgarian has found the bumped thread.'
Thanks Brian.
I've been having a Wodehouse beanfeast these last few weeks. Starting with a reread of the Psmith books (
Mike,
Psmith in the City,
Psmith Journalist, and
Leave it to Psmith). And this has been the first time I've really enjoyed the last one, so much so that I dived deeper into Blandings Castle and read
Summer Lightning and
Heavy Weather for the first time, with much enjoyment. I've been searching for period editions (not expensive first editions, but just affordable hardbacks issued in the 1930s and 40s).
Then I asked myself, 'What would Napoloeon have done?'
I think Napoleon would have read the early school stories next, and that's what I've been doing:
The Pothunters,
The Gold Bat, the short story collections set at Wrykyn and elsewhere,
The Head of Kays, and so on. Sheer escapist fun, beautifully written. I'm finding them a delight.
Quote from: Elgarian Redux on October 13, 2022, 10:09:53 AM
And the word goes around the clubs: 'Elgarian has found the bumped thread.'
Thanks Brian.
I've been having a Wodehouse beanfeast these last few weeks. Starting with a reread of the Psmith books (Mike, Psmith in the City, Psmith Journalist, and Leave it to Psmith). And this has been the first time I've really enjoyed the last one, so much so that I dived deeper into Blandings Castle and read Summer Lightning and Heavy Weather for the first time, with much enjoyment. I've been searching for period editions (not expensive first editions, but just affordable hardbacks issued in the 1930s and 40s).
Then I asked myself, 'What would Napoloeon have done?'
I think Napoleon would have read the early school stories next, and that's what I've been doing: The Pothunters, The Gold Bat, the short story collections set at Wrykyn and elsewhere, The Head of Kays, and so on. Sheer escapist fun, beautifully written. I'm finding them a delight.
Curiously, perhaps,
Leave it to Psmith was my
entrée to
Wodehouse, so I appreciate your
de facto reminder that there are other Psmith books.
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on October 13, 2022, 10:56:14 AM
Curiously, perhaps, Leave it to Psmith was my entrée to Wodehouse, so I appreciate your de facto reminder that there are other Psmith books.
When I was nobbut a young lad of maybe 12 or 13, my uncle gave me his copy of
Enter Psmith. It was a lovely book - green hardback, published in the 1930s, blessed with comfortable print. I adored it, and read it over and over again. Eventually I found myself a nice old copy of
Mike, of which the latter half was republished separately as
Enter Psmith. I was very glad to get to know the whole tale, though
Enter Psmith is the real gem - the pinnacle of all the Psmith books, for me - and indeed would still, today, be in my list of ten desert island novels.
Between Karl and me, we have you covered on opposite beginnings: my introduction to Wodehouse was the Summer Lightning and Heavy Weather combo. It was like walking into a gold mine. I thought Summer Lightning was just about the most perfect comedy since Shakespeare, and then I found out there are dozens and dozens more books to read.
Only complaint so far: one needs a whole separate bookcase for all the Wodehouse!
Quote from: Brian on October 13, 2022, 01:01:59 PM
Between Karl and me, we have you covered on opposite beginnings: my introduction to Wodehouse was the Summer Lightning and Heavy Weather combo. It was like walking into a gold mine. I thought Summer Lightning was just about the most perfect comedy since Shakespeare, and then I found out there are dozens and dozens more books to read.
Only complaint so far: one needs a whole separate bookcase for all the Wodehouse!
I have had several attempts to get a nice old (affordable) copy of
Something Fresh, but always something daft has got in the way. I shall keep trying. Meanwhile, Brian, are there any other Blandings books that live up to the brilliant promise of
Summer Lightning and
Heavy Weather?
I liked "Something Fresh" but IIRC it is one of the cases where the first book in a (loose) series is in some sense not yet part of it, or more precisely, some of the later recurring characters were to be developed quite differently.
(A somewhat related case is the original version of "My man Jeeves", IIRC. And in another "world", several discworld books, esp. the first two). I think, "Pigs have wings" is also quite good. And there are several great short stories, e.g. "Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend" and "Lord Emsworth acts for the best".
This thread is a history lesson. It was started by Opus106 (Navneeth), we see several now-gone members, karlhenning is "guest," reminding us that he actually deleted his account at one point, then rejoined. I clicked Opus106 to view his profile and was shocked to see that, although his last post was in October 2013, he was "last active" in April 2019. He visited the site relatively recently, but thought better of it. :(
Quote from: Elgarian Redux on October 14, 2022, 04:45:20 AM
I have had several attempts to get a nice old (affordable) copy of Something Fresh, but always something daft has got in the way. I shall keep trying. Meanwhile, Brian, are there any other Blandings books that live up to the brilliant promise of Summer Lightning and Heavy Weather?
I've only gotten to two more, but the short stories as Jo says are often great, and the collection
Blandings Castle and Elsewhere contains a healthy selection of greats. My brother just gave me
Galahad at Blandings for my birthday, a very late work indeed (written 30 years after the others we've mentioned). In many ways it is not up to the same level - you can see in his more conventional prose that the elderly Wodehouse is missing many opportunities to pun and crack wise sentence-by-sentence. But on the other hand, once the plot mechanism begins working, he is just as good as ever at devising situations. I was worried for the first few chapters but delightfully chuckling away as usual by the end.
Quote from: ultralinear on October 14, 2022, 06:50:44 AM
Years ago I bought some old hardbook editions on eBay, initially of those books which hadn't been issued in paperback, such as Jill The Reckless (an early one) and the unfortunately-named Ice In the Bedroom (a late one.) Seeing how cheap these were - they sold in millions, after all - inevitably I managed to acquire a lot of the others for very little without even trying.
...
I haven't checked lately but I'd be surprised if the market had changed that much.
It hasn't. This is exactly the sort of odyssey I've been on myself, focusing on the earlier (pre-war) works, and they are consistently turning up on eBay and ABE.
Quote from: Jo498 on October 14, 2022, 05:52:04 AM
I liked "Something Fresh" but IIRC it is one of the cases where the first book in a (loose) series is in some sense not yet part of it, or more precisely, some of the later recurring characters were to be developed quite differently.
I'd wondered if that might be the case. Still, I have a copy on order right now and will give it a try.
Quote from: Brian on October 14, 2022, 06:07:05 AM
I've only gotten to two more, but the short stories as Jo says are often great, and the collection Blandings Castle and Elsewhere contains a healthy selection of greats. ...
Thank Brian. I'll put that on my 'wants' list.
This was not a problem for me, because "Something Fresh" was the first Blandings novel I read (Might have read a shorter story earlier, I think I read "L E and the Girl Friend" a collection before I had any clue about the Wodehouse universe). I got it as a pbck Omnibus (with 3 Blandings novels). When I (almost) binge read Wodehouse about 15 years ago or so, I usually went for the economic option (which has the disadvantage of now having some quite ugly omnibus bricks and other pbcks all in different formats and editions on the PGW shelf... ;))
IIRC a few important characters are still missing, a few side characters are never to be seen again, and Lord Emsworth is quite different from his later self; neither as dreamy nor as sympathetic.
Quote from: Jo498 on October 14, 2022, 11:00:42 AM
...
IIRC a few important characters are still missing, a few side characters are never to be seen again, and Lord Emsworth is quite different from his later self; neither as dreamy nor as sympathetic.
Curious, and not unlike the strange fate of Psmith, who is Rupert Psmith in the 3 earliest books, but transforms into Ronald Psmith in
Leave it to Psmith. Makes you think there's something amiss with the universe when you encounter it.
Quote from: Elgarian Redux on October 14, 2022, 12:58:00 PM
Curious, and not unlike the strange fate of Psmith, who is Rupert Psmith in the 3 earliest books, but transforms into Ronald Psmith in Leave it to Psmith. Makes you think there's something amiss with the universe when you encounter it.
The cry goes round Brisket-on-the-Midden: "the universe has lost its ancient vim!"
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on October 14, 2022, 02:30:53 PM
The cry goes round Brisket-on-the-Midden: "the universe has lost its ancient vim!"
Indeed, Comrade Henning. I believe Napoleon would have said that.
Has anyone else tried the very early school stories (mostly published originally as serials in magzines, I believe)? They aren't classic Wodehouse, but they do form an interesting build-up to the wonderful Mike and Psmith tale. There's something about the fondness for scenes set in studies, with a brew, and muffins by the fire - preferably with jam - that makes them very pleasant companions. I read them for the mood as much as the plot, and I was surprised by how much I've enjoyed them when I embarked on a second reading.
There are two collections of short stories, and a sprinkling of novels. Blandings they are not, but worth a try.
Quote from: Elgarian Redux on October 14, 2022, 12:58:00 PM
Curious, and not unlike the strange fate of Psmith, who is Rupert Psmith in the 3 earliest books, but transforms into Ronald Psmith in Leave it to Psmith. Makes you think there's something amiss with the universe when you encounter it.
I read that this name change was to avoid confusion with "The efficient (Rupert) Baxter", the usual Blandings secretary.
I don't think the other phenomenon is
that strange. An author may not know beforehand that it is going to be a series or how it may go. IIRC "Something fresh" reads more like a standalone book, also because the focus are not mainly the incompetent idle rich but two rather competent young middle class people employed by them (a bit like Psmith later). It's also rather early (1915) within the whole canon, although I doubt anyone will notice a change in tone in the books written after the Great War, Wodehouse simply stuck to his eternal Edwardian idyll with its silly baronets, misfit younger sons, stiff butlers and "exceptionally clement, sir" weather...
To a lesser extent it is almost unavoidable in longer series; in more recent times therefore we sometimes have "retconning", i.e. changing early volumes of series to confirm with the overall "lore".
(FWIW I think in many crime/mystery series (main or minor) characters seem a bit "off" in the first or early installations it will often take a bit for a series to get into shape.)
Since last October, my Wodehouse World has expanded considerably. I realised that the novels I enjoyed most were the one-off stand-alone early titles, and for the last few months I've been helping myself to nice old editions of the likes of Jill the Reckless, Damsel in Distress, Piccadilly Jim, The Adventures of Sally, Doctor Sally [two different Sallys here], and Indiscretions of Archie, to name but a few.
I can't explain why, but I enjoy these more than the 'series' books (Jeeves, Blandings etc). They have a very particular quality, which I shall now describe. I finish one, with some sadness because I've so enjoyed the company of the characters, and start another with some reluctance because I'll miss my chums. A few pages in, suddenly I realise I have a whole lot of new chums, just as much fun as the previous lot. And so it goes on, novel after novel. Thoroughly delightful chain-reading.
And I still love the old editions. It doesn't have to be a 1st edition - just an early-ish one from the 1920s or (more likely) 1930s, with that softly textured off-white paper and gentle clear printing. The book itself adds to the Wodehouse experience of inhabiting a 1920s comic fantasy world - like an artefact from the world I'm reading about..
I'm absolutely sick of Penguin's censorship. Well we readers judge Penguin's hack jobs as "unacceptable." Given how much outcry there was over their last hatchet job I'm surprised they would do have the audacity to do it again.
Quote from: ultralinear on April 16, 2023, 12:11:53 AMBy acting in this way the editors at Penguin are trashing their brand, which was established in the 1930s to make a wide range of good writing available to the public in decent, affordable editions. From now on one will not be able to pick up a Penguin edition - of anything - with confidence that it has not been tampered with to suit the beliefs of some unnamed person in the office.
And what really bothers me is that the authors are not alive to discuss these changes. It is also a false portrayal of the past. But yeah you're right. If I see a Penguin, am I going to buy a new copy? Google to make sure there were no sensitivity reader changes? No, I'll buy an older used copy to be safe, and then no one is receiving royalties.
Quote from: ultralinear on April 16, 2023, 12:11:53 AMBy acting in this way the editors at Penguin are trashing their brand, which was established in the 1930s to make a wide range of good writing available to the public in decent, affordable editions. From now on one will not be able to pick up a Penguin edition - of anything - with confidence that it has not been tampered with to suit the beliefs of some unnamed person in the office.
The snowflake anonymized nannies!
Quote from: ultralinear on April 16, 2023, 09:53:09 AMIt's another kind of Catch-22: anyone who thinks Right Ho Jeeves needs updating is the last person who should be allowed to do it.
As
Zappa once colorfully put it: one sick mother-f***er" with a razor blade.
Quote from: DavidW on April 16, 2023, 05:03:59 AMAnd what really bothers me is that the authors are not alive to discuss these changes.
This is a great point. I imagine in some cases the authors would actually like to make changes (or would if they were alive). It's not unprecedented for authors to tinker with new editions as they or the times change. The Agatha Christie estate saved a certain novel from being completely consigned to the dustbin by accepting the American renaming to And Then There Were None.
But the people making these edits are not gifted prose stylists! Some of the edit excerpts they showed for Roald Dahl were so clunky, awkward, and devoid of personality. Imagine someone taking jokes out of Wodehouse and replacing them with...not jokes.
I find the renaming of that Christie book justified, as it could be done well by taking another phrase of the nursery rhyme. I find "warnings" a bit silly (in the case of something like Wodehouse, I could understand it in cases of very violent or pornographic passages) but it's certainly better than editing. The latter is usually unacceptable. If we continue like that nobody will be able to understand the past and its prejudices and discriminations because they will have all been edited away.
We don't live in a timeless world and the past is a different country and as one should learn about and (within reason) respect and tolerate the mores of a different country, so should be the attitude towards the past.
One should in fact be even more lenient towards the past because while one might justify the use of drastic measures to e.g. force a country to abolish slavery the past simply cannot be changed, one can edit books and write fake history but it's going to change the past...)
Having read a substantial amount of Wodehouse (by no means all, though) I recall exactly one episode that would be considered offensive today (and probably was already decades ago), namely several white characters, incl. Bertie, using blackface to pose as members of a minstrel band. (They mostly kept this for the 1990s Jeeves & Wooster TV series, except that in the TV show the minstrel band are all whites in blackface whereas IIRC in the book they were actually black musicians). Of course this cannot be rewritten; in such a case I'd put a brief note before the story explaining this practice etc.
Generally the "targets" of Wodehouse's humour are all from the upper class and fair game.