A Damsel in Distress

The course of true love never did run smooth with the "Damsel in Distress", naturally. Love may not care if time totters, light droops, and all measures bend. The problem, of course, in this boy loves girl and vice versa romance, the respective love-light is shining at the wrong object d'amour. This merry mix-up is further complicated by the differences in class ("blood").
In this delightful comic tale, Wodehouse reminds us once again the universal truth mused by e.e. cummings: love's function is to fabricate unknownness. That known is being wishless, but love, is all of wishing.
Wodehouse's "Damsel in Distress", like all his other works, is framed in the Edwardian Era. In contrast to the acme of vulgarity of this prosaic age, no one could write like he did, nor would want to. His large collection of works is held like an extinct specimen in the amber of the moment - capturing the bubbling gaiety and the insouciance of the Gilded Age.
Life does move on. Once a while though, it's pleasing and reassuring to hold and peer with appreciation inside the polished resin that was Wodehouse - knowing that the English language is still at its zenith, and few has mastered it.

Oh Mr. Wodehouse! One of the finest witty wordsmiths who ever picked up a pen. When I need a smile, or a lift, or even a roll on the floor laugh I turn to one of the many wonderful works of Wodehouse.
So many to choose from, and each one is from a different period in PG 'Plum' to his friends - life. While my favorite character is Psmith, how can I not enjoy the mutterings of Ukridge, or long to have my life saved from disasters by the likes of Jeeves.
Stephen Fry wrote 'Without Wodehouse I am not sure I would be a tenth of what I am today...his writings awoke me to the possibilities of language. His rhythms, tropes, tricks and mannerisms are deep within me. But more than that, he taught me something about good nature. It IS enough to be benign, to be gentle, to be funny, to be kind.
As laughter is the best medicine, perhaps we need a good dose of Wodehouse from time to time, and during these bleak winter months, in the dark time of the economy, Wodehouse is just what the Doctor ordered!

George Bevan, burgeoning young american musical composer, fancies himself a knight-in-shining-armor when in the middle of Piccadily Circus a fair maiden flings herself into his cab to escape the obese pursuit of the dragon - her brother Percy, heir to the family title and vigilant protector of the family name. Our hero's fair lady Maud does indeed live trapped within the tower of Castle Belpher to which he repairs in swift pursuit of happiness.
George will face grim prospects in scheming servants, an evil aunt, a kindly but aunt-dominated Lord Marshmoreton and worst of all the fact that Maud is in love with another. The whole setting has obvious similarities to Blandings for those familiar with the Lord Emsworth stories. I wasn't roaring with laughter, but I was attached to the characters and couldn't put the book down. It is hard to say which book is a good introduction to Wodehouse because they are all so good!

Begins as a rather silly set of circumstances but then grabbed me as Regie runs off with his secretary and the butler, in order to win the servants' betting pool, comes in for our hero, George. It was a downhill slide from there to a predictable but happy ending. Lovely little read. Castles, gentry and poor secretaries and love, love, love. A great way to spend a few hours in an afternoon.

I realize some people think this is among Wodehouse's greatest works, but I don't share that opinion. To my tastes, it is good, but not necessarily great. It is sort of hard to describe, but something about this story is not quite as gripping (or funny) as Wodehouse's other tales.

You can't go wrong with Wodehouse, not even with this one. However, if you are a first time Wodehouse reader, consider looking at another one of his fine titles.

Wodehouse is one of my favorite writers whenever I want to laugh with very witty conversations and funny situations. I like the most the way he portrays the characters and overall I know that at the end I will have a very satisfying conclusion. This book is not an exception, I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

As an extra comment I would like to add that being a Georgette Heyer fan myself, I found that his writing resembles that of Georgette Heyer in the way the characters speak. It is a treat!

Having never read P.G.Wodehouse before , I now understand why he is cited as being the best in his class . I loved every side splitting description of his characters . As Wodehouse was so prolific , I feel that I have found a companion for life.

This was my first Wodehouse and one of my absolute favourite books. A dream of wonderfully comic characters, from the preoccupied Earl of Marshmoreton, sulky Lord Belpher, radiant Lady Patricia (aka Maud) and all-round good guy George Bevan, as well as a bevy of funny support characters (like the house staff who make bets on the romantic attachments of the inhabitants). Utterly delightful, with laugh-out funny scenes throughout. If you haven't read this, you're missing out!

This version of the otherwise fabulous Wodehouse offering, The Mating Season, is fraught with typos. Barely a paragraph goes by without one or more jarring or confusing mistakes interrupting the flow of Wodehouse's humorous prose. I downloaded the sample and couldn't get through the first chapter of this, one of my favorite all-time books, because I kept feeling irritated, confused, or just pulled-up short by some of these items.

I tried to find somewhere on the Kindle Store site to report this atrocity but there doesn't seem to be a link in any obvious place -- if you see (or know of one) please report this issue. Thanks!