Full review/Пълно ревюClick, click :) Следпрочитно:Удхаус е един от малцината автори, които могат да използват все една и съща формула, и пак да им се получава. Колкото и много нещастни влюбени двойки да сме виждали преди в книгите му, пак с трепет ще следим съдбата им тук, подпомагана от съветите и подкрепата на Галахад.Добавяме и класическата армия от зли лели, както и диамантена огърлица, и коктейлът Удхаус е забъркан.Всъщност, май това е първата ми среща с героите от замъка Бандингс. След пълната колекция на Джийвс и Устър, и единични истории оттук-оттам, си беше време.Е, Гали не може да се сравни с Джийвс... поне за мен. Просто, веднъж човек срещнал се с Дживйс, трудно някой може да достигне нивото му. Галахад е по-скоро един врял и кипял, помъдрял вариант на Бърти Устър. Леко запиляните, влюбчиви герои на които помага са си все същите - купонджията Типи, хубавичката, но не много умна Вероника, бизнесменът Фреди, тромавият и добродушен Бил и дребничката силна Прудънс. Естествено, техните любовни истории не си остават две паралелни линии, а се впускат в триъгълници и разнообразни геометрични форми.Освен Галахад, друг постоянен герой в Бландинг се очертава лорд Емсуърт, който е душка отвсякъде. Не би могъл да си намери пътя в собствената къща, дори и с карта, освен ако на нея няма отбелязано „Императрицата на Бландингс“ и рисунка на прасенце. Като стана дума за рисунки и императрици, това беше една сюжетна линия, за която беше жалко, че не достигна своя край. Винаги съм смятала, че уместната употреба на прасета в повествованието е голям плюс ( бтв, трябваше да отбележа това и в „Дяволче“ - там също има добра литературна употреба на свине). Мечтата на Кларънс е да намери художник да пресътвори образа на Императрицата, и точно като такъм Бил успява да проникне имението. Та жалко, че портретът на Императрицата така и не бе финализиран. Може пък това да стане в някой следващ роман. Известна утеха беше внасянето на огромна фосфоресцираща свиня в спалнята на девойката, което и доведе по заветното предложение за брак.И така, с този и още един роман поех годишния си минимум от Удхаус. Максимум за щастие няма (макар че докторът, до който се допитва Типи Плимсол може да отбележи, че тежката Удхаусова интоксикация може да доведе до подобни халюцинации – смятам обаче, че лицата, които пострадалите ще виждат там, ще са доста по-симпатични)~~~ After-read thoughts:Wodehouse is one of the authors who can use the same formula again and again, and it still be as good as new. We've seen dozens and dozens of love couples in his books, and yet will be just as interested in their fate. Adding Galahad and his advice, the army of evil aunts and a diamond necklace and we have a classical Wodehouse cocktail.Actually, this seems to be my first read from the Blandings castle series. After finishing everything there is about Jeeves and Wooster, and some stand alone novels, it was about time.Well Gali is no match for Jeeves, at least in my eyes. Just, once you get to know the pure brilliance that is Jeeves, nothing and no one can reach his level. Galahad is more like on older and wiser version of Bertie Wooster. The rest of the characters are fine examples of our favourite types – the (ex) party monster Tippy Plimsol, the pretty even if not extremely smart Veronica, the shy and robust Bill Lister, Freddie the businessman, Pru, full of energy. Of course, their personal love story lines are not lines at all, but soon become triangles and other various geometry forms.Beside the youngsters, the other main characters are Galahad, and of course Clarence – the permanent resident of the Blandings castle. Lord Emsworth is adorable in his own way, like when he is unable to find his way in his own home, even with a map – unless there is a pig drawing on the map. Oh , and let's not forget the Empress, the other character that seems to be constant in the series. Now that I mentioned drawings and pigs, I have to say I was a bit disappointed that the portrait storyline didn't get a conclusion. I've always estimated the proper use of pigs can really boost a story. (oh, and I forgot to note this in the review of Minx – there we had a good pig use too). It was a pity that the painted image of the Empress was never finished. But I hope that someday, and in some other book, Clarence's dream will be fulfilled .Well some comfort was the presence of the same pig, covered in phosphorescent paint in the young Veronica's bedroom (which actually led to the eagerly awaited proposal).And so, like this with this novel and one more, I took the minimum Wodehouse reads per year. Fortunately, there is no maximum (tho the doctor consulting Tippy Plimsol may argue that the exess use will cause halucinations. But I think in this case they will be way more pleasant than the ones in poor Plimsol's case. )
A novel by PG Wodehouse set in Blandings Castle; what more do you need to know? Lord Emsworth’s sister - Lady Hermione Wedge – feels that her daughter Veronica is ideally suited to marry the American millionaire Tipton Plimsoll; the two are obviously in love so it should be a breeze. The trouble is Plimsoll cannot pluck up the courage to pop the question without a snifter of the good stuff, but every time he imbibes he sees faces following him. The face belongs to one William Lister, who is engaged to Veronica’s cousin Prudence Garland and she has been sent to Blandings to prevent this happy union. Lister has the marriage licence already paid for and if he can just whisk Prudence away with a bit of luck they could elope; and as Freddie and Galahad Threepwood are in his corner he will need all the luck in the world. Just when things could not get any worse, Lord Emsworth lets slip that Freddie was once engaged to Veronica to Plimsoll ruining the chance of Freddie persuading Tipton’s stores from stocking his father-in-law’s brand of dog food and scuppering any chance of wedding bells. Throw in the fact that Freddie’s wife is desperate for her necklace to be sent on to Paris and an artist is required to paint the portrait of the Empress of Blandings (winner of the silver medal in the Fat Pigs class at the Shropshire Agriculture Show; not once but twice!) and you have an example of the Master of Mirth at his very best.
What do You think about Full Moon (2006)?
I'd like to see an autobiography of the Empress of Blandings. I'm prepared to bet that about 90% of the time she has NO IDEA of what's going on.This is typical Blandings Castle fare. I do wonder what E Jimpson Murgatroyd meant by 'alcohol poisoning'. True alcohol poisoning is very dangerous--often fatal. A condition consequent on a short-term binge which results in (fairly substantial) hallucinations is not what I would expect to find described as alcohol poisoning.Anyway, the principals have yet to make it to Blandings Castle at the point I've got to, though many of them have headed down. We'll have to see how it goes on. The cover picture on this edition shows a young man hanging from a cornice one-handed. Probably something along these lines will come up...or maybe not. Wodehouse got to the point where he had some control over cover pictures, in some editions, anyway. But too often, the cover art bears no relationship to the text. We'll just have to see.Well, there's some explanation, anyway. By the end, the characters seem to lose interest in plotting. Sad to see old pros lose heart.I didn't care for the assimilation of the Hon Freddy into the 'business world'. The younger Hon Freddy was a layabout and rich idler. I, personally, liked him that way.
—Valerie
Freddie Threepwood is back in England to promote Donaldson's Dog Joy when he discovers his cousin Prudence is in love with his old friend Bill Lister. Prudence's mother doesn't approve but Freddie falls on the side of true love and encourages his young cousin to marry at the Registry Office before any of the family catch on. His next order of business is to keep Tipton Plimsoll, a young American supermarket owner, sober long enough to secure a sale for Donaldson's Dog Joy. Tipton thinks he's doing just fine on his current bender, until he starts seeing phantom faces! Freddie invites Tipton to recover at Blandings Castle, where he discovers his cousin Prudence in residence without her beloved! Freddie's Aunt Hermione got ahold of the situation and wholeheartedly disapproves of her niece marrying a penniless artist. When Lady Hermione discovers a millionaire in residence, she immediately sets her sights on Tipton for her beautiful, ditzy daughter Veronica. Poor Bill Lister is distraught over losing his fiance, but his godfather, Galahad Threepwood knows just what to do. The course of true love never did run smooth but leave it to P.G. Wodehouse to put his characters in the most outrageous situations. My biggest problem with the novel is that there's a potentially hilarious scene with the Empress and it's left out! The event is related to a character after the fact and in passing. It sounded like a terrifically funny situation and I wonder why Wodehouse didn't include it. The plot is typical P.G. Wodehouse and very predictable, but it's a lot of fun. I enjoyed it mainly because the familiar characters were back and fully present. Dear old Clarence is still obsessed with his pig, while his sisters sniff their disapproval over everything. (What happened to Lady Constance?) Lady Hermione's husband is nearly as snobby as she is. Verionica is beyond ditzy and spoiled. She's a complete airhead, but of course, she's funny because P.G. Wodehouse creates such fabulous characters. Tipton is a rather unlikeable character. He's perpetually drunk or hung over and has a very nervous disposition. I didn't like his plot very much. I liked Bill in so much as I felt sorry for him but he seemed a weak sort of man. Prudence is a little silly but less silly than her previously lovelorn cousins. She has more sense than all of them put together. I adore Freddie in this book. He's grown so much and finally has a brain. Of course, like his father, it's mainly a one thought brain, but he manages to act almost like a normal human being. Galahad pops in and out of the plot at key moments to direct the action. I adore him and wish he was in more of the book. The illustrations, by Paul Galdone are dreadful. Some of them are rather risque. He didn't seem to have read the descriptions of Clarance and Galahad. They look the opposite of how they're supposed to.
—QNPoohBear
Caused laughing-out-loud whilst sitting in dentist's office. Not many authors can truly alleviate that kind of stress, eh? What? "To say of anyone's heart that it stood still is physically inexact. The heart does not stand still. It has to go right on working away at the old stand, irrespective of it's proprietor's feelings. Tipton's, though he would scarcely have believed you if you had told him so, continued to beat. But the illusion that it had downed tools was extraordinarily vivid." (38)--"It is not surprising, therefore, that Tipton's first impression of the ancient home of the Emsworths....should have been one of melancholy. Even though Prudence was absent at the moment, having taken her broken heart out for an airing in the grounds, an atmosphere of doom and gloom still pervaded the premises like the smell of boiling cabbage. Tipton was not acquainted with the writings of Edgar Allan Poe, and so had never heard of the House of Usher, but a more widely read man in his place might well have supposed himself to have crossed the threshold of that rather depressing establishment." (55)--"Where is Veronica?" asked Lady Hermione. "Tippy was expecting to locate her in the rhododendrons. They had a date there, I understand.""Got and tell them to come in to tea. Poor Tipton must be exhausted after his long drive." "He didn't seem to be. He was panting emotionally and breathing flame through his nostrils. God bless my soul," said Freddie, "how it brings back one's bachelor days, does it not, to think of young lovers hobnobing in shrubberies. I often used to foregather with Aggie in the local undergrowth in my courting days, I recollect. Well, I will do my best to get your kindly message through to him, Aunt Hermione, but always with the provisio that I am not muscling in on a sacred moment. If in my judgement he doesn't want to be interrupted, I shall tip-toe away and leave him. See you later, folks. Pip-pip, Guv'nor; don't take any wooden nickels." (151)
—K.
