Leave It to Psmith by P. G. Wodehouse (1923) is my second foray into the adventures at Blandings Castle. This one follows the intrepid Psmith--one-time heir to a grand estate which his father heartlessly speculated away; most recently a monger of fish; and now a man of business. What kind of business? Why, any at all. Just read his advertisement:LEAVE IT TO PSMITH!Psmith Will Help YouPsmith Is Ready For AnythingDO YOU WANTSomeone To Manage Your Affairs?Someone To Handle Your Business?Someone To Take The Dog For A Run?Someone To Assassinate Your Aunt?PSMITH WILL DO ITCRIME NOT OBJECTED TOWhatever Job You Have To Offer(Provided It Has Nothing To Do With Fish)LEAVE IT TO PSMITH!Enter Freddie Threepwood. Freddie is in a bit of a hole. He needs cash--a bit too fond of the ponies, he has already gone through his quarterly allowance and needs a bit more to get him by. Not to mention he'd like to marry this girl. He also discovers that his uncle would like to find a way to get some of his own money out from under the formidable thumb of his wife. Thus, Freddie hatches a plan that they should "steal" his aunt's diamond necklace (although, "if a husband pinches anything from a wife, it isn't stealing. That's law. I found that out from a movie I saw in town."). Then Uncle will "pretend" that he will buy a new one, use the money for his own purposes and give some to Freddie, have the jewels reset and present the "new" necklace to Auntie, and everbody will be happy. Freddy assures his uncle that he can do the job, no problem. Then promptly gets cold feet. While trying to warm them up again, he spies the advertisement placed by Psmith. Why, here is the answer to his prayers. And the beginning of all the fun and mayhem to follow.Because, although he is perfectly willing to steal the necklace as requested, Psmith has plans of his own as well. And what we wind up with is a delightful, comedic romp filled with impersonations, misunderstandings, pretty wit, a bit of romance, and midnight wanderings through the Castle. I begin to think that no Blandings Castle story will be complete without the Impeccable Baxter (secretary to the Earl of Emsworth, lord & master of the castle) or someone very like him doing immensely odd things in the middle of the night. Not to be missed this time is Baxter's jaunt through the garden at midnight in lemon yellow pajamas with a grand finale that consists of chucking flower pots through his employer's bedroom window.If I have any quibble with Wodehouse it is with the number of coincidences that happen and the way he tends to follow the same storyline. Last episode of Blandings Castle, we had a young man entering the Castle in a false persona, having answered a personal ad, and on a mission to steal a priceless scarab. I'm not saying that Wodehouse doesn't do the thing well, but I am quite sure that I will need to space out my readings for the Wodehouse Challenge if I am not to get tired of the formula. Too much of anything, no matter how good, is rarely a good thing. Four stars.
Wodehouse. He is a genius. Please know that I do understand what the word "genius" implies, and in his field, this man was a genius. Yes, he is funny. That is now far beyond scrutiny. Yes, he has some pretty clever ideas for stories. But both of these things only give a very limited vision as to the magnitude of his abilities. He knows just how to turn a phrase. A simile, a statement of fact, a single, simple description--these are things that Wodehouse knows how to convert from the mundane, ordinary, passable phrase, into a masterpiece of a sentence. These jewels are scattered throughout, but rather than dwell on them, Wodehouse drops them casually and then moves on without even blinking through his monocle.Another aspect of Wodehouse's genius is his disdain for being satisfied with an enormously complicated plot. His plots are complicated, but he goes beyond that: he complicates them with style. He makes it seem so simple to complicate things so much, so smooth to bring so many ruffles into what would normally be an easy plot to follow. And even when the twists are predictable (as many of them are), Wodehouse tends to bring them about in unpredictable ways. And then he also throws in the unpredictable, and those are fun too.Now, as for Psmith. This was a fun romp through Blandings Castle with memorable characters, as always. Psmith is one of Wodehouse's most flawless heroes so far (as in, not always stupid); and he is a lot of fun along the way. Anyone who changes their name from "Smith" to "Psmith" (the P is silent) cannot help but be anything but fun. And then there is the ever-glorious Lord Emsworth. He elicits a giggle with every moment on paper. Silly to the sophisticated extreme. Plus others. Unfortunately, unlike Pigs With Wings the indomitable, and laugh-out-loud funny Galahad was not present in this narrative. I understand why--he and Psmith are probably too similar in a lot of ways. But his presence was missed anyway.Another failing of Leave It to Psmith is that it takes a little while to set everything up in the story, and then it wraps up altogether too quickly. Everything is wrapped up, but some things more sloppily than others, and I feel that the aforementioned genius of Wodehouse made me expect a cleaner, crisper getaway. Ah well. That is getting extremely picky, and I will happily, if not eagerly pick up another Wodehouse to follow more of the silly, sophisticated fun. Expect more soon ... probably after another depressing or heavy read, since Wodehouse is my favorite antidote for such a thing. Hmmmm. It almost makes me want to pick up a depressing read right now to speed up my chances of another Wodehouse adventure. Almost.
What do You think about Leave It To Psmith (2012)?
Leave it to Psmith was my first Wodehouse and I will never forget the sense of discovery I enjoyed when reading it. Just the idea of Psmith: "the p is silent" -- introducing himself to people and their reactions -- priceless.This was the second Blandings novel and we again meet Lord Emsworth, Freddie Threepwood, the beleaguered Efficient Baxter and Beach the Butler. The juxtaposition of Psmith -- an extreme eccentric, with the gang at Blandings -- just read it.Across the pale parabola of Joy... Psmith preparing to impersonate Ralston McTodd, the fearless Canadian Poet...Psmith meeting Lord Emsworth in the Dining Room of the Senior Conservative Club, with Adams serving with Emsworth. Psmith's ad in the paper offering his services: Do you want:Someone to Manage Your AffairsSomeone to Handle Your BusinessSomeone to Take Your Dog For a RunSomeone to Assassinate Your AuntPSMITH WILL DO ITPsmiths ruminations on spending the springtime of his youth peering into the eyes of a dead fish.Psmith wearing the chrysanthemum (which Freddie Threepwood had asked for, meaning a carnation): If you had studied botany at school, comrade, much misery would have been averted. I cannot begin to tell you spiritual agony I suffered trailing through the metropolis behind that shrub.Wonderful!
—Paula Apynys
Idyllic Blandings Castle is to play host to literary guests, including poets and poseurs, much to Lord Emsworth's dismay. His sister, Lady Constance Keeble, organises their arrival at Blandings, mostly for her own amusement. Lady Constance owns a valuable diamond necklace that she wishes to wear at the house party. Word of this necklace gets about! The entangled plot involves imposters, secretaries, poets, burglars, butlers, maids and a budding romance.Wodehouse writes with beautiful description, snappy dialogue and wonderful timing. It was a gripping, humorous and delightful book.
—Sarah
Have we mentioned before that we love P.G. Wodehouse? No? Hummmm, well, our research department is woefully underfunded and we’re far too lazy to delve back into the archives ourselves... Just in case, we’ll mention it again. We love P.G. Wodehouse.Fed up with the fish trade, eccentric good guy, Ronald Psmith is keen on a career change. To facilitate this urge, he takes out a classified add offering a rather ambitious range of services:“Leave it to Psmith. Psmith will help you. Psmith is ready for anything. Do you want: Someone to manage your affairs. Someone to handle your business. Someone to take your dog for a run. Someone to assassinate your aunt. Psmith will do it. Crime not objected to. Whatever job you have to offer. Provided it has nothing to do with fish. Leave it to Psmith. Address applications to R. Psmith Box 365. Leave it to Psmith.” Not surprising the advert catches the attention of Freddie Threepwood who, as it happens, requires help stealing a pricey necklace from his aunt (all for a good cause). The job will take all the cunning and strategery Psmith can muster. Plus, if he’s lucky he might be able to win the girl too...In researching this review, we discovered that Leave it to Psmith is actually the 4th book in the Psmith series - another shining example of information that would have been nice to know a few weeks ago. Fortunately, this novel was perfectly satisfactory on its own. The character of Psmith is likeable from the beginning and we found ourselves anxious to find out what he was going to say or do next. And then there was oft imprudent, Freddie Threepwood, who provided the perfect balance. Why do the names Bertie and Jeeves suddenly come to mind???The treat of any Wodehouse novel is found in the dialogue. There’s probably an intelligent term for his writing method, but he has a way of striking right at the core of our funny bone (minus the tingly numb sensation). We love everything from expressions like, “dash it” and “right ho” to the more complex humor, like how Lord Emsworth reacts to the flowerpot scene.Overall, Leave it to Psmith was brilliant novel and classic literature at its funniest (or at least funnier). If you haven’t read something by Wodehouse, you really are missing out... we’re not judging though...
—Two Bibliomaniacs
