Ukridge

I recently reread these stories and liked them even better the second time around. If you're reading them between episodes of Jeeves, Blandings, or Psmith, then the tone or theme of Ukridge might not please you as much. Instead of the usual running around chasing after love, farcial developments surrounding romance, and the protypical feckless young hero, these stories revolve around James Corcoran narrating and observing the incredible adventures of his exuberant and hilarious pal Ukridge. Ukridge is creative, unflappable in the midst of chaos, and prone to wild episodes of money making schemes. So if you're looking for a book with the customary Wodehouse "love" theme, this book won't do it for you. But if you're ready for some madcap short stories - each beautifully done - these will fit the bill. They simply revolve around an alternate theme - one of struggling to make it big or land a financial windfall. And Ukridge's classic schemes are wonderful to behold. At lunch recently I gave a friend a brief outline of the plot elements of several of the Ukridge stories, and he laughed outrageously at the telling. It wasn't because I was recounting the stories so well. It was because the basic plot elements of each story are hilarious, unique, and surpisingly memorable. Although I'm as loyal a fan as anyone to the Jeeves/Drones/Blandings stories, I find myself thinking about Ukridge a lot even when I don't have the book in front of me. There is something timelessly cheering about the Ukridge tales. His stories are upbeat and uplifting, in an odd yet pleasing way. Classic fun. Classic funny. The plot elements work as well today as they did when they were first written. Four stars, perhaps even five - this one's a winner.

Reviewers of Ukridge seem to be diffident, and the discussion tends to center on their view of one Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge, leading light and subject of said book. Missing the point, I'd say. When P.G.W. introduced this large and in charge Man of Affairs in Love Amoung the Chickens, he knew he was on to a good thing, and that they would travel many miles together. When, more brilliantly still, he hit upon Corky Pirbright as narrator and true blue friend of our dauntless hero, he laid a path that he himself would retread many times, in the Oldest Member, in Mr. Mulliner, in the unsinkable Bertie Wooster, and even in the occasional Drones Club Member. He struck gold, I'd say, in these first sketches of the faithful but tempermentally at odds narrator who, for all his seeming passivity, is yet crucial to the plot. These early stories are a bit much taken together, but they read delightfully when sprinkled in anthologies or as an occasional hiatus for readers engrossed in Jeeves or Blandings novels. Taken that way, some of them are very good indeed, notably "Ukridge's Dog College" (early on done for television) and Ukridge's Accident Syndicate, which unleashes the blue blood of the sportsman that will play so much a part in the fortunes and misfortunes of Bingo, Uncle Fred, and others who like a little flutter, down to the most savvy of them all, the inimitable Jeeves. These stories stand alone, as do most of the earlier PGW bits, being largely written for serialisation or as one offs for magazines, particularly the Saturday Evening Post, but at least three of them tie together to tell the tales of Battling Billson, an early type of the pugilists who later would be so much a part of the world of Wooster, and these tales, especially, show young Wodehouse well on his way.

If you haven't met Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge yet, you've missed a treat. I think of Ukridge as a comic character virtually equal to Falstaff. P.G. Wodehouse based the character on a school friend which adds extra poignancy to the many hilarious tales in this book. The book has ten chapters, each of which is an entire short story. However, the stories are connected to one another so you have continuing development of characters and plots. The story is told from the perspective of the long-suffering James Corcoran, an impecunious author who is one of Ukridge's favorite sources of money, clothes, lodgings and all other sorts of accommodations. Ukridge is a great schemer . . . who doesn't bother to work out all of the details. He's confident that an abundant universe will take care of him. Sometimes he's right and sometimes not. Most people will be thrilled by Ukridge's career as a boxing manager for Battling Billson, the most mercurial fighter the world has ever know. Three chapters are devoted to that story. The book opens with a classic Ukridge scheme; he's going to make a mint by training dogs to behave at Ukridge's Dog College. The second story, Ukridge's Accident Syndicate, shows that even if a scheme works, it may not pay off in the way you expected. Ukridge tries his hand at being a political surrogate in The Long Arm of Looney Coote, with hilarious consequences. In First Aid for Dora, Ukridge decides to help Dora recover from having lost her job . . . which she lost because of him. With help like his, one should probably seek out enemies instead! In Ukridge Sees Her Through, Dora gets more "help" from Ukridge. Ukridge is prone to overstate his position to others. He lives to regret that tendency when it almost leads to unexpected matrimony in No Wedding Bells for Him. In Ukridge Rounds a Nasty Corner, Ukridge falls in love and has to prove himself worthy of his love's family. Now that's a tough trick! You can read each of these stories in less than an hour. I suggest spacing them out over time so you can enjoy their flavor longer.

Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge, that enemy of mankind, stars in ten brilliant short stories, all narrated by his long-suffering friend James Corcoran. Ukridge (pronounced "ook-ridge"), moocher of socks, shirts, and fivers, evader of creditors, bane of rich aunts, is another of Wodehouse's many great comic creations. Perhaps the best of these are about his management of soft-hearted fighter Wilberforce "Battling" Billson, but the stories are uniformly excellent and hilarious; full of unpredictable comic twists and the brilliant language and dialogue that make Wodehouse a full-fledged genius.On the first page of the first story Ukridge offers Corocoran the rights to his life story for a hundred pounds down (quickly reduced to twenty-five). Corcoran, who foolishly lets the opportunity slip, may have lacked the big, broad, flexible outlook in this one instance, but P.G. certainly didn't.The well-crafted, nice-looking edition is another winner in Everyman's excellent serires.

Ukridge is P G Wodehouse's greatest creation. Unfairly eclipsed in the public imagination by Jeeves & Wooster, for the simple reason that like Psmith Wodehouse didn't write that much for the character. But what there is, is pure gold and 'Ukridge' is no exception. No one story stands out as they're all mini-masterpieces. Get hold of it as soon as you can, old horse!