Right Ho, Jeeves

Written by P. G. Wodehouse

Narrated by David Ian Davies

Right Ho, Jeeves,
perhaps one of the greatest comic novels in the English language, presents a
complex case for Bertie Wooster. First of all, Bertie’s gentleman’s gentleman,
Jeeves, has passed a death sentence on Bertie’s “tout ce qu’il est chic” white
mess jacket. Then Gussie Fink-Nottle falls in love with Madeline Bassett, and Bertie’s
cousin Angela falls out of love with her fiancé, offering a passable imitation
of a woman scorned. And let’s not forget the resignation of Anatole, the genius
chef. Will Bertie prevail? Only with the help of Jeeves!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio
• Release date: Feb 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781482992823

P. G. Wodehouse

Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (1881-1975) was an English author. Though he was named after his godfather, the author was not a fan of his name and more commonly went by P.G Wodehouse. Known for his comedic work, Wodehouse created reoccurring characters that became a beloved staple of his literature. Though most of his work was set in London, Wodehouse also spent a fair amount of time in the United States. Much of his work was converted into an “American” version, and he wrote a series of Broadway musicals that helped lead to the development of the American musical. P.G Wodehouse’s eclectic and prolific canon of work both in Europe and America developed him to be one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century.

Reviews for Right Ho, Jeeves

[addunn3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wooster takes over solving problems that people were going to Jeeves to cure, with disastrous results.

[azulaco-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wodehouse is delightfully funny, and underappreciated in this day and age. He has a wonderfully light touch with language and humorous situations. I enjoyed this book, as I've enjoyed all the Jeeves books I've read so far. Although it was written eighty years ago, the humor holds up. If you are a fan of wry, slightly absurd British humor, I would highly recommend that you check out this book, or the other Jeeves books by P. G. Wodehouse.

[kaitanya64 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Bertie Wooster is at his fumbling best in this engaging story. One engagement is broken and needs to be mended, a second engagement may never happen if Bertie's friend, Gussie Fink-Nottle is not somehow "bucked up." Aunt Dahlia has lost big at baccarat and now must get Uncle Thomas to bankroll her women's magazine. It's up to Bertie and Jeeves to set the world right and of course, they do so in most ridiculous fashion.

[ashishg_50 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

PG Wodehouse is a humour genius. This is my third book from him and I had to suppress my laughter so many times lest rest of my family thinks I am a moron. His writing style is full of action, dialogues and plot twists. Characters are odd and stories are odder. His writing seems so suitable for direct film adaptation that were he writing in this day and age, one would have wondered if he had a potential movie deal in mind. While set in Victorian Britain amidst all the proprietary of nobles, his work seems completely familiar to the reader of 21st century. Book is not without artistic liberties in convoluting the story for no reason other than hilarious outcomes those byzantine circumstances will generate or in resolving in the end suddenly, but when read within that context, one cannot help conclude Wodehouse to be one of the most hilarious authors in English literature. Go ahead and read comedy of errors and be ready for side splitting laughter!

[leandrod-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hilarious!

[librisissimo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Even a mediocre Wodehouse is good.

[philsyphe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As much as I liked this book, having read two full-length Jeeves' novels, I must admit to preferring the short story collections. As with the previous book in the series, Jeeves is pushed into the background quite a lot, which is seldom the case in the short stories. Despite this, "Right Ho, Jeeves" is an entertaining book, featuring some funny episodes.

[ridgewaygirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Every so often it's very enjoyable to just lean back and let PG Wodehouse tell me another story about Bertie Wooster, gay boulevardier and carefree man-about-town, and his fish-eating manservant Jeeves. In Right Ho, Jeeves, Bertie must contend with a bossy aunt, a friend who can't quite summon up the courage to tell the girl he loves how he feels and a manservant who disapproves of his new, natty jacket. Wodehouse tells essentially the same story in each of his Wooster and Jeeves books and that is a part of the charm, along with some of the funniest dialogue ever written and main character with a gift for creating outrageous messes, while remaining utterly ignorant of his effect on others. Right Ho, Jeeves was, like every other book in the series, an absolute delight.

[trwhittier-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another awesome Jeeves and Wooster escapade by my main literary man, Plum :)

[karin7-11 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This has been the best thing I've listened to in some time and there were a couple of scenes where I couldn't stop laughing. Listening to Jonathan Cecil was marvelous and I'll have to come back an post a real review.

[sueincyprus · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Classic Wodehouse. Bertie and Jeeves have a little altercation about a new jacket which Bertie has bought... and relations are a little strained. So when they go to stay with Bertie's relatives, and - as ever - various romantic problems arise, Bertie attempts to solve everything by himself, getting into deeper and deeper water.

It's years since I had read this book, but many of the scenes came back to me. I don't laugh aloud very often with PG Wodehouse, but I smile a great deal, and appreciate his wordplay and irony, and the wonderful naivety and (sometimes) gross stupidity of the hapless Bertie. Naturally Jeeves comes out top in the end with a brilliant solution to the various problems, albeit rather at the expense of Bertie himself.

This kind of upper-class verbal slapstick doesn't appeal to everyone, and inevitably the style is slightly dated, as it was first published in 1934. But the humour shines through, the caricatured people are superb, and overall I enjoyed it very much. I was delighted to find it available free for the Kindle at Project Gutenburg.

[wealhtheowwylfing · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The first adventures of Bertie and his estimable manservant, Jeeves. These always make me cackle. The upper class nitwit names alone are worth reading this book.

[quibee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Convinced that Jeeves has "lost it" after the unsuccessful help he gives to Bertie's friend Gussie, Bertie decides to take charge of his friends' love lives with cumulating and ghastly results. Finally Jeeves takes control with his usual ruthlessness.
Poor Bertie.
Rereading of an old favourite.

[soliloquies · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

First ever Wodehouse and I really enjoyed it. Quick wit and a fast pace.

[michael.pope · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Hands down, the funniest book I have ever read in my life!! Based on the strength of this, I am in the process of reading as many Jeeves stories and novels as I can find. Although the part where Gussie Fink-Nottle is giving his speech at the grammar school is often cited as the funniest piece of writing in the English language, I found the entire novel to be at the same level of entertainment. Now, is it just me, or does anyone else hear Hugh Laurie's voice in his head as he reads Bertie Wooster's prose?

[augustusgump · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book contains the funniest chapter in any book I have read. I refer, of course, to the prize-giving at Market Snodsbury Grammar School. "Right Ho, Jeeves" and "The Code of the Woosters" are my favorite Wodehouse novels.

[isabelx_21 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"Thank goodness you've come, Bertie." "Nothing could have kept me away," I replied, touched. "I felt you needed me." "Yes." "Quite." "Or, rather," she said, "not you, of course, but Jeeves. The minute all this happened, I thought of him. The situation obviously cries out for Jeeves. If ever in the whole history of human affairs there was a moment when that lofty brain was required about the home, this is it." I think, if I had been standing up, I would have staggered. In fact, I'm pretty sure I would. But it isn't so dashed easy to stagger when you're sitting in an arm-chair. Only my face, therefore, showed how deeply I had been stung by these words. Bertie Wooster can't quite believe it when his nearest and dearest spurn his help in times of crisis, turning to Jeeves for advice instead. Having already had to speak to Jeeves quite firmly over his disapproval of Bertie's new, oh so fashionable at Cannes, white mess jacket with brass buttons, Bertie decides to take over Jeeves' latest cases himself. These involve helping newt-loving recluse Gussie Fink-Nottle pluck up the courage to propose to the equally soppy Madeline Basset, who describes the stars as God's daisy-chains, and healing the rift between Tuppy Glossop and Bertie's cousin Angela, after she breaks off their engagement due to Tuppy's stark refusal to believe that she had an encounter with a shark at Cannes, and his wounding insistence that it must have been a flatfish. I think that I must have read this book before, a long time ago, as I remembered Bertie's troubles with Madeline Bassett, Gussie's lobe of newts, the school prize-giving, the servants' dance, and the night-time bike ride, but I may also be remembering the story from the old Jeeves and Wooster television series starring Fry and Laurie. Although it contains a lot of the usual Wodehouse tropes, the plot does seem comparatively fresh, possibly because it is only the second Jeeves and Wooster novel. One of the best things about the book is the first -person narration by Bertie. He uses lots of slang, shortens phrases to their initial letters, and scatters half-remembered biblical quotations throughout (after all, he did win a prize for scriptural knowledge at prep school). This is an amusing and frothy tale in which love conquers all at the end, and Bertie escapes unscathed from an accidental engagement, all thanks to Jeeves of course. It is my favourite Wodehouse so far, and definitely deserves 5 stars.

[lizzybeans11 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another fantastic book in the Jeeves and Wooster saga. This story may have a few more hijinx than normal, and Jeeves is in rare and hilarious form. These novels are all written like they could be a tv mini series which is remarkable as tv wasn't around when these first few were written. P.G. Wodehouse was truly ahead of his time.*Spoilers below*Wooster is recently home from a stay with his favourite ancestor when he is called back to give prizes out at a boys school - a very unpleasant task apparently. He cons a school-friend into going so he can be with a girl he likes. Wooster inevitably has to go as well, hijinx ensue, tricks are played on him and Jeeves fixes everything as usual.

[hamburgerclan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

BWAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!! Now I know where John Cleese gets his material.--J.

[julesjones_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fifth in the Jeeves and Wooster books. Jeeves is called upon by Gussie Fink-Nottle to assist in the problem of Gussie being desperately in love with Madeline Bassett, but too shy to talk to anyone but his newts. Bertie, feeling jealous of the respect showered upon Jeeves, feels that he can do better. He gets his opportunity when the first attempt by Jeeves is a failure. Needless to say, nothing can possibly go wrong with Bertie's plan. And certainly not when he also attempts to fix the broken engagement between his cousin Angela and his old chum Tuppy. It all goes wrong, and naturally is all put right again by Jeeves. You could call it formulaic, except that part of the charm is in knowing that this will happen, and watching how Wodehouse does it, with some of the funniest writing it's ever been my pleasure to read. The prose truly does scintillate, absurdity piled ever higher as Bertie prattles on.And a curious thing -- as I read it, I heard it in Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry's voices. Those two did such a superb job of this novel in their tv adaptation that I think I will forever hear the dialogue just as they said it.

[kellyn_903682 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I laughed so hard while listening to this book that I thought I had induced a stroke. My family came to check on me several times throughout the duration of the novel. Truly one of the funniest books I have ever read or heard. When I need a good laugh this is the book I go to.

[unkletom_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Jeeves & Wooster are the literary equivalent of Laurel & Hardy and Right Ho, Jeeves is the best of a great lot.

[ben_a_11 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another splendid Jeeves and Wooster, memorable in particular for the famous Fink-Nottle prize-giving speech, and the following exchange of telegramsNo, but dash it, listen. Honestly, you don't want me. Get Fink-Nottle distribute prizes. A born distributor, who will do you credit. Confidently anticipate Augustus Fink-Nottle as Master of Revels on thirty-first inst. would make genuine sensation. Do not miss this great chance, which may never occur again. Tinkerty-tonk. Bertie.There was an hour of breathless suspense, and then the joyful tidings arrived:Well, all right. Something in what you say, I suppose. Consider you treacherous worm and contemptible, spineless cowardly custard, but have booked Spink-Bottle. Stay where you are, then, and I hope you get run over by an omnibus. Love. Travers.7.11.09

[wisewoman_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lately I've been enjoying Wodehouse's Wooster and Jeeves books on unabridged audiobook, read by the talented Peter Cecil for Audio Editions. I finished Right Ho, Jeeves yesterday and thought it quite good, but not among Wodehouse's greats. This story takes place at the Travers' country home Brinkley Court, where Bertie has repaired to see if he can patch up his cousin Angela's engagement with Tuppy Glossop. Of course there is also another unhappy couple on the premises: the newt-loving, shy Gussie Fink-Nottle and Madeline Bassett (a fearsomely winsome girl whom Bertie calls "the Bassett" — haha!). Many complications and machinations arise, and Bertie is hard-put to it to sort things out. He's determined to try, though; Jeeves has gotten enough glory!Bertie and Jeeves are again at odds over an article of Bertie's wardrobe. This time it's a mess jacket of... ahem... unusual cut and color. You can just hear the pain in Jeeves' voice when he mentions it! Again Bertie is pursued by a woman he can't stand, and again this woman is convinced he loves her devotedly. Wodehouse is very formulaic, but his formulas work, dash it. It was different to see Bertie take a more aggressive approach with Jeeves, and his jealousy of Jeeves' reputation for brainpower is so funny. Jeeves' revenge is daring and dramatic; just wait till you see what he pulls. Of course the whole mess comes off perfectly once Jeeves puts his bean to the job, despite Bertie's blundering efforts. And even if the rest of the book is blah (which it isn't), Gussie's intoxicated speech at the prize-giving of the Market Snodsbury Grammar School would make the whole thing worth it. Oh, so funny!I have to note that the audio quality didn't seem quite up to par on this recording. The louder voices such as Gussie and Aunt Dahlia seemed to saturate the microphone and distort slightly. It wasn't terribly intrusive, but I did notice it enough to be distracted occasionally. It's a pity, because Peter Cecil's reading is fantastic. But I was sorely disappointed that I didn't get to hear Anatole speak. It cut out right as the enraged French cook was opening his mouth, and I had to skip two tracks because the CD was damaged. I hope Judgment Day arrives with unusual severity for people who mistreat library CDs...If you've never listened to Wodehouse on audiobook, you've got a treat coming. It's just another reason that this is a wonderful, splendid, amazing world, full of optimism and sunshine! Or so Gussie would say when under the influence...

[thorold_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's amazing to reflect that what are possibly the two funniest full-length Jeeves novels, Right Ho, Jeeves and Thank you, Jeeves, were both published in the space of a single year, 1934. Right Ho, Jeeves is of course the one where Gussie Fink-Nottle officiates at the prize-giving at Market Snodsbury Grammar School, in one of Wodehouse's most celebrated passages. But we also get a wonderful exchange of telegrams between Bertie and Aunt Dahlia, and Bertie's unforgettable midnight bicycle ride.Bertie is in fine mid-season form as narrator, with some of his best inappropriate similes: "the face was pale, the eyes gooseberrylike, the ears drooping, and the whole aspect that of a man who has passed through the furnace and been caught in the machinery" (Gussie); "She unshipped a sigh that sounded like the wind going out of a rubber duck" (Madeline Bassett regretting that she can never love another); "it sounded as if Carnera had jumped off the top of the Eiffel Tower onto a cucumber frame" (Bertie crunching a piece of apple). But it's unfair to pick out particular passages -- there's linguistic treasure trove on every page. I can't think of any reason not to recommend this book...

[carltonc_5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have been reading the Folio edition of this and the numerous Paul Cox illustrations are wonderful, especially Gussy trying to get Anatole's attention through the skylight.However, I have recently seen the Fry and Laurie adaptation, which is masterful, so that this novel in the series did not give the usual joy, as the adaptation is remarkably faithful, so that the book held little surprise, although the abbreviation slang is not in the adaptation.A wonderful book, but I was just not in the right mood.

[johnmunsch_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Hmm. Entertaining but more in a mildly amusing way than LOL funny. A little on the long side and I have to say I'm a little surprised that this spawned a long series. Perhaps the second one and successive books were better tuned.Note: There is no reason to pay for this book, it is free from the Project Gutenberg.

[sandydog1_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This one frequently made me crack a bit of a smile, and the quaint prep school jargon was a delight. In this hectic world, it is a nice change. 'Reminds me of a BBC comedy show on that rare, slow, quiet, boring Saturday night.

[ianw_93 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Superbly written Jeeves/Wooster story. Introduces the Fink-Nottle/Madeline Basset theme, amongst others. Features Gussie Fink-Nottle presenting the prizes at Market Snodsbury Grammar School, which must be amongst the best 10 or 15 pages he ever wrote.

[boundtogetherforgood · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'll have to reread this someday. I used to not be so good at reading comedy. I know that affected my feelings of this book, that and the fact that so many people LOVE this series. I am not confident this is the first of these books and will have to see if I can better understand the characters if there are books that come before this one.