A Prefect's Uncle

By P. G. Wodehouse

The novel takes place at the fictional "Beckford College," a private school for boys. The action begins with the arrival at the school of a mischievous young boy called Farnie, who turns out to be the uncle of the older "Bishop" Gethryn, a prefect, cricketer, and popular figure in the school. His arrival, along with that of another youngster who becomes a servant to Gethryn, leads to much excitement and scandal in the school, and the disruption of some important cricket matches.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Start Publishing LLC
• Release date: Mar 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9781625589309

P. G. Wodehouse

P.G. Wodehouse (1881-1975) nació en Surrey. Tras trabajar un tiempo como periodista en Inglaterra, se trasladó a los Estados Unidos. Escribió numerosas obras de teatro y comedias musicales, y más de noventa novelas. Creador de personajes inolvidables -Jeeves, Bertie Wooster, su tía Agatha, Ukridge, Psmith, Lord Emsworth, los lechuguinos del Club de los Zánganos, y tantos otros, sus obras se reeditan continuamente, como corresponde a uno de los grandes humoristas del siglo.

Reviews for A Prefect's Uncle

[raizel_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Much of the book consists of play-by-play descriptions of cricket games. But there is an amazing prank described in Wodehouse's inimitable (if that's the word I want) style :...On the following morning, more by design than accident, Fannie upset an inkpot. Mr Smith observed icily that unless the stain was wiped away before the beginning of afternoon school, there would be trouble. Fannie observed (to himself) that there would be trouble in any case, for he had hit upon the central idea for the most colossal 'rag' that, in his opinion, ever was. After morning school he gathered the form around him, and disclosed his idea. The floor of the form-room, he pointed out, was some dozen inches below the level of the door. Would it not be a pleasant and profitable notion, he asked, to flood the floor with water to the depth of those dozen inches? On the wall outside the form-room hung a row of buckets, placed there in case of fire, and the lavatory was not too far off for practical purposes. Mr Smith had bidden him to wash the floor. It was obviously his duty to do so. The form thought so too. For a solid hour, thirty weary by enthusiastic reprobates laboured without ceasing, and by the time the bell rang all was prepared. The floor was one still, silent pool. Two caps and a few notebooks floated sluggishly on the surface, relieving the picture of any tendency to monotony. The form crept silently to their places along the desks. As Mr Smith's footsteps were heard approaching, they began to beat vigorously upon the desks, with the result that Mr Smith, quickening his pace, dashed into the form-room at a hand gallop. The immediate results were absolutely satisfactory, and if matters subsequently (when Mr Smith, having changed his clothes, returned with the Headmaster) did get somewhat warm for the thirty criminals, they had the satisfying feeling that their duty had been done, and a hearty and unanimous vote of thanks was passed to Farnie. [pp. 36-37]

[andersocheva · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Schoolboys play cricket and get into trouble. Occasionally funny, but forgettable.The redeeming feature for me is that Wodehouse's later humour and wit are already apparent in this very early novel; usually, school and sports novels bore me stiff (I usually skip the Quidditch parts in Harry Potter), but here at least I chuckled a few times.

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

Simply God-Awful. All British boy's schools and cricket matches and pip pip cheerio crap. His earlier works were bad, but it's still interesting to see the progression.

[awahlbom_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Schoolboys play cricket and get into trouble. Occasionally funny, but forgettable.The redeeming feature for me is that Wodehouse's later humour and wit are already apparent in this very early novel; usually, school and sports novels bore me stiff (I usually skip the Quidditch parts in Harry Potter), but here at least I chuckled a few times.

[saroz_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wodehouse's second novel, and his first to take a decidedly comic slant. This is still a school story, with large chunks of the second half taken up by cricket games that mean very little to me, unfortunately. In the intervening year between The Pothunters and this novel, though, Wodehouse has clearly been praised for his dry turn of phrase; the tone feels more familiar, with at least some of the dry, ironic observation that peppers his later work.The "Prefect's Uncle" of the title is the most Wodehousian invention, in the most Wodehousian plotline—so it's a shame that it basically fizzles away right at the middle of the book. He hasn't quite learned to balance the different elements of his plot, and there are still too many characters, but...he's getting there.

[leslie398 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While I don't like Wodehouse's school stories as much as either the Jeeves or Blandings ones (too much cricket for this American), I thought this one was better than average.

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

A more benign view of life in Engliſh public ſchools at the beginniŋ of the XX century, in Wodehouſe’s pleaſant humour.

[philsyphe · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

“A Prefect's Uncle” was P. G. Wodehouse’s second publication and was first released in 1903. This isn’t a novel with a single plot featuring a hero and a heroine – in fact no female characters appear – but is rather a series of events, featuring several characters, held together with a stream of continuity.This is nothing like the tales Wodehouse would become famous for writing but his unique style is apparent nonetheless. The story is set in an all-boys’ college. Most characters are aged 17-18, except for the prefect’s uncle, who is 14. Lengthy descriptions of cricket and football matches feature here and there, all of which I skipped with me not being a fan of either sport.Having not been keen on Wodehouse’s first publication – “The Pothunters” – I expected this book to be on par with that one, however, this tale was more appealing to my tastes.

[__lindsey__ · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Not much of a plot in this one. I hope you're a cricket fan if you read it! It looks like from many of the reviews that this is nowhere near what Wodehouse's popular works are like, so I won't write him off completely. Plus, you have to give someone a second chance when Douglas Adams has called him the greatest comic writer ever.

Some bits of this book here and there were delightful to read, but most was "beastly". (That would be one of the delights of the book for me, whenever someone called something "beastly".) I'm glad it was short.

On a stupid American note, as this was a British school story, I learned that some of the things about Hogwarts were not original; they are just standard in the British school system (or the old system? I don't know how much has changed and what percentage of kids go away to school since this book was written) - the school is divided into different houses, and they compete against each other for a cricket cup. And then there are prefects of course. Up until now Harry Potter has been my only glimpse into British schooling.

And I just realized there are no female characters in this book, but that is kind of to be expected in a boys' school story.

[ajbraithwaite_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fun - though it might help if you know a bit more about cricket and rugby than I do.

[devenish_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is one of Wodehouse's early school stories,and was written in 1903,before being republished in 2006 by Bibliobazaar.While obviously an apprentice work,The genius of 'The Master' still shines clearly through.The scene is Beckford College where the pupils seem to be spending most of their time playing cricket. For me a little too much in fact. As with all Wodehouse however this book has much to commend it. Not least when the main character is faced with his uncle arriving at the school, This uncle being somewhat younger than he is. This creates,as you might imagine many problems before the end of the story.