Samansafn 8 fyrstu smásagnanna um treggáfaða yfirstéttarmanninn Bertie Wooster og trúfastan einkaþjón hans Jeeves sem hefur ráð undir rifi hverju. Hér má líka finna allar sögurnar um Reggie Pepper sem var fyrirmyndin að Wooster og nánast tvífari hans. Sögurnar eru margar stórfínar og skemmtilegar en eru því miður afskaplega keimlíkar. ( )

Not only does this have early Wooster and Jeeves stories----not sure it's all of them, though---but also, purportedly, the complete set of Reggie Pepper, a forerunner of Bertie Wooster, albeit without Jeeves. Most of the Reggie stories were new to me, making this a nice find. ( )

I've just started reading Wodehouse and I'm gald I read one of the novels first. The stories in this collection aren't bad, but they do get a bit repetitive. Not surprising given that they were likely published over a period of time and the shortness tends to make the formula more noticeable.

On the other hand, there's what I consider to be an absolutely brilliant Jeeves story that's a nice twist on the character in "Jeeves in the Springtime". I don't want to ruin the surprise (which is somewhat guessable, but still fun). The problem being if you haven't read one or two of the novels you probably don't get how it steps out of character. (Or rather, appreciate it fro the brief glimpse you get into his character when he's not being the most incredible butler on earth.)

I'll probably pick a few more Wodehouse to people. I don't know though if I'd recommend this collection, except for the purposes of the short story I mention above. ( )

I adore Jeeves and Bertie, but mostly I love Plum's wordplay. ( )

Having heard a lot of my fellow LTers rave about P. G. Wodehouse, I was eager to get to this collection of early Bertie and Jeeves stories. Maybe I was expecting too much. Like the reviewer below, I found them to be very repetitive. Wodehouse creates two memorable characters who, by now, have become archetypes: the rather easily flustered but always conscious that he needs to keep his cool young British man of the upper class, and his wise, all-knowing "man" who solves his dilemmas. Apparently young artistocrats falling for vaudeville ingenues was a popular trope of the time, since it appears in more than half of the stories.

In short, this was a quick, light read with some insight into the facade of the British upper class, but I probably won't be seeking out more books by Wodehouse. ( )