Rob Price
Gutbrain Records
rob + gutbrain.com = email

2012 March 02 • Friday

This might be the first time I've read a book of letters from cover to cover.

Sophie Ratcliffe has done a wonderful job of arranging, annotating and introducing the letters so that they tell the story of a life almost as well as a biography would do. It's one of the most absorbing books I've ever read, though I suppose you have to be a Wodehouse fan for it to have this effect.

Most of Wodehouse's humor goes into his fiction. His letters aren't especially funny, though there are amusing turns of phrase and anecdotes. (One such story, about H. G. Wells, finds its way into a Jeeves novel.)

What comes across most clearly is Wodehouse's character, a man of his time, certainly, but an impressively honest, sincere and scrupulous person, unusually so, I would guess. His devotion to his friends and family and love of animals are equalled only by his work ethic and value of fair play.

This, of course, is why he walked into the biggest mistake of his life, speaking on the radio from Nazi Germany while a prisoner of war. He meant only to respond to the numerous letters he had received from friends and fans who were concerned about his welfare. He was not able to write back, so thought there would be nothing wrong in broadcasting a few messages. He had no idea that such an action could have had propaganda value for the Nazis and, had he known, nothing could have persuaded him to do it.

If you've read, say, ten books by P. G. Wodehouse in your life, you'll probably want to read this.