PG Wodehouse starts with”Jeeves
takes charge”, when Bertram Wooster, engages Jeeves as his valet. Birtie’s
uncle Willoughby has written his memoirs in
which he has described his youthful follies attempted with Florence’s father. All Florence wants is that her fiancé Bertie must
stop the manuscript from reaching the publisher. Bertie pinches the manuscript. But Jeeves has other
thoughts that take the story on another delightful course. In “The Artistic
Career of Corky”, Bertie befriends portrait painter Corky who lives on his rich
uncle’s allowance and cannot tell him that he s in love with a chorus girl,
Muriel. As advised by Jeeves Muriel gets a book on birds written in her name referring
to Corky’s uncle’s own books on birds. Result? Muriel marries the uncle and
Corky becomes famous artist. “In Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest”, one morning
Bertie
suddenly has
Aunt Agatha’s friend, a social worker, Laldy Marven
visiting him and asking him to host her grown up but meek son Motty for a few
weeks. Free of his mother, Motty begins to lead a reckless life. Then, suddenly
Lady Marven arrives. She has seen her son Motty in a prison doing hard labour.
It is once again Jeeves who saves Bertie from the situation. In “Jeeves and the Hard-boiled Egg”, Bertie’s
friend Bicky has a problem which only Jeeves can solve. Bicky’s rich and
miserly hard-boiled egg-like uncle, a Duke, wants to send Bicky on a ranch for
making money. Bicky somehow convinces him that he is doing very well in New York and suddenly
the Duke decides to come and be his guest. Jeeves finds a way out, it
boomerangs. Seeing the nephew doing well, he stops his allowance. Again a
problem, Jeeves solves this too and makes the ‘Duke’ gladly pay his nephew. In “The
Aunt and the Sluggard”, Bertie’s friend Rocky is a sluggard who occasionally
writes poetry and shuns human habitat. His world begins to collapse when his
Aunt Isabel, unable to move around herself, wants Rocky live a high-style in New York and write to
her details at least twice a week. Jeeves takes upon himself to observe
life in
New York and
write to the aunt. One day the aunt lands in New York to enjoy the life she has been
reading about. How she is made to hate the life style, thanks, again, to Jeeves,
forms this story. “The Rummy Affair of Old Biffy” is about Biffy who keeps
forgetting things, even the name and address of his lady love. When he suddenly
decides to marry one it is up to Bertie and Jeeves to dissuade him because the
maiden was sure to make married Biffy’s life a hell. They do this and also
unite him with his lover. “Without the Option” starts differently with Bertie
sentenced by a court to pay a fine and his friend to be in prison for thirty
days. But the friend’s rich aunt has arranged that he must visit Mr.Pringley
and live with them for three weeks. Thanks to Jeeves, Bertie goes to his place
and after several precarious situations Jeeves manages to take the tale to a
happy ending. In “Fixing it for Freddie”, Bertie and Jeeves mend the broken
relationship of lovers Freddie and Elizabeth by kidnapping a child which they
mistakenly believe to be Elizabeth’s
nephew. “Clustering Round Young Bingo” tells how Bertie and Jeeves stop the
publishing of an insinuating article about a husband written by his wife and in
“Bertie changes his mind”, Jeeves narrates how he convinces Bertie that it is
not a good idea to adopt a girl.
More reviews about the Carry on, Jeeves