The bff and I are both big fans of Wodehousian humor, so while trawling a Best-Of list last year, I stumbled across a glowing review of this novel, recently out in paperback, and thought I’d buy us a copy. Gave it to him for Christmas, and he passed it back to me recently to read over my birthday. It is certainly an updating of the Jeeves conceit, with a narrator who is a modern-day, American Bertie. One wonders if the modern-day, American equivalent would necessarily be as neurotic as our protagonist Alan Blair, tho. I found the best parts to definitely be the beginning and end, when Jonathan Ames hews more closely to Wodehousian plot structure, than the middle, where Blair flounders with Questions and neuroses and a rather charmless hyper-self-consciousness. Overall, a satisfying book for a Wodehousian completist, but given the choice, I’d rather read one of John Mortimer’s modern-day Rumpoles, such as this one, instead.
Feb 17 2016
Wake Up, Sir! by Jonathan Ames
- By Doreen Sheridan in Doreen, Humor, Literature
-
February 17, 2016
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/02/17/wake-up-sir-by-jonathan-ames/
Recent Posts
- Der Tod eines Bienenzüchters by Lars Gustafsson May 5, 2024
- A Song of Comfortable Chairs by Alexander McCall Smith May 4, 2024
- I Am Here by Karen Kilpatrick & Tammy Do May 2, 2024
- The Book of Japanese Folklore by Thersa Matsuura & Michelle Wang May 1, 2024
- Double Booking: The Tail of the Mummy Cat by Chas! Pangburn, Kim Shearer & Nic Touris April 30, 2024
- Witch Hunt by Andrea Balis & Elizabeth Levy, illustrated by Tim Foley April 29, 2024
- Terrorwar Volume 1 by Saladin Ahmed & Dave Acosta April 26, 2024
- The Forgetters by Greg Sarris April 25, 2024
- Nothing Special, Vol One: Through the Elder Woods by Katie Cook April 24, 2024
- The King Of Italy by Kent Heckenlively April 23, 2024
Contributors
- Al Singh
- Doug Merrill
- Doreen Sheridan
- I Am Here by Karen Kilpatrick & Tammy Do
- The Book of Japanese Folklore by Thersa Matsuura & Michelle Wang
- Double Booking: The Tail of the Mummy Cat by Chas! Pangburn, Kim Shearer & Nic Touris
- Witch Hunt by Andrea Balis & Elizabeth Levy, illustrated by Tim Foley
- Terrorwar Volume 1 by Saladin Ahmed & Dave Acosta
- John Pitzel
- Lars N. Goldschlager
- L.M. Davenport
- Laura Eilers
- Professor X
- Robert Maedgen
- Sylvere Ap Leanan
- The Shire
Categories
Tag Cloud
Al
Alternate History
Art
Asia
Auf Deutsch
Autobiography
Children's
Discworld
Doreen
Doug
Dystopia
Eastern Europe
England
Fabulous Ones
Fantasy
Feminism
Fiction
Germany
Graphic Novels
History
Horror
Hugo Finalist
Humor
Laura
Literature
Mystery
Mythology
Nobel Laureate
Non-fiction
Philosophy
Poetry
Poland
Politics
Religion
Romance
Russia
Science
Science Fiction
Short Stories
Süddeutsche Zeitung
Terry Pratchett
Thriller
Urban Fantasy
World War II
Young Adult