Something Fresh Book

"Ashe's first impression of Beach, the butler, was one of tension. Other people, confronted for the first time with Beach, had felt the same. He had that strained air of being on the very point of bursting that one sees in bullfrogs and toy balloons. Nervous and imaginative men, meeting Beach, braced themselves involuntarily, stiffening their muscles for the explosion. Those who had the pleasure of more intimate acquaintance with him soon passed this stage, just as people whose homes are on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius become immune to fear of eruptions."

Old Beach is alright but'dash it!'he's not Jeeves you know. A chappie feels like an ass looking for Jeeves in a Blandings book, but I say'dash it!'you know, and all that rot, some fellows just can't be replaced, don't you know.

Actually, in attempting to channel Wodehouse in his "Freddie Threepwood" mode I suddenly miss Bertie Wooster too; they have a very similar manner of speaking, though Bertie seems to possess a few more brain cells than poor Freddie; probably more fish in his diet. The Blandings series is Wodehouse's second most popular series. I don't love it as much as his Jeeves & Wooster stuff but'in the absence of more J&W audiobooks on Librivox'it does brighten up commutes to work very pleasantly. Topping stuff!

Something New is the original title of what later became Something Fresh (US edition) with minor modifications. The story is set in the sprawling Blandings castle where the semi-senile Lord Emsworth lives with his family, with his secretary The Efficient Baxter running the place. The story takes place during a house party and features what seems to be Wodehouse's favorite plot device of somebody trying to steal something that was taken by mistake but the rightful owner'for whatever reason'is too embarrassed to ask for the item back. It this case, it is an ancient Egyptian scarab that was unintentionally purloined by Lord Emsworth during one of his many absent-minded moments. The rightful owner American, millionaire J. Preston Peters, does not want to ask for its return because his daughter is engaged to, Lord Emswort's vapid son, Freddie. This being the case Mr. Peters hires a young man, Ashe Marson, to steal the precious item back. A lot of skulking in the night, collisions, injuries and food spillage ensue.



While not as funny as the Jeeves books I have read, Something New did make me chuckle from time to time, causing my fellow bus passengers to give me funny looks and surreptitiously shift their backsides away. The characters are either charming or wonderfully ridiculous, Wodehouse's prose and dialogue are the stuff of magic.

There is no real substance to the plot, which is the norm for Wodehouse books but does not leave me with much to put in the review. The pottering Lord Emsworth, the idiotic "Honourable Frederick Threepwood", the always suspicious Baxter and the butler Beach, with his endless health complaints, and others are brilliant comic creations and I highly recommend that you acquaint yourself with them at your earliest convenience.
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Notes:
• Audiobook credit: Nicely read by Ms. Debra Lynn for Librivox (free audiobooks). She is an American lady and does not attempt any kind of British accent but she reads everything clearly with reasonable nuances. Imagine a nice American lady coming to read to you while you are ill, you are not going to insist that she does accents, are you?

• New to Wodehouse? This might help: The Best Books by P. G. Wodehouse You Should Read
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Quotes:
"Nothing is a greater breach of etiquette and worse form than to tap people unexpectedly on the shoulder. That, it was felt, should be left to those who are paid by the government to do it."

"Whenever he really thought of it the prospect of getting married rather appalled him. A chappie looked such an ass getting married!"

"The heart does not stand still. Whatever the emotions of its owner, it goes on beating. It would be more accurate to say that Baxter felt like a man taking his first ride in an express elevator, who has outstripped his vital organs by several floors and sees no immediate prospect of their ever catching up with him again. There was a great cold void where the more intimate parts of his body should have been."

"It was all very well to say that George Emerson had known Aline Peters since she was a child. If that was so, then in the opinion of the Efficient Baxter he had known her quite long enough and ought to start making the acquaintance of somebody else."