Reviews for A Prefect's Uncle

The average rating for A Prefect's Uncle based on 2 reviews is 2 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-09-26 00:00:00 Robert Carlin A Prefect's Uncle is Wodehouse's second book, first published in 1903. Like Wodehouse's other early work, this is a "school story" - a tale set at an English boarding school, probably written with younger readers in mind. Gethryn has a pretty great thing going at Beckford College: he's a good athlete, popular, and a school prefect. But his world turns upside down when his uncle, a younger boy named Reginald Farnie, shows up at school and promptly causes all kinds of problems. I was impressed by how much funnier this book was than Wodehouse's first effort, The Pothunters. That story had some clever moments but was still finding its way a bit. Wodehouse made great strides between his debut novel and this one. The humor is more liberally applied in A Prefect's Uncle, which is most welcome. "If four plutocrats with four sovereigns were to combine, Farnie, by their united efforts, would be saved. And he rather liked the notion of being turned into a sort of limited liability company, like the Duke of Plaza Toro, at a pound a share. It seemed to add a certain dignity to his position." Wodehouse is a master at using understatement and overstatement to make an otherwise ordinary paragraph shine, and there are countless examples on display in this book: "The worst had happened. The bitter cup was full, the iron neatly inserted in Gethryn's soul." "Gethryn nobly refrained from rending the speaker limb from limb." I was thoroughly entertained by this book's humor, and if I were judging it on that aspect alone it would be a 4-star read easily. What weighs it down a bit, and where the book shows its age, are the sections focused on cricket. Sporting stories about youngsters reaching the heights of glory on the field/pitch/diamond/track/whatever are still read by young readers today, but in the early 20th century they were much more popular. In the U.S. kids couldn't get enough baseball stories, while across the pond cricket, rugby, and soccer were in demand. So the long sections dedicated to cricket matches were probably riveting stuff for Wodehouse's target audience 110 years ago, but they felt a little dated to me. But even those sections are rescued by Wodehouse's quick wit, and overall this was a very fun read. 3.5 stars, recommended!

Review # 2 was written on 2018-07-10 00:00:00 Shawn Fraser Only silly fanboys read Wodehouse's school stories. I'm reading them for the second time.