Reviews for The Beaux Stratagem

The average rating for The Beaux Stratagem based on 2 reviews is 2 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-04-27 00:00:00 Melissa Black Those who know their Wodehouse well know that he did not spring his light fully-formed on the world, but rather rose slowly like an elderly aunt at daybreak. This, then, is Wodehouse at the cock-crow - a pre-Jeevesian jaunt into the world of public school life. As such it differs significantly from what comes after: straighter plot and characters, less literary allusion and an overall grittier tone. Wodehouse's earliest novels were school stories with a heavy emphasis on sporting aspiration and achievement, but The White Feather is something of a transitional novel, the sport - in this case boxing - being included not simply for its own sake but as part of a broader story. Some readers have commented that it was actually something of a step back after Love Among the Chickens, but the truth is the former book was not an immediate success and Wodehouse thoroughly rewrote it a decade later. Anyway, back to The White Feather. This being Wodehouse, the initial set-up is relatively simple - boy suffering guilt after avoiding a fight takes lessons from a professional boxer to redeem himself by winning a school trophy - and being a relatively short novel there are fewer twists and turns than in Wodehouse's later tales. As with those later novels, however, it isn't the plot that draws you in but the characters. The hero, Sheen, is rooted and realistic - a studious but not profoundly intelligent boy who isn't quick to confrontation. It is his transition from sympathetic coward to sporting champion provides the emotional hook on which the novel hangs. Boxer Joe Bevan is the mentor, less prosaic than Wodehouse's later pugilists like Porky Chop, he combines a simple philosophy with a history as a Shakespearean bit-part actor, making him the somewhat improbable mouthpiece for Wodehouse's love of the Bard. The other characters are largely recognisable as the beginnings of Wodehouse types, from the self-interested fellow schoolboys who invite themselves to tea (think Claude and Eustace in the Jeeves books) to the anonymous toughs and political agitants of the town (think of the rallies when Bingo gets involved with the Communists). The dialogue may not crackle with the absurd wit which later came to characterise Plum's world, but once it gets into its stride it reads well enough, and there are flashes of observation here and there in the narrative which suggest the author beginning to get to grips with the style which would finally flourish in books such as Piccadilly Jim or the revamped Love Among the Chickens a few years later. Were this a novel by someone other than Wodehouse, I've no doubt it would be regarded as a charming classic of its time. As it is, it is overshadowed by what was then still to come. Those expecting something like Bingo Little's schooldays should look elsewhere (probably to Anthony Buckeridge's Jennings novels), but for those prepared to look past the Wodehouse brand, these early novels do merit a read.

Review # 2 was written on 2018-11-19 00:00:00 Kristi Martinson If we're honest, Wodehouse's school stories aren't even good examples of the genre.