Saturday, March 06, 2010

Wodehouse: The Romance Novelist?

Everyone knows that P. G. Wodehouse is everyone's favourite author, right? At least everyone clever or important or human enough. (All you Danielle Steele fans, shame on you and you don't even count...)
Let me take a moment to swoon over the greatness of this man... Sir Plum, you have made my life so bloody enjoyable, yes you have. Here's the extent of my adoration: I almost remember the Wodehouse bio blurb (printed at the beginning of all his books) by heart.
Anyway. That's not the point.
The point is, while everyone goes on and on about Wodehouse's comic brilliance, his amazing use of the ridiculous, his all-is-well-that-we-know-will-eventually-end-well approach to writing (and rightly so), I have never really read anything substantial written about his prowess as a romance writer. A writer of awesome, simple, light-hearted and fun love stories, interwoven beautifully with his nonsense plots.
Who that has read Wodehouse cannot love the breezy, hilarious and cute-rom-com nature of his stories? There's always a likeable good-as-gold chappie, there's always a spirited, tender, fiesty ladybird, and there's' always always unbridled hilarity and whattey! dialogues between the two. Eventually, just when we, the readers, are about to fall off our chairs in anticipation of the big 'moment', the hero will clasp the heroine in an awesomely awesome embrace and say something like, "My mate!"
Hyuk hyuk.I love it. I wish love stories were like that in real life. I wish men were funny and outrageous like Psmith or Joe Vanringham. (The latter being the adorable hero from my latest Wodehouse read, 'Summer Moonshine'.)

Wodehouse's sense of a comfortable, pally love is so perfect. The jokes never stop, the ribbing and teasing are delicious, the situations are ROFL, the weather is always lovely- except when hero/heroine are love sick or depressed.

Sigh... As if real life weren't terrible enough, Sir Plummie has raised the bar on 'romance' for me. Nothing will ever quite match up. *gloom*

PS: Must read for Plummie fans: Wodehouse: A Life, by Robert McCrum