is this news?

[veronamay.livejournal.com]

I was cruising around Wodehouse's bibliography online a few minutes ago, and this popped up as a related link:

Wake Up, Sir! by Jonathan Ames

Apparently it was only published in July this year. Am I hopelessly behind the times, or is this news to the comm?

(There's an excerpt available for reading, btw, and I must say it sounds very Plum indeed.)

There happens to be a copy available at a nearby library, so I'm going to borrow it tonight and start reading. Will be happy to post a review if anyone's interested.

Comments

[parabuzzle.livejournal.com]

ROFL! "mostly Alan's obsession with homosexuality" =x

[veronamay.livejournal.com]

There's this as well, in one of the reviews:

I should mention that Joe Keenan has wrought a gay-themed pastiche of the Bertie-Jeeves formula in his novels Blue Heaven and Putting on the Ritz.

Something else to look up...

[yunafire.livejournal.com]

Coming fully awake and nearly at the height of my sensory powers, I could make out the spinning of the bicycle's tires ... yay, rhymage! ^^

Being totally new to the Wodehouse - though I have borrowed the ONLY TWO books from my library (The Inimitable Jeeves & Very Good, Jeeves!) - I must ask. Who is 'Plum'?

Alright, I lied, second question. Since Bertie and Jeeves are Wodehouse's characters, how is this Jonathan Ames able to use them, as well?

[veronamay.livejournal.com]

"Plum" is Wodehouse's nickname, given him at school. I gather he used it for most of his life.

And I would assume that either Ames is allowed to use the characters as they're partially public domain, or else he's got permission from the Wodehouse estate. :)

[derien.livejournal.com]

The answer to that is, he is not using them. His protagonist is named Alan something, and Jeeves is another person who happens to be a butler and happens to have the name of Jeeves.

[innocentsmith.livejournal.com]

I saw a review of that book in "Believer" magazine around June, I think. The article devoted pages and pages to singing the praises of the original books, as I recall, and about three quarters of one page to "Wake Up, Sir." Which, you know, I can't blame the reviewer for, but it must have been v. annoying for the author. Or maybe not. I mean, he's obviously a fan. Anyway, the impression I got from that review (which may have been a little bit scrambled by the journalist's attempt to do a Wodehouse voice, which...not so much. It's funny that they're always compelled, though) and a quick flip-through at the bookstore was that it laid a lot of stress on the sordid bits and consequences that Plum leaves out...sex, of course, and venereal disease and racism, and alcoholism with hangovers that can't be magically cured. The hero seemed more like an overgrown Holden Caulfield who'd succumbed to "phoniness" than a Bertie Wooster, lacking in the sweetness and loyalty which makes Bertie so lovable. There was even a suggestion that the Jeeves character might be a figment of his imagination. So, despite my raging Wodehouse obsession (or maybe because of it) I figured the odds were pretty high it would just make me very very snarly, and neither I nor that portion of the universe which interacts with me needs that.

*crickets chirp in background*

Er...All that being said, though, I would still like to hear what you have to say about it. Anything J/W related is always of interest, and I'd trust the opinions of a fellow fan before some member of the hipster-intelligensia any day.

[veronamay.livejournal.com]

Alan Blair is definitely no Bertie Wooster. I'm about a fifth of the way through - it's a very easy read - and while it's by no means terrible, it's just left of centre enough to be annoying to anyone who's read the originals. (I can't be too annoyed with it, because after all, we're all derivative.)

Curiously, the Jeeves character is almost spot-on, except Ames has bred him out a bit and made an American of him, so his diction is more relaxed. He still has most of the proper Jeevesian traits - abhorrence of moustaches, insistence on neckwear, etc - but some of the snap has gone by the wayside along with the formality. The idea of Jeeves being an imaginary character, btw, is quite interesting. Blair does hold conversations with Jeeves when the fellow is absent, so there's some credence to the thought.

I'll finish it, I'm sure, but I bet I dive immediately into the fons origo afterward.

[sine-que-non767.livejournal.com]

I'd like to hear your thoughts. I'm torn between a large thumbs-up to anyone who writes a book with Jeeves and homosexual obsessions combined, and a scandalised gasp at the audacity of anyone daring to mess with the Master's creations...

[veronamay.livejournal.com]

Oh my lord, the homosexual obsession is quite pronounced. The protagonist, Alan Blair, is pretty forthright with his thoughts on the subj. and even goes so far as to admit he has a recurring fantasy about being rogered in a prison cell. Not really Woosterish behaviour, no, but you do have to give him points for brazenness. (And for asking Jeeves his thoughts on the diversity of human sexuality.)

[parabuzzle.livejournal.com]

ahahh XD im buying that book now. and getting ode. b&n better have it or ill cry.

[veronamay.livejournal.com]

Well, don't pay too much for it! It's readable, certainly, but I've read better fanfic posted here.

OTOH, I should be fair: Ames isn't really trying to recreate J&W. He explicity draws the reader's attention to his Jeeves's similarity to Wodehouse's creations, so the allusion is a very conscious one.

[sine-que-non767.livejournal.com]

He explicity draws the reader's attention to his Jeeves's similarity to Wodehouse's creations, so the allusion is a very conscious one

Sounds like a case of 'have your cake and eat it too'. Look, I didn't really steal - there's just a remarkable similarity so give me props for my originality and cleverness! ;)

[veronamay.livejournal.com]

Something like that, yeah. It's sort of amusing in a fourth-wall sense, though I do feel sorry for his Jeeves, the poor man.

[veronamay.livejournal.com]

Well, at this point I have to say I've lost most of my enthusiasm for finishing it. (Not least because I just finished The Liar and now I must track down the rest of Fry's books and read them all.) It's just too not-Plum, you know?

[sine-que-non767.livejournal.com]

*stabz Pretender to Plum's Throne*

Yes, read everything Fry has ever written. Even his shopping lists are bound to be scintillating.

[veronamay.livejournal.com]

That's what people say about Stephen King, too. (And I agree.) Must be a Stephen thing.