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indeedsir_backup As some members expressed certain curiosity as to how other nations understand and imagine Jeeves, I decided to suply your respectable melons with information of how it is in Czech.
If you explained that the main plot line of your favourite series was: "there is a young master, not a very bright chap and he has this valet, who is an amazingly resourceful man and..."; there wouldn't be many people (if any) who would recognize it as Jeeves. They would say "You mean Saturnin, right?" That is the main problem a Wodehouse-reader encounters where I live.
"Saturnin" is a book written in 1942 by Zdeněk Jirotka. It was definitely inspired by works of Wodehouse as well as of J.K.Jerome. The plot is very similar in some major features, but quite different in other respects.
The book is narrated in the first voice of the "young master", who is in fact a clerk. The time of the narration is unspecified, but it is probably the 30s. Saturnin, the valet, is manipulating his master and the whole plot much more clearly and has quite a wicked sense of humour. Other characters include Aunt Kateřina, who is very mean and uses proverbs too much for her own good, and her mentally negligible son Milouš. Then there is Miss Barbora (for her the heart of the narrator beats), narrator's Grandfather and Dr. Vlach, who is something of a life philosopher. In the main part of the plot, they all get stuck in grandfather's house, because of a flood which took a bridge away.
The book was translated into English and some other languages, so you may try to find it if it interested you. I can only recommend it, even though I'm not sure of how well the translators did their work.
There is also a movie and a short series of four parts, from which I supply some visual material. Not wanting to kill your connection, I will give you only the links.
Saturnin, note the nails in his pocket
The Narrator and Dr. Vlach
Aunt Kateřina
Aunt Kateřina and Milouš come to live in the narrator's houseboat, very unwelcomed. Translation can be supplied. watch here
The narrator was named for the purposes of the movie as Jiří Oulický. He is played by Ondřej Havelka, who is best known as a singer and an actor and leads his own swing/jazz band. You may want to check his work, if you like Hugh Laurie's musical exploits in the Jeeves series and swing and jazz generally.
"I don't enjoy the life anymore"
"Mendel's Son's Swing Song"
...and I wonder if the tags are ok.
If you explained that the main plot line of your favourite series was: "there is a young master, not a very bright chap and he has this valet, who is an amazingly resourceful man and..."; there wouldn't be many people (if any) who would recognize it as Jeeves. They would say "You mean Saturnin, right?" That is the main problem a Wodehouse-reader encounters where I live.
"Saturnin" is a book written in 1942 by Zdeněk Jirotka. It was definitely inspired by works of Wodehouse as well as of J.K.Jerome. The plot is very similar in some major features, but quite different in other respects.
The book is narrated in the first voice of the "young master", who is in fact a clerk. The time of the narration is unspecified, but it is probably the 30s. Saturnin, the valet, is manipulating his master and the whole plot much more clearly and has quite a wicked sense of humour. Other characters include Aunt Kateřina, who is very mean and uses proverbs too much for her own good, and her mentally negligible son Milouš. Then there is Miss Barbora (for her the heart of the narrator beats), narrator's Grandfather and Dr. Vlach, who is something of a life philosopher. In the main part of the plot, they all get stuck in grandfather's house, because of a flood which took a bridge away.
The book was translated into English and some other languages, so you may try to find it if it interested you. I can only recommend it, even though I'm not sure of how well the translators did their work.
There is also a movie and a short series of four parts, from which I supply some visual material. Not wanting to kill your connection, I will give you only the links.
Saturnin, note the nails in his pocket
The Narrator and Dr. Vlach
Aunt Kateřina
Aunt Kateřina and Milouš come to live in the narrator's houseboat, very unwelcomed. Translation can be supplied. watch here
The narrator was named for the purposes of the movie as Jiří Oulický. He is played by Ondřej Havelka, who is best known as a singer and an actor and leads his own swing/jazz band. You may want to check his work, if you like Hugh Laurie's musical exploits in the Jeeves series and swing and jazz generally.
"I don't enjoy the life anymore"
"Mendel's Son's Swing Song"
...and I wonder if the tags are ok.
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Date: 2010-02-09 06:36 pm (UTC)