Joy In The Morning (Jeeves And Wooster) by P.G. Wodehouse

 

The Jeeves Collection Vol 1: Book Five - Joy in the Morning by P.G. Wodehouse.

Narrated by Sephen Fry.

Released 17th December 2020 by Audible Studios.

From the cover:

“I have the honour to offer up to you, thanks to the good people of Audible, a selection of some of my very favourite Wodehouse. If these stories are new to you I hope it will be the beginning of a lifelong pleasure, if some or all are familiar I hope you will welcome them like old friends.” (Stephen Fry)

Audible Studios presents this brand new performance by Stephen Fry of some of his favourite Jeeves stories from P.G. Wodehouse, with an exclusive introduction.

Book 5: Joy in the Morning

Bertie is persuaded to brave the home of his fearsome Aunt Agatha and her husband Lord Worplesdon, knowing that his former fiancée, the beautiful and formidably intellectual Lady Florence Craye will also be in attendance.

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I am a late-comer to the work of P.G. Wodehouse as I only read my first one a couple of years ago, but it was literary love at first sight! So far, I have only ventured into the Jeeves and Wooster stories, but what better way to enjoy them than through the excellent narration of the incomparable Stephen Fry?

The Jeeves Collection (P. G.Wodehouse Volume One) has been a delight to listen to from beginning to end, covering five of Stephen Fry's own favourite Jeeves and Wooster stories about the loveable, but hapless, Bertie Wooster and his extremely capable valet Jeeves. The collection includes five books - The Inimitable Jeeves, Carry On Jeeves, Right-Ho Jeeves, The Code of the Woosters, and Joy in the Morning.

I have been saving the last story, Joy in the Morning, as a little treat, and it has been a fabulous way to round off the collection. They all pretty much follow the same formula, with Bertie getting into scrapes, generally as the result of trying to 'help out' friends and family with a variety of dilemmas, and having to be rescued by Jeeves. They evoke everything I love about that golden age when wealthy, bright young things spent their time enjoying high-jinks up town and on country estates.

In this particular episode, Bertie has been recruited on behalf of his step-uncle Lord Worplesdon (husband of Bertie's dreaded Aunt Agatha) to aid him in arranging a clandestine meeting with American businessman Chichester Clam, but he gets distracted by trying to get his pal, author 'Boko' Fittleworth, into Lord Worplesdon's good books so Boko can marry his ward 'Nobby' Hopwood. Throw in some awkward scenes with Bertie's former fiancée Florence, her new suitor local copper 'Stilton' Cheesewright, and Florence's troublesome little brother Edwin, and you have all the ingredients for mishaps and mayhem.

You can normally tell right from the beginning where Bertie is going to come a cropper, but this somehow makes things all the more enjoyable, especially as you know Jeeves will come up with a plan to put everything right in the end - including extricating Bertie from an accidental engagement, which seems to happen all too often.

The stories are narrated by Bertie himself, full of lingo suitable for a fine fellow of his age and class, which absolutely zings. Wodehouse's prose just glides, perfectly enunciated by Stephen Fry, and the humour drips from the increasingly absurd predicaments that unfold and Bertie's lack of self-awareness in making matters worse as he tries to do good.

I highly recommend any of these books if you love delicious use of language, laugh out loud capers, and a good rummage in the tweed-clad, what hoi-ng, jolly old past.

About the author:

P. G. Wodehouse (1881-1975) is widely regarded as the greatest comic writer of the 20th century. Wodehouse wrote more than 70 novels and 200 short stories, creating numerous much-loved characters - the inimitable Jeeves and Wooster, Lord Emsworth and his beloved Empress of Blandings, Mr Mulliner, Ukridge, and Psmith. His humorous articles were published in more than 80 magazines, including Punch, over six decades. He was also a highly successful music lyricist, once with over five musicals running on Broadway simultaneously. P.G. Wodehouse was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for 'an outstanding and lasting contribution to the happiness of the world'.

About the narrator:

Stephen Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter, film director and all-round national treasure. 

Whilst at university, Fry became involved with the Cambridge Footlights, where he met his long-time collaborator and friend Hugh Laurie. As half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, he co-wrote and co-starred in A Bit of Fry & Laurie and Jeeves and Wooster. 

Fry’s acting roles include Blackadder, Kingdom, Bones, V for Vendetta, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and The Hobbit trilogy. He has written and presented several documentary series and as a proudly out gay man, the award-winning Out There, documenting the lives of lesbian, bisexual gay and transgender people around the world is part of his 30-year advocacy of the rights of the LGBT community. 

Fry has written four novels: The Liar, The Hippopotamus (made in to a feature film in 2018), Making History and The Stars’ Tennis Balls. Translated into many languages, they have never been out of print. The most recently published works are Mythos, Heroes and Troy, a trilogy retelling the Greeks myths from the Creation to the aftermath of the Trojan War.