My Man Jeeves - Classic Fiction Review

Goodreads:  My Man Jeeves (Jeeves #1) by P.G. Wodehouse

Rating: Liked It! (3.5 Stars)
Source:   Library

Description:  Who can forget our beloved gentleman's personal gentleman, Jeeves, who ever comes to the rescue when the hapless Bertie Wooster falls into trouble. My Man Jeeves is sure to please anyone with a taste for pithy buffoonery, moronic misunderstandings, gaffes, and aristocratic slapstick.

Contents:
"Leave It to Jeeves"
"Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest"
"Jeeves and the Hard-boiled Egg"
"Absent Treatment"
"Helping Freddie"
"Rallying Round Old George"
"Doing Clarence a Bit of Good"
"The Aunt and the Sluggard"

Of the eight stories in the collection, half feature the popular characters Jeeves and Bertie Wooster, while the others concern Reggie Pepper, an early prototype for Bertie Wooster.

Revised versions of all the Jeeves stories in this collection were later published in the 1925 short story collection Carry On, Jeeves. One of the Reggie Pepper stories in this collection was later rewritten as a Jeeves story, which was also included in Carry On, Jeeves.

Genre:  Fiction - Classic

Why I Picked This Book:   I've enjoyed Jeeves stories in the past and my Grandmother loved them but I had never read the first book.

My Impression:  I really enjoyed my re-visit to Wodehouse's world.   Jeeves and Bertie's dynamic is incredibly entertaining with their difference of opinions on Bettie's style as well as Bertie's propensity to get into scrapes.  While I enjoyed seeing the beginning of Jeeves I didn't enjoy the Reggie Pepper stories quite as much.  You can definitely tell it is the origin of Jeeves and Bertie but I didn't feel it had the sly humor that the later stories do.

This was a fun read and a nice palette cleanser from more intense stories.   I think the Jeeves stories are best read in small bites.  I love Jeeves and Bertie but reading more than one story at a time does feel a bit monotonous.  I'm looking forward to reading more and will remember to take it one story at a time instead of trying to read the whole book in one go.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?  Absolutely!  The next books will be great choices for a slow read.

Would I Recommend this Book? If you're looking for something a bit different or a quieter read with a bit of humor the Jeeves stories are great picks and absolutely don't need to be read in order.