P.G. Wodehouse: A Life in Letters
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Review
Ratcliffe sees him through to the end with affection. Hers is a model edition, tracing the rise and fall of a writer who allowed his imagined world to eclipse the real. --Sunday Times
This authoritative edition of generous selections - from "Plum's" prolific pen, from schooldays at Dulwich College in 1899 throughout his long Anglo-American career as a novelist and musical comedy lyricist to his last letters from Long Island in 1975 - is acutely attuned to his contradictions of character and his desire to please at the expense of absolute veracity. The letters, gossipy in the kindliest, amused/bemused manner, bear true witness to the wide-ranging influences on Wodehouse's' best-known novels and best-loved characters. --The Times
In this new collection . . . Sophie Ratcliffe has rolled up her sleeves and waded into the fray . . . she has succeeded marvellously. When it comes to the world of Wodehouse, Ratcliffe knows her stuff. She has embroidered this plump selection of letters with an illuminating but unobtrusive critical apparatus. --Literary Review
An intriguing picture of a great 20th-century writer . . . In its peculiar English way, it has a strange intimacy, the perverse fruit of Wodehouse's instinctive, Jeevesian, discretion. --Robert McCrum, Guardian
A lovely new book
--Craig Brown, Daily Mail
This authoritative edition of generous selections - from "Plum's" prolific pen, from schooldays at Dulwich College in 1899 throughout his long Anglo-American career as a novelist and musical comedy lyricist to his last letters from Long Island in 1975 - is acutely attuned to his contradictions of character and his desire to please at the expense of absolute veracity. The letters, gossipy in the kindliest, amused/bemused manner, bear true witness to the wide-ranging influences on Wodehouse's' best-known novels and best-loved characters. --The Times
In this new collection . . . Sophie Ratcliffe has rolled up her sleeves and waded into the fray . . . she has succeeded marvellously. When it comes to the world of Wodehouse, Ratcliffe knows her stuff. She has embroidered this plump selection of letters with an illuminating but unobtrusive critical apparatus. --Literary Review
An intriguing picture of a great 20th-century writer . . . In its peculiar English way, it has a strange intimacy, the perverse fruit of Wodehouse's instinctive, Jeevesian, discretion. --Robert McCrum, Guardian
A lovely new book
--Craig Brown, Daily Mail
Book Description
The collected letters of England's best-loved comic writer
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As I write this, I have not yet finished reading this epic book, but I am completely absorbed. The title says it all: it is Wodehouse's life as depicted in letters, but it is so much more. The introduction alone is worth the price of the book, but the scholarship that has gone into this collection of letters puts Frances Donaldson's work completely in the shade. Each chapter is preceded by a biographical section describing what was happening in Wodehouse's life at the time the particular letters were written. For anybody seeking a well-written, concise review of Wodehouse's career and personal circumstances, these introductory sections are particularly valuable. The letters themselves, many of them never before published, not only demonstrate Wodehouse's flair with the written word but also sometimes reveal his private thoughts, making him more human. References to people, places, and events of his time that would be meaningless to us now are explained in invaluable footnotes to each section and provide a fascinating historical, contextual backround. All in all, it is a very well-edited, well-presented collection of letters, and I recommend it very highly indeed.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The book is worth having alone for the delightfully vivid and delicately observant introduction. Ratcliffe's writing is adroit, elegant but also penetrating in what she draws out. She has clearly spent a long time with Wodehouse and draws up the most sympathetic and moving of character sketches. She has enough distance between her subject to acknowledge his foibles and weaknesses; the contraditory impersonations and prejudices of his letter writing character. The selection is brave in what it includes. 'A Life in Letters' is something close to a good autobiography because it tells us things that are difficult to hear.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A Wodehouse novice, fascinated by the recent 'Wogan on Wodehouse' documentary, I purchased this volume last week. It is an engrossing and entertaining account of the life of this comic genius. The letters from his schooldays, and the ones which cover the war, are particularly interesting. This is the sort of book that you can dip into, or read more carefully, following the narrative through his very eventful life. This strikes me as really well edited, well worth the price, and richly illustrated. Thoroughly recommended.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
I hope Norah will be very happy
When in 1951, his old school mate William Townend suggested making a book out of their letters, Wodehouse was enthusiastic about the idea, but thought that they would need some... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Metropolitan Critic
A life in letters
This will make a great Christmas present for many of my friends and family. Informative, interesting and some wonderful photographs.
Published 7 months ago by avalona
How is this different from "Yours, Plum"?
Is there any significant difference between this volume of letters and the Wodehouse letters published in the mid-90s under the title "Yours, Plum"?
Published 7 months ago by Kirsty
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