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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Direct Route Pays Off!, 3 July 2004
In most P.G. Wodehouse stories, the innocents and the not-so-innocents attempt to solve tricky family problems with feats of misdirection and partial truths. The result of these complicated ruses is usually a great deal of unexpected consequences that will tickle almost any funny bone. Heavy Weather is an unusually fine example of this type of story.Monty Bodkin, who's rolling in dough, must hold a job for a year to win the approval of his fiancee's father. Then the wedding bells can chime. Monty isn't the most helpful fellow, and makes a hash out of his writing for Tiny Tots. He soon uses his uncle's influence a second time to get a new job as private secretary to Clarence, ninth Earl of Emsworth, whose pride and joy is his prize-winning pig, the Empress of Blandings. This new employment creates much consternation for Sue Brown, who is engaged to marry the jealous Ronnie Fish. Monty and Sue had been engaged earlier, and Sue's afraid that Ronnie won't be able to handle having Monty around. Wedding bells for Sue and Ronnie depend on getting Clarence to release trust funds for Ronnie. There are a few other problems, as well. For example, Sue earns her living as a chorus girl. What will Ronnie's mother, Lady Julia, think? The key theme of the story is that true love will win out, if the lovers follow their hearts and seize opportunity when it arises. In that way, the end will charm almost anyone . . . much like Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream does. In most stories like this, you can anticipate how the obstacles will be overcome. Well, Heavy Weather will surprise you, if you are like me. The plot complications and resolution are delightfully adept, acrobatic, and subtle. I felt like I was watching the elephants do their ballet dance again in Fantasia. The contradictions between the messy moments and the final neatness are brilliantly handled! The conflict between the desire to have a good reputation and the willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed (including cutting all possible corners) is shown off to good effect in Heavy Weather. Developing this point creates questions about what real goodness is, versus assumed goodness from social position and family connections. In fact, inherited intelligence is also questioned for its morality. The more powerful minds in the story tend to use those capabilities to plot for self-advantage, rather than to accomplish anything meaningful for all involved. Those of limited intelligence, by contrast, tend to follow their hearts and try to do the right thing. Good results follow in this story whenever people are loyal and honor goodness. What can you accomplish by being loyal and honoring goodness today? And tomorrow?
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Splendid British nonsense!, 8 Aug 2008
This was my very first Wodehouse novel and I really, really enjoyed it. I loved everything about it right down to the cover picture, which on the edition I borrowed, shows a particularly funny scene with elements of other parts of the story.
This novel is delightfully amusing. If you're on holiday or have a long journey to make then this would be a good choice to help you on your way. Evelyn Waugh said "Wodehouse's idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own." How very true. Here I am, part of a future generation who has indeed found a little paradise I can visit every so often.
Yes the novel is light relief and complete escapism, but nevertheless there is still some really good writing here. The story is cleverly constructed and the prose style is tremendously entertaining. You are compelled to read on just by the excellent conversations alone. Some of the characters such as Galahad Threepwood have a simply wonderful turn of phrase which I haven't enjoyed in a character so much since I read my last Flashman novel.
Other characters in the novel are extremely enjoyable too. My favourite is probably the unscrupulous detective Percy Frobisher Pilbeam who has marcelled hair and what is gloriously described as a "nasty" moustache. The names in themselves are a treat for example Monty Bodkin and Lady Julia Fish.
The novel does have it's downsides of course. This is an England that never was, (something that I detest in other books), and the female characters are either rather wooden or are really quite negative. Also when all is said and done the ending is a bit lame. To make these kinds of criticisms however, is just to be a spoilsport of what is jolly good fun.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Direct Route Pays Off!, 3 July 2004
In most P.G. Wodehouse stories, the innocents and the not-so-innocents attempt to solve tricky family problems with feats of misdirection and partial truths. The result of these complicated ruses is usually a great deal of unexpected consequences that will tickle almost any funny bone. Heavy Weather is an unusually fine example of this type of story.Monty Bodkin, who's rolling in dough, must hold a job for a year to win the approval of his fiancee's father. Then the wedding bells can chime. Monty isn't the most helpful fellow, and makes a hash out of his writing for Tiny Tots. He soon uses his uncle's influence a second time to get a new job as private secretary to Clarence, ninth Earl of Emsworth, whose pride and joy is his prize-winning pig, the Empress of Blandings. This new employment creates much consternation for Sue Brown, who is engaged to marry the jealous Ronnie Fish. Monty and Sue had been engaged earlier, and Sue's afraid that Ronnie won't be able to handle having Monty around. Wedding bells for Sue and Ronnie depend on getting Clarence to release trust funds for Ronnie. There are a few other problems, as well. For example, Sue earns her living as a chorus girl. What will Ronnie's mother, Lady Julia, think? The key theme of the story is that true love will win out, if the lovers follow their hearts and seize opportunity when it arises. In that way, the end will charm almost anyone . . . much like Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream does. In most stories like this, you can anticipate how the obstacles will be overcome. Well, Heavy Weather will surprise you, if you are like me. The plot complications and resolution are delightfully adept, acrobatic, and subtle. I felt like I was watching the elephants do their ballet dance again in Fantasia. The contradictions between the messy moments and the final neatness are brilliantly handled! The conflict between the desire to have a good reputation and the willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed (including cutting all possible corners) is shown off to good effect in Heavy Weather. Developing this point creates questions about what real goodness is, versus assumed goodness from social position and family connections. In fact, inherited intelligence is also questioned for its morality. The more powerful minds in the story tend to use those capabilities to plot for self-advantage, rather than to accomplish anything meaningful for all involved. Those of limited intelligence, by contrast, tend to follow their hearts and try to do the right thing. Good results follow in this story whenever people are loyal and honor goodness. What can you accomplish by being loyal and honoring goodness today? And tomorrow?
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