{"id":2259,"date":"2013-11-07T15:20:05","date_gmt":"2013-11-07T21:20:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/?p=2259"},"modified":"2013-11-07T15:33:13","modified_gmt":"2013-11-07T21:33:13","slug":"p-g-wodehouse-free-books-amazon-and-hats-in-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2013\/11\/p-g-wodehouse-free-books-amazon-and-hats-in-church\/","title":{"rendered":"P.G. Wodehouse, Free books!, Amazon, and Hats-in-Church"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

1.\u00a0 I have homeschooler\u2019s syndrome<\/a>.\u00a0 How do you pronounce \u201cWodehouse\u201d, as in, P.G<\/a>.?<\/p>\n

2. I know there\u2019s a great debate afoot about whether Catholics<\/a> ought to buy books on Amazon<\/a>.\u00a0 Here\u2019s what I\u2019ve decided thus far: Free books don\u2019t count.<\/p>\n

3. I come from a family of undertakers, which might explain why I so enjoy a good funeral.\u00a0 In that same morbid vein, check this out: P.G. Wodehouse\u2019s books are slowly going out of copyright.\u00a0 (I do the math for you: = Free Books<\/a>!)<\/p>\n

So you are asking yourself: Why should I read P.G. Wodehouse?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The answer, of course, is because it\u2019s like Downton Abbey, only without the self-importance. Also, it\u2019s funny, true, beautiful, and good.\u00a0 Primarily: Funny.<\/p>\n

Persuaded?\u00a0 Yes?<\/p>\n

Say yes.<\/p>\n

Now you are asking yourself: But with which book should I begin??<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I will do exhaustive research for you, but it will take time.\u00a0 Meanwhile, may I suggest Uneasy Money<\/em><\/a>?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here are my reasons:<\/p>\n

1) It\u2019s a self-contained story.\u00a0 I know that the Jeeves<\/em> series is the seminal work, but it\u2019s easy to get lost in all the loose ends being picked up from episode to episode in the J&W books.\u00a0 Uneasy Money<\/em> stands on its own.<\/p>\n

2) When you read Jeeves and Wooster, sometimes the pacing bogs down a bit. \u00a0Uneasy Money<\/em> doesn\u2019t slow down so much, since it\u2019s a true romance, and not just a steady flow of avoidance-of-romance slapstick.<\/p>\n

3) Wodehouse really shows off his knack for characterization in UM<\/em>, in a way that gets lost in J&W<\/em>.\u00a0 It\u2019s the difference between being out on the ocean in a raft and being pretty sure the ocean\u2019s quite deep . . . versus actually diving under and seeing how far the water goes.<\/p>\n

4) There aren\u2019t that many romances told from the guy\u2019s point of view.<\/p>\n

So you get all the insight and a fair share of the humor of J&W, only with a tighter plot and more depth.\u00a0 Worth a look.<\/p>\n

So.\u00a0 Hats in Church.<\/h2>\n

Next you ask yourself: What could reading Wodehouse contribute to our understanding of the Mantilla Wars<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Start by taking a look at this timely image over at our hostess Julie D.\u2019s personal blog<\/a>.\u00a0 See? Lady in a hat.<\/p>\n

Now here\u2019s the other reason you need to read Uneasy Money<\/em>:\u00a0 At the very end, there\u2019s a little sequence in which the author, man of his time, drops in a plot-speck* about hats.\u00a0 Wodehouse knows nothing of the future furor over hats-in-church.\u00a0 Wodehouse does not write like a modern romance writer, with long passages about What She Was Wearing and What That Tells Us About Her.\u00a0 He\u2019s a guy.\u00a0 An early 20th-century guy. She\u2019s either got clothes on or she doesn\u2019t \u2014 pretty\u00a0 much a binary reading of the female wardrobe.<\/p>\n

But watch closely at the end of UM<\/em>, and you get to see how utterly differently the world was, in terms of hats, a hundred years ago.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

*A plot-speck is to a plot-point what a little bit of bacon is to a lot of bacon.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t have to be big, it\u2019s still bacon.\u00a0 It matters.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1.\u00a0 I have homeschooler\u2019s syndrome.\u00a0 How do you pronounce \u201cWodehouse\u201d, as in, P.G.? 2. I know there\u2019s a great debate afoot about whether Catholics ought to buy books on Amazon.\u00a0 Here\u2019s what I\u2019ve decided thus far: Free books don\u2019t count. 3. I come from a family of undertakers, which might explain why I so enjoy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,19,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fun-stuff","category-random-bookishness","category-review"],"yoast_head":"\nP.G. Wodehouse, Free books!, Amazon, and Hats-in-Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"1.\u00a0 I have homeschooler's syndrome.\u00a0 How do you pronounce "Wodehouse", as in, P.G.? 2. 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