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Book Note: P.G. Wodehouse, The Politeness of Princes and Other School Stories

I read this book about 6-Feb-2006. This is the first time I've read this book. The book is copyright 1905. This note was last modified Monday, 20-Feb-2006 17:46:43 PST.

This note does not contain major spoilers for the book.

 

If I'm reading the front matter correctly, this collection is a Project Gutenberg original, that is, this selection of stories under this title is their own idea. It's available here.

Since it's a Gutenberg original, I should list the individual stories: THE POLITENESS OF PRINCES [1905], SHIELDS' AND THE CRICKET CUP [1905], AN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIR [1905], THE GUARDIAN [1908], A CORNER IN LINES [1905], THE AUTOGRAPH HUNTERS [1905], and PILLINGSHOT, DETECTIVE [1910].

It's probably notable that this kind of "school story" is an important part of the background that Harry Potter grew out of.

None of these stories particularly stands out in my memory, but they're all competent and of course well-written. They tend, compared to some I've seen, to downplay the physical horrors of the Public School, and focus instead on cleverness, something I'm always willing to appreciate.

Wodehouse is darned useful in my Palm Pilot; I can read him for random periods, neither getting bored, nor so enthralled it's hard to break away.


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David Dyer-Bennet