Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves

Bertie Wooster, the young Englishman with more money than brains, and his clever and serenely efficient valet, Jeeves, are drawn to Totleigh Manor, where Bertie must be kept from the marital clutches of the simpering Madeline Bassett. Veteran actor Michael Hordern plays Jeeves as dry, supercilious, and long suffering. Richard Briers is a splendid and especially lively Bertie. The other actors are good, if at times a bit over the top. The one American accent is unconvincing, and the listener must, if possible, ignore smatterings of the easy racism of early-twentieth-century England. Otherwise, this farce, full of bluster and silliness, will entertain almost any listener and will delight Wodehouse fans. W.M. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine


Is it possible? Jonathan Cecil gets even better at reading Wodehouse. Given the excellence of his earlier narrations, that's hard to believe, but it's true. In this Wodehouse classic, Cecil gets a chance to stroll through a half-dozen distinct class and regional accents of British English. Everyone--except the ever-calm Jeeves, of course--writhes in sublimely ridiculous emotional agonies as Madeline tries to convert Gussie Finknottle into--say it softly--a vegetarian, thereby upsetting the applecart of relationships for everyone from narrator Bertie to dog Bartholomew. Completely ridiculous, it's all a pleasure for the ear and wit. G.T.B. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine