Microblog : A very long article Wikipedia article on the orientation of toilet paper [7 jun à 22:52] [R]

Vendredi, 9 juillet 2010

Jeeves Makes an Omelette

Traduction: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Catégories : [ Livres/Wodehouse ]

ISBN: 9780091773540

© Amazon.fr

Published in A Few Quick Ones in 1959.

Aunt Dahlia is trying to convince the famous novelist Cornelia Fothergill to publish her latest novell as a serial in Dahlias's paper, Milay's Boudoir, but the writer doesn't want to sell it as cheap as Dahlia can afford. Dahlia then learns that Cornelia's husband, the famous painter Everard Fothergill, is sick to see every day in the dining-room a terrible painting made by his father Edward Fothergill, who gave it to his son as a wedding present. Dahlia thus asks Bertie to steal the painting, which would make Cornelia happy that her husband is not depressed anymore by the sight of the the painting and would then sell the novel at the price Dahlia offers; since there has been a series of burglaries in the neighbourhood, nobody would suspect a thing. Bertie eventually steals and destroys the painting, but when only one bit is left bearing the painter's signature, Jeeves notices that Bertie stole the wrong painting, a somewhat similar piece by Everard, which happens to be the artist's favourite. On their way to the dining-room to verify which painting Bertie has taken, they meet Edward Fothergill carrying the terrible painting. He explains that he loves it so much that he should never have given it to his son, and has faked a burglary to recover it. Jeeves then suggest that Bertie could pretend to have tried – and failed – to prevent the burglars to perpretate their crime, and Dahlia knocks him out for verisimilitude.

[ Posté le 9 juillet 2010 à 14:51 | pas de commentaire | ]

Mardi, 29 juin 2010

Jeeves and the Greasy Bird

Traduction: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Catégories : [ Livres/Wodehouse ]

ISBN: 9780091773540

© Amazon.fr

Published in Plum Pie in 1966.

Bertie learns that his now friend Roderick Glossop is depressed because his fiancee refuses to get married before Roderick's daughter Honoria is married. Aunt Dahlia happens to be working with Blair Eggleston, a young author who produces a serial for her paper, Milady's Boudoir. The author has told Dahlia that he is madly in love with Honoria but is too shy to propose. Bertie then decides to court Honoria to make Eggleston jealous and force him to propose to Honoria. Bertie goes however a bit too far since, after kissing Honoria in front of Eggleston, he learns they had been engaged since the previous evening and that this move made him break the engagement. Honoria of course considers herself to then be engaged to Bertie. To force her to break their engagement, Bertie, on Jeeve's advice, hires an acrtress, Trixie, to pretend to be engaged to him in front of Honoria, but this scheme has been unnecessary since Honoria and Eggleston are already reconciled. The agent of the actress howerver blackmails Bertie to marry Trixie or get sued for breach of promise. On the day the blackmailer comes to Bertie's place to collect his money, Jeeves and Dahlia manage to convince him that Bertie is actually living far beyond his means, has not actually any money to pay him, and would be sent by Dahlia to Canada with a very small allowance.

[ Posté le 29 juin 2010 à 18:45 | pas de commentaire | ]

Extricating Young Gussie

Traduction: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Catégories : [ Livres/Wodehouse ]

ISBN: 9780091773540

© Amazon.fr

Published in The Man with Two Left Feet in 1917.

Aunt Agatha sends Bertie to New York to prevent his cousin Gussie Mannering-Phipps to marry a vaudelville actress by the name of Ray Denison. When Bertie meets Gussie, he discovers that Gussie is playing on the vaudeville stage as well, Ray's father, a famous vaudeville actor himself, refusing that his daughter marries outside of the profession. Reaching a dead-end, Bertie ask Aunt Julia, Gussie's mother, to come to New York and reason with her son. But the mother used to be herself a vaudeville actress, and was turned into a respectable lady by Aunt Agatha and by force after getting married. When Aunt Julia meets Ray's father, she recognizes him as an old accointance from when she was on the stage. The man reveals that he had always been in love with her and since their are both widow(er)s, he asks her back to come back the stage and to marry him.

[ Posté le 29 juin 2010 à 18:12 | pas de commentaire | ]

Dimanche, 27 juin 2010

Aunts Aren't Gentlemen

Traduction: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Catégories : [ Livres/Wodehouse ]

ISBN: 9780091773540

© Amazon.fr

Published in 1974.

Bertie's physician suggested him to go and rest in the countryside. Bertie decides to rent a cottage at Maidens Eggesford, where his Aunt Dahlia is staying with friends of hers, the Briscoes. Colonel Briscoe breeds horses, and his horse's only serious competitor is Mr. Cook's horse, his arch-rival. On his first day at the village, Bertie accidentally meets Cook, who, learning that Bertie knows Briscoe, is convinced he has come to sabotage the training of his horse by pinching the cat. The cat appeared one day and since then, Cook's horse refuses to train if she is not around. Moreover, Major Plank is staying at Cook's place and, although an attack of malaria prevents him from remembering in what circumstances he had previously met Bertie, there is a risk in the future that he would remember that he is convinced Bertie is a thief. When Aunt Dahlia, who had bet a very large sum of money on Briscoe's horse, learns about the cat, she asks Briscoe's niece to help her pinch the cat. Thanks to a local poacher of her accointance, the cat is stolen and delivered to Bertie. Bertie then pays the poacher to take it back, but the cat follows him back to Bertie's place and refuses to leave. At the same time, Cook's daughter Vanessa, whom Bertie had met once at a party a year ago, quarrels with her fiance Orlo, the son of Cook's former business partner, who has entrusted the control of Orlo's inheritance to Cook. The reason of the quarrel is that she finds Orlo didn't ask her father hard enough for the release oh his money. Orlo needs the money to be able to marry Vanessa, but her father refuses her to marry the communist he is. Vanessa therefore announces Bertie they are now engaged, and that she will make him loose all his bad habits (smoking, drinking cocktails, going do the Drones' club and reading light books). Orlo is of course furious and threatens Bertie, but since the former, an insurance salesman by trade, managed to sell Bertie a life insurance, killing him would be bad business. Bertie manages to convince Orlo that Vanessa actually still loves him, and encourages him to ask again for his money. When Jeeves comes back from visiting his aunt at a nearby place, he tells Bertie that the cat is actually his aunt's, and they use the animal to force Cook into releasing Orlo's money and dropping the charges agains Bertie for cat-theft (Plank having meanwhile remembered his first meeting with Bertie). Briscoe's horse eventually wins the race and everything ends well.

[ Posté le 27 juin 2010 à 16:14 | pas de commentaire | ]

Dimanche, 20 juin 2010

Much Obliged, Jeeves

Traduction: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Catégories : [ Livres/Wodehouse ]

ISBN: 9780091773540

© Amazon.fr

Published in 1971.

Bertie's friend Harold ‘Ginger’ Winship is, under the pressure of his fiancee Florence Cray, running for Parliament in Market Snodsbury. Aunt Dahlia asks Bertie to come to Brinkley Court and canvass for him. The first person Bertie meets is Mrs. McCorkadale, Ginger's opponent; the meeting is disastrous, which convinces Bertie to give up. Mrs. McCorkadale is however fair-play enough to go and see Aunt Dahlia to warn her that a man called Bingley (a former valet, who had been at Bertie's service in a previous episode) wanted to sell her dirty information about Ginger which Bingley got from the book of the Junior Ganymede Club a club of valets and butlers who keep records of juicy information about their employers. Bingley had stolen the book and while Bertie's attempt at recovering failed, Jeeves' succeeded. Moreover, Dahlia had invited Roderick Spode, Lord Sidcup to keep speeches in favour of Ginger. Finally, Dahlia had also invited a businessman called Runkle from whom she hopes to extract money; the man was Tuppy Glossop's father's employer and made a fortune from an invention by Tuppy's father, but never paid him back anything. Since Tuppy and Dahlia's daughter Angela are engaged, Tuppy needs money to get married, and Dahlia wants to get the money for him. Ginger's problem is mainly that he had fallen in love with the secretary he had engaged to help him in his campain, and needs Florence to break the engagement. Meanwhile, Spode taking a liking on running for parliament, he decides to give up his title to be allowed to run for it. Madeline, his fiancee who dreamt of becoming Lady Sidcup then breaks the engagement and turned once again to Bertie. Finally, Dahlia being unsuccessful at softening Runkle up wants to blackmail him by stealing a piece of silver he wanted to sell to Dahlia's husband Tom (who had fled the house since he hates guests). When Bertie is trying to put the silver back in Runkle's room, he is caught and accused of theft. Eventually, advises by Jeeves, Ginger decides to make a speech where he encourages his supporters to vote for Mrs. McCorkadale. This prompts Florence to break her engagement to him. Since Spode got a black eye from a thrown potato during Ginger's speech, he decided to give up becoming a member of the Parliament, which makes Madelin restore their engagement. Florence then proposes to Bertie, but Runkle tells her that Bertie is a thief, and she takes her proposal back. Finally, thanks to the information found in the Junior Ganymede Club's book (Bingley having been in Runkle's service), Dahlia manages to blackmail Runkle and extort him to money she wanted.

[ Posté le 20 juin 2010 à 18:53 | pas de commentaire | ]

Samedi, 12 juin 2010

Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves

Traduction: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Catégories : [ Livres/Wodehouse ]

ISBN: 9780091753405

© Amazon.fr

Published in 1963.

Bertie's friend Pinker tells him that his fiancee Stiffy Bing wants him to go to Totleigh Towers to do something for her. Knowing Stiffy, Bertie refuses at first, but when he learns that Gussie is angry at his fiancee Madeline because she put him on a vegetarian diet, and that if they break up, Madeline will turn to Bertie, the latter decides to go to Totleigh Towers and try to patch their relationship. Sir Watkin Basset, Madeline's father and Siffy's uncle, is a collector, and he recently acquired for a very low price a very valuable statuette. Stiffy wants Bertie to return the statuette to the seller, an explorer named Planck, because she believed Sir Watking cheated him. But Sir Watkin only pretended to have paid a low price, to make Bertie's uncle Tom Travers, another competing collector, jealous. Thanks to Jeeves, the statuette is returned to Sir Watkin's collection room, and Bertie escapes the wrath of Roderick Spode, now Lord Sidcup, who is persuated that Bertie has come to the house to steal the statuette. Later, Gussie flees the house with the cook and Sir Watkin is happy to learn that his daughter will not marry Gussie after all. He's so happy that he even promises a vicarage to Pinker, who was waiting for it to get married to Stiffy. But when he learns that Madeline got engaged to Bertie (because she believes he is in love with her), he takes his word back. Thanks to Jeeves, Pinker gets a vicarage at the neighbouring village from Planck, who was at the same time looking for a new vicar and a player for his rugby team. Stiffy then gives him the statuette, which she had again pinched from the collection to blackmail her uncle to honor his word. Bertie passes it to Jeeves. Meanwhile, Lord Sidcup tries to convince Madeline, with whom he had been in love for a very long time, to marry him instead to Bertie. She makes her mind to do so when Jeeves tells her that Bertie is a kleptomaniac and that he just found the statuette hidden in Bertie's sock drawer. Bertie is then arrested and put in prison, but Jeeves manages to get him out by promising to enter Sir Watkin's service (which he plans to quit after a week to return to Bertie's service) against him dropping the charges against Bertie.

[ Posté le 12 juin 2010 à 21:21 | pas de commentaire | ]

Samedi, 5 juin 2010

Jeeves in the Offing

Traduction: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Catégories : [ Livres/Wodehouse ]

ISBN: 9780091753405

© Amazon.fr

Published in 1960.

Bertie learns in the Times that he is engaged to Bobbie Wickham. Soon after, he is asked by Aunt Dahlia to come to Brinkley Court. Her goddaughter, Phillis Mills is already staying there and her stepfather, Aubrey Upjohn, Bertie's former schoolmaster, accompanied her; he is to deliver a speech at Market Snodsbury's grammar school in a few days. Moreover, Dahlia's husband Tom is negotiating with an american named Mr. Cream, who came to Brinkley Court with her wife, a mystery writer, and her son Willie. The latter has a reputation of a playboy, and Dahlia doesn't want him to get engaged to Phillis who is a bit of a slow thinker, and likely to fall for him. At Brinkley Court, Bobbie tells Bertie that the announcement was a plot to make her mother feel relieved when she tells her she is actually engaged to Reginald ‘Kipper’ Herring, a friend of Bertie's who is a columnist at a paper and recently wrote an acerbic critic of Upjohn's book on English grammar schools (of which Bertie and Kipper have terrible memories). Moreover, Bertie discovers that Roderick Glossop, the loony-doctor, is posing as the butler; he has actually been asked by Aunt Dahlia to evaluate the sanity of Willie Cream. Since Dahlia is temporarily away from the house, Bertie, as the acting host cannot tail Willie all the time to prevent him from proposing to Phillis, so he invites Kipper and asks him to replace him. Bertie then learns from Jeeves (who is currently on vacation) over the phone that Willie Cream is also a kleptomaniac, and soon discovers that Tom's silver cow creamer has disappeared from the collection. After Bertie fails twice at searching Willie's room, Glossop manages to recover the object. Meanwhile, Upjohn has seen the critic on his book and wants to sue the paper, meaning that Kipper would loose his position there and be barred from getting a new one. Soon after, one learns that Phillis got engaged to Willie and after a heated discussion with Upjohn, Dahlia (who came back) discovers that the Cream have two boys, Wilfred and Wilbur, and that the playboy is the other one; exasperated by Upjohn's smug attitude, she asks him to leave the house. Jeeves, who had come back on Bertie's call for help, packs his belongings and pinches the text of his speech. Since Upjohn is unable to deliver a speech without his notes and that the speech is impotant since it would start his political carreer, Bobbie blackmails him to drop the lawsuit for the return of the speech. Some time earlier, Mrs Cream had discover the silver cow creamer hidden among Glossop's belongings (who doesn't know that Tom actually sold it to Willie) and called the police. Since to defend himself Glossop would have to reveal that he was called to spy on Willie and thought the latter had stolen it, thus jeopardizing Tom's negotiations, Jeeves suggest to tell that Bertie is the kleptomaniac.

[ Posté le 5 juin 2010 à 11:46 | pas de commentaire | ]

Vendredi, 28 mai 2010

Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit

Traduction: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Catégories : [ Livres/Wodehouse ]

ISBN: 9780091753405

© Amazon.fr

Published in 1954.

Aunt Dahlia wants Bertie to come and keep her company at Brinkley Court, where she had invited Mr and Mrs Trotter and Mrs Trotter's son Percy Gorringe, a poet. Florence Craye and her very jealous fiance G. D'arcy “Stilton” Cheesewright are staying there too. Aunt Dahlia plans to sell her magazine, Milday's Boudoir to Mr Trotter, and she has hired the very famouse writer Daphne Dolores Morehead to make the magazine look more valuable. But since her husband Tom won't to pay for it, she has pawned her pearl necklace. At some point, Florence breaks up with Stilton and gets engaged to Bertie. Moreover, Percy, who plans to adapt Florence's novel Spindrift as a play, is madly in love with her. When Tom announces he has invited Roderick Spode, now known as Lord Sidcup and an expert in jewellery, she asks Bertie to steal the necklace before Sidcup can identify it as a copy. Bertie fails, and as a consequence the necklace ends up in the safe. When the safe remains open by accident, Dahlia takes her necklace, and a bit later Bertie, seeing the safe open, steals the second necklace, belonging to Mrs Trotter, believing it is his aunts. Dahlia's problem is that Mr Trotter is completely under the control of his wife, and she wants Anatole, Dahlia's French cook. When Mrs Trotter discovers her necklace has been stolen, she threatens to call the police. Jeeves then returns the necklace he claims to have found somewhere, and reveals it's a copy. Mrs Trotter admits she pawned it because Percy needed money for the play. Mr Trotter gets angry and from there on takes control of his marriage. When Florence learns what Percy has done for her, she suddenly fells in love with him. Dahlia eventually manages to sell her magazine to Mr Trotter.

[ Posté le 28 mai 2010 à 21:15 | pas de commentaire | ]

Mercredi, 12 mai 2010

Very Good, Jeeves

Traduction: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Catégories : [ Livres/Wodehouse ]

ISBN: 9780091748333

© Amazon.fr

Published in 1930.

Jeeves and the Impending Doom Aunt Agatha has invited Bertie to her country house where he meets Mr Filmer, a very strict and important fellow. Bingo Little is there too, tutoring Agatha's son Thomas. This job is very important for Bingo who gambled and lost all the money his wife left him before travelling, and he asks Bertie to prevent Thomas to harm Filmer. But Thomas strands Filmer on an island during a rain shower, and Bertie makes a fool of himself trying to save him. They are eventually saved by Jeeves who claims this was all Bertie's fault, thus saving Bingo's position. Jeeves had learned that Agatha wanted to convince Filmer to take Bertie as his personal secretary, which saves Bertie the trouble of having to work.

The Inferiority Complex of Old Sippy Sippy is editor of The Mayfair Gazette, and in love with Gwendolen Moon who writes poems for the paper. But he's too shy to aks her, and also he's too intimidated to refuse boring articles from his former headmaster. Bertie's idea is to get the headmaster covered in flour in Sippy's office to make him laugh at his Nemesis, which in turn would give him courage to ask Gwendolen, but Jeeves quietly implements his own idea. He invites Sippy and Gwendolen at Bertie's place and smacks Sippy on the head just before Gwendolen arrives. Because of the emotion, they then declare their mutual love, which gives Sippy the energy to reject the headmaster's last paper.

Jeeves and the Yule-Tide Spirit Bertie is sent for Christmas by Aunt Agatha to Lady Wickham's, where Sir Roderick and Tuppy Glossop are also staying. Aunt Agatha hopes to get Sir Roderick to reconsider his diagnostic of lunacy on Bertie. Bertie wants to get back at Tuppy for a prank the latter played on him recently. On Roberta's idea, Layd Wickham's daughter's with whom Bertie is in love, Bertie is to enter Tuppy's room by night and puncture his hot water bottle. But Tuppy and his uncle Roderick had swapped rooms and Bertie is caught by the loony doctor who goes to Bertie's room for the rest of the night. But Roberta had given the same idea to Tuppy, who punctures his uncle's bottle thinking it was Bertie's. Jeeves had also learned that Agatha was hoping Sir Roderick would reconsider his opinion on Bertie and that he could get engaged to Honoria Glossop, Sir Roderick's daughter.

Jeeves and the Song of Songs Tuppy, more or less engaged to Bertie's cousin Angela, is in love with an opera singer, Cora Bellinger. To impress her, he wants to sing “Sonny Boy” at a concert where she is also to sing. But Angela's mother, Aunt Dahlia, wants the scheme to fail. Jeeves then induces Bertie to sing “Sonny Boy” before Tuppy. Since other people had already sung the same song before, the audience is pretty annoyed and Tuppy is thrown vegetables at. Jeeves then tells Cora Bellinger, who arrived late, that Tuppy wants her to sing the same song as well, and she is booed as well, ending their relationship.

Episode of the Dog McIntosh Aunt Agatha left her dog McIntosh with Bertie while she was away. Roberta Wickham then pops in and invites at Bertie's place an american theatre producer and his son (who actually decides which plays are good) because she wants to sell him a play by her mother. While Bertie is away (he had met the son in New York and doesn't want to see him again), Roberta gives McIntosh to the son to convince him to accept the play. Bertie manages to get the dog back but he is noticed, and when the the producer comes to his flat to reclaim the dog, Jeeves gives him another specimen of the same breed.

The Spot of Art Bertie is in love with Gwladis Pendlebury, a painter who had drawn Bertie's portrait. When she runs over Pim, her other admirer and breaks his leg, the latter ends up in Bertie's guest bedroom with doctor's orders not to move. Pim telegraphs his sister who is to arrive soon, but in order to sweeten her (Pim has claimed Bertie had run him over, since his sister wouldn't approve of Gwlady if she knew she did it) he advises to send her roses. But this makes her husband, an american soup magnate, very jealous, and forces Bertie to flee to France for a couple of weeks. When he comes back, his portrait is all over the city for a soup advertisement.

Jeeves and the Kid Clementina Bertie invites Roberta Wickham to dinner, but she brings her 13-year old cousin Clementina with her, since it's her birthday. She then leaves to Bertie the task to take her back to her shcool, from which she's away without leave. She gives instructions to Bertie as how to make a diversion that would allow Clementina to go in unnoticed. Bertie is caught by a policeman, but Jeeves manages to let Clementina in through the back door and to convince the headmistress (a friend of Aunt Agatha's met in Bertie Changes his mind) that he was actually chasing a marauder.

The Love that Purifies Bertie is at Brinkley Court with his Aunt Dahlia. Mr Ansruther, an elderly guest, is counting points to decide which one of the two cousins Thomas (Agatha's son) or Bonzo (Dahlia's son) will behave the best and win a five-pound prize. The Snettisham, the other guests, have taken bets on Thomas and are trying to induce Bonzo to behave badly. Bertie is given the task to subvert Thomas because Dahlia wants her son to win. The two kids are refusing bribes because they are in love with Holywood actors and want to behave best in their honor. Jeeves then invites Sippy's son, who admires another actress and speaks ill of Thomas' love, inducing him in behaving badly.

Jeeves and the Old School Chum Bingo's wife Rosie has invited Laura Pyke an old school friend whom she admired very much. Laura is convincing Rosie that they should stop eating like pigs and concentrate on vitamins and vegetables amd so on. While at a picnic at a horse race ground, Jeeves removes the sandwich basket from Bingo's car. Rosie and Laura jump luncheon without trouble, and want to go home for tea. While Bertie is driving them back (Bingo and Jeeves stay a bit longer) the car breaks down in the middle of nowhere and hungry Rosie starts thinking that Laura's ideas are not that good). Bingo then arrives and “repairs” the car (Jeeves had simply emptied the petrol tank) and becomes Rosie's hero again.

Indian Summer of an Uncle Bertie's Uncle George wants to marry a waitress. George already wanted to marry a barmaid years ago, and Agatha had managed to buy her off. She wants Bertie to do the same with the young waitress. But the waitress' aunt happens to be the old barmaid, and Jeeves invites them both at Bertie's place, and they finally are engaged to get marrie. Since the woman is of the same age as Agatha and she doesn't know who she is, she doesn't object.

The Ordeal of Young Tuppy Tuppy Glossop is again in love, this time with a dog enthousiast. To impress her, he wants to play in the yearly rugby football game where the village and the neighbour village players fight very hard. He manages to survive the game, but discovers that the girl had been lured to London by Jeeves who has made her belive she could there acquire the irish water-spaniel she is longing for, and hadn't seen the game at all. Tuppy then decides this kind of girl is not for him.

[ Posté le 12 mai 2010 à 13:23 | pas de commentaire | ]

Vendredi, 7 mai 2010

The Mating Season

Traduction: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Catégories : [ Livres/Wodehouse ]

ISBN: 9780091748333

© Amazon.fr

Published in 1949.

Bertie is sent by his aunt Agatha to Deverill Hall to sing during the local concert. The Hall is inhabited by Esmond Haddock, his cousin Gertrude and his five aunts. Madeline being the goddaughter of one of the aunts should have gone there with Gussie, but when a friend of her called her for moral support after having broken with her fiance, she lets Gussie go alone. Unfortunately, Gussie is arrested by the police for being drunk and wading in the fountain on Trafalgar Square, Bertie goes to Deverill Hall and pretends to be Gussie. He befriends Esmond Haddock who explains he is in love with Corky Pirbright, a Hollywood star and sister of Catsmeat Pribright (a friend of Bertie who also happens to be in love with Gertrude; the aunts however don't like him because he's in the theatre business). Corky however won't accept to mary him if he doesn't start to stand up to his aunts. Bertie suggests him to sing a hunting song at the concert, abd plans to pay the public to cheer him, which should give hin enough self-confidence to defy his aunts. Soon after, Jeeves arrives with Gussie, who then pretends to be Bertie. They are soon followed by Catsmeat, disguised as Meadowes, posing as Bertie's manservant. Corky, who lives at the village with her uncle, the vicar, is the one organising the concert. She enrols Catsmeat and Gussie to play a Pat and Mike duetto. The problem is that Gussie falls in love with Corky and doesn't want to write any love letter to Madeline (who of course expects to receive one every day). He even writes her to announce he is breaking up with her. Bertie then takes the milk train at night to go to Wimbledon where Madeline is staying and steal the letter. He manages to do so but is caught when trying to leave. Madeline believes he came to see her because she thinks he's in love with her, and let him go back to Deverill Hall. There, Corky refuses to tell Gussie she's not interested in him, because she wants him to steal her dog from the local police constable who took it into custody after it bit him. Gussie accepts, but since he got nearly arrested, he comes back to his senses. The concert has the expected effect on Esmond, which allows Gertrude and Catsmeat to go back to London and get married and Esmond to ask Corky to marry him. Gussie has left already to go and visit Madeline, and Bertie flees when he hears that aunt Agatha has just arrived.

[ Posté le 7 mai 2010 à 21:05 | pas de commentaire | ]

Dimanche, 25 avril 2010

Ring for Jeeves

Traduction: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Catégories : [ Livres/Wodehouse ]

ISBN: 9780091748333

© Amazon.fr

Published in 1953.

While Bertie Wooster is attending a school where he learns to darn his own socks (in the 1950s, the rich are not that rich anymore, and Bertie is preparing for a potentially less bright future), Jeeves is employed by Lord Bill Rowcester who is in desperate need for money if he wants to marry Jill, the girl he's engaged to. With Jeeves' help, he has become a bookmaker at a horse racing field, but because of two horses who won against all odds, he now owes three thousand pounds to a Captain Biggar. He and Jeeves manage to escape him and go back to Lord Rowcester's home, an old abbey he cannot afford to maintain and that his sister Monica, who is staying there too, hopes to sell to a rich American widow, Mrs Spottsworth. As it happens, Mrs Spottsworth knows Captain Biggar from her past, and since Biggar arrived at the abbey (in search for the owner of the car the bookmaker had fled in) and was recognized by Mrs Spottsworth, Monica invites him to stay. Additionally, Bill had met the widow in Cannes years ago and knows her too (which make Jill terribly jealous). Biggar eventually identifies Bill as the bookmaker and is distressed to learned that he is unable to pay him. Biggar needs the money to bet on a horse in the coming Derby in order to become wealthy enough to propose to Mrs Spottsworth (they are in love with each other, but Biggar doesn't want to be accused of marrying her for her money). Biggar then manages to convince Bill to steal Mrs Spottsworth's pendant, which Bill does successfully. Biggar disappears on the morning of the Derby, but the theft is dicovered and the local police is called. Biggar's horse comes second, but Biggar comes back and returns the jewel (he didn't dare pawning it). Mrs Spottsworth claims it doesn't matter if he's poor and they get engaged. She also buys the Abbey (to be taken appart and moved to California where the climat is not so damp), allowing Bill and Jill to get married.

[ Posté le 25 avril 2010 à 23:00 | pas de commentaire | ]

Dimanche, 29 novembre 2009

Carry On, Jeeves

Traduction: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Catégories : [ Livres/Wodehouse ]

ISBN: 9780091745745

© Amazon.fr

Published in 1925.

Jeeves Takes Charge Bertie hires Jeeves. Engaged to Florence Craye, the latter forces Bertie to steal a manuscript written by her uncle Willoughby the content of which reveals the agitated youth of, among other prominent figures, her father. Jeeves saves Bertie by removing the parcel, hidden in his master's room, before the uncle searches it, and forwarding it to the publisher, causing Florence to break her engagement to Bertie.

The Artistic Career of Corky Bertie fled to New York to avoid meeting his Aunt Agatha. There, his artist friend Corky seeks Bertie's help to find a way to present Muriel Singer, the actress to whom he's engaged to Alexander Worple, his uncle, a bird specialist who also gives him a regular allowance. Jeeves suggests Muriel to write a children's book about birds, where she would abundently quote Worple's books on birds. Muriel eventually marries old Worple and gives birth to a child, depriving Corky from his inheritance. When Worple asks him to paint a portrait of the baby, the result is quite cartoonish and the uncle hates it, but it is the beginning of Corky's career as a regular cartoonist.

Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest Lady Malvern, a friend of Aunt Agatha's, drops her son at Bertie's before touring the American prisons for her new book. Her son Motty is supposed to be of the quiet kind, but actually spends quite a dissolute life in New York, ending up in prison. Her mother sees him there and accuses Bertie of having neglected his duty as a guardian, but Jeeves saves the day by making her believe that Motty went to prison voluntarily in order to help her mother with her work.

Jeeves and the Hard-Boiled Egg Bertie's friend Bicky is in trouble, since he's supposed to be a businessman in New York, while he's actually idle, living from his uncle's allowance. Said uncle just arrives in New York; Jeeves suggests Bertie to lend him his flat, since Bicky is supposedly rich. But this only makes the uncle cut off his allowance. Bicky then decides to start a chicken farm business, but needs some starting cash. Jeeves manages to find a bunch of americans who would pay to shake hands with the uncle (who's the Duke of Chiswick). The plot is discovered, but Jeeves manages to blackmail the uncle into finding him a place as a secretary, against not telling the press (that the uncle hates) about the incident.

The Aunt and the Sluggard Rockmetteller Todd the poet, yet another friend of Bertie's, lives in the country on Long Island and hates the big city. When his aunt promises him a large allowance against his frequent written account of his supposedly tepidant life in New York, he turns to Jeeves who suggest that himself could have the trepidant life and forward some notes Rocky could use to write his reports to his aunt. One day, the aunt, who is supposed to hate traveling, appears on Bertie's door (Rocky is supposedly writing from there) and wants to live herself the excitement of the city. After several excruciating days for Rocky, Jeeves manages to take the aunt to a religious meeting where the orator accuses the city of all the sins. The aunt then decides to return home and “forces” her nephew to retire to the country.

The Rummy Affair of Old Biffy While in Paris, Bertie is told by his friend Biffy that he met a girl and got engaged on a ship to New York, but being a real chump all he remembers of her is her name, Mabel. He is desperate to find her again. Back in London, Biffy gets engaged to Honoria Glossop, and Jeeves seems unable to help him. Bertie suggest him to make a fool of himself during a lunch with Honoria's father, but he fails at it. While visiting an exhibition in Wembley with Bertie and Jeeves, the former tells the latter what Biffy had revealed in Paris. Jeeves suddenly suggests Biffy to visit a pavillion where live mannequins are dressed as women from all over the world. Biffy recognizes Mabel. Jeeves then explained that Mabel is his niece and he thought Biffy only toyed with her feelings.

Without the Option To cheer up his friend Sippy, Bertie suggests him to steal a policeman's helmet, but Sippy end up in prison under a false name. Depending on his aunt's allowance, he doesn't want her to know his situation, but since he has promised her to stay in Cambridge at her friend's place, he cannot fail to show up. Jeeves suggests that Bertie shoild take his place, since they haven't seen Sippy since he was ten. The family is terrible, the daughter is a cousin of Honoria Glossop, and even looks and behaves like her. Bertie's cover is blown the day Honoria's father comes to visit and recognizes him. He manages to escape, and Jeeves suggests him to go and tell the truth to Sippy's aunt. She laughs at what her nephew has done, because Jeeve's cousin, being the policeman of the aunt's village, had started some weeks before to force her to actually pay for offences (given her temper, it wasn't the case before).

Fixing it for Freddie Freddie's fiancee Elizabeth has suddenly broken their engagement. To cheer him up, Bertie takes him to the coast, but Elizabeth happens to live in the same village. Bertie then decides to kidnap a kid who seems to be Elizabeth's nephew so that Freddie could be a hero by returning the missing child, but Elzabeth does not actually know him, she was just playing with him on the beach. Bertie enventually finds the child's family, but since they all got the mumps, they ask him to take care of him until his uncle arrives from London. Jeeves then suggests to teach the kid to say “Kiss Freddie” in Elizabeth's presence when given a candy in order to soften her. The plot fails when Elizabeth discovers the child has been trained, but somehow Freddie and her are engaged again.

Clustering Round Young Bingo Bingo asks Bertie to steal an article his wife wrote for Aunt Dahlia's magazine, which would make all Bingo's friends laugh at him. Bertie fails, but Jeeves manages to arrange for Bingo's cook to be hired by Agatha (being the only cook who can soothe Uncle Tom's stomach, therefore putting him in a good mood that allows Dahlia to ask him for money) in exchanged for the article not to be published.

Bertie Changes his Mind (The story is told by Jeeves) Bertie decides he doesn't want to be a bachelor anymore and wants to buy a house and live with his sister and her children. Jeeves does not like the prospect. While driving to Brighton they meet a twelve-years old girl whom they drive back to her school. Jeeves convinces the headmistress to ask Bertie to make a speech in front of all the girls. The experience his terrible for poor Bertie who decides to stay a bachelor after all.

[ Posté le 29 novembre 2009 à 23:09 | 1 commentaire | ]

Vendredi, 20 novembre 2009

Joy in the Morning

Traduction: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Catégories : [ Livres/Wodehouse ]

ISBN: 9780091745745

© Amazon.fr

Published in 1947.

Bertie meets by accident Florence Craye, to whom he once had been engaged. He then meets his school friend Stilton Cheesewright who just got engaged to Florence (and is very jealous). Jeeves then tells him that Lord Worplesdon, Florence's father and second husband of Bertie's Aunt Agatha, had asked him to go to his place at Steeple Bumpleigh to organise a secret meeting with J. Chichester Clam, an american businessman. Bertie is additionally asked by his friend Boko Fittleworth to help him getting Worplesdon's blessing to marry the lord's ward, Nobby Hopwood. Boko being a writer, Worplesdon the businessman is not going to give the permission easily, but since Worplesdon hates Bertie, the latter has no idea how to plead for him. In Steeple Bumpleigh, Bertie and Jeeves are given a cottage belonging to Worplesdon, which is going to be used as the meeting place. Alas, as soon as Bertie arrives, the place is burned down by Edwin, Worplesdon's pest of a son. One night, while Bertie was playing the burglar in order to allow Boko to save the day and get the favours of the Lord, the latter's meeting with Clam in the potting shed is aborted because the american is confused with a robber. Jeeves then suggests to convince Worplesdon and Clam to meet at the masked ball in the neighbouring town, something made possible since Aunt Agatha is currently away. Meanwhile, Florence gets angry at Stilton, and decides to get engaged to Bertie again, which makes Stilton angry and Bertie nervous, Stilton being the local policeman (a fact Florcence hates, since her father could have arranged for him to become a member of Parliament, but Stilton wants to make his own living). In trying to get Florence to break the engagement, Bertie kicks Edwin (an action that had allowed Boko to get Florence to break her engagement with him once), but Florence being annoyed by Edwin's latest actions finds this a good thing; Worplesdon however witnesses the scene and gets suddenly fond of Bertie. When Worplesdon finally manages to meet Clam at the ball and make business with him, Boko uses the fact that he's in a good mood to get his permission to marry Nobby. Eventually, Stilton resigns from the Police and gets engaged to Florence again.

[ Posté le 20 novembre 2009 à 23:11 | pas de commentaire | ]

Mardi, 10 novembre 2009

The Inimitable Jeeves

Traduction: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Catégories : [ Livres/Wodehouse ]

ISBN: 9780091739874

© Amazon.fr

Published in 1923.

Bingo Little is once again in love, this time with a simple waitress. In order for his uncle to accept her, Jeeves suggests to read him stories by Rosie M. Banks which are full of such situations. To make it even more convincing, Bingo tells his uncle that Wooster is in really Rosie M. Banks. Eventually, the uncle marries his cook.

Aunt Agatha orders Bertie to join her in France, where she introduces him to a priest and his sister, whom she thinks will be a perfect wife for Wooster. The priest and the sister happen to be a pair of con artists who steal Agatha's pearls. Thankfully, Jeeves recognizes them and manages to recover the pearls.

Bingo is in love again, this time with Honoria Glossop. In order to attract her attention, he asks Wooster to take part in a scheme where Bertie would throw Honoria's insufferable little brother in the river and he would rescue him. But Bingo doesn't show up since he just fell in love with Honoria's friend, Bertie jumps into the water to save the boy, and Honoria, thinking he did this to impress her decides they are now engaged. Agatha is all for the union, but Honoria and her hate Jeeves. The latter uses the presence of Claude and Eustace, Bertie's cousins, to make Wooster look like a fool during a lunch with Honoria's father. Jeeves and Wooster flee to New York for a time.

In New York, Bertie meets Cyril Bassington-Bassington, sent by Aunt Agatha. He's supposed to stay away from theatrical circles, but he got hired for a play before Bertie could be told. Jeeves then gets Cyril kicked out of the play.

Bingo is in love again, this time with a communist girl, for whom he pretends to be communist too. Jeeves manages to make him look like a fraud, at the cost of a split between Bingo and his uncle (who pays him an allowance).

Bingo having no revenue anymore works in a village as a tutor. Claude and Eustace happen to be there too, and organise bets on which priest in the neigbouring villages will make the longest sermon. But they are thwarted by one other pupil there. Also, Bingo is once again in love, and once again he fails to catch the girl's heart. Next, Bingo and Wooster are betting on the outcome of races during the village's fair, but are thwarted again by the same man. Bingo, yet another girl, etc. Finally, yet another girl, Bingo organises the village's Christmas play to impress her. The representation is a failure becaue of the same person again, and because of bets on wheter Bingo would get the girl or not.

Claude and Eustace stay for the night at Bertie's before leaving to South Africa. During the night out, they meet a girl and refuse to leave. Jeeves finally makes them believe the girl is going to South Africa soon.

Finally, Bingo is on love again, but manages to marry the girl in a hurry. Wooster is sent to announce this to the uncle and restore the allowance. But the girl happens to be Rosie M. Banks, and the uncle calls here a liar. Eventually Jeeves solves the problem by telling them that Wooster is a complete looney.

[ Posté le 10 novembre 2009 à 13:06 | pas de commentaire | ]

The Code of the Woosters

Traduction: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Catégories : [ Livres/Wodehouse ]

ISBN: 9780091739874

© Amazon.fr

Published in 1938.

Gussie Fink-Nottle presses Bertie Wooster to come and help him, because his engagement to Madeline Basset, Sir Watkin's daughter, is off. Wooster, afraid that if Madeline doesn't marry Gussie she would turn to him once again, goes for a visit at Totleigh Towers. Just before leaving, he is told by his Aunt Dahlia that she counts on him to steal a silver cow-creamer now in Sir Watkin's collection. Dahlia's husband had planned to buy it before Basset, but the latter tricked him. Since Dahlia's magazine's funding depends on her husband's mood, she has to get that cow creamer back. But as soon as Wooster arrives at Totleigh Towers, he is under suspicion of wanting to steal the silver piece by Roderick Spode, a brutal and wannabe Dictator friend of Sir Watkin's. Just after that, Gussie tells Wooster that he lost the booklet where he wrote all sorts of awful (but so true) things about Spode and Basset in order to give him the courage to make a speech at his coming wedding. If the booklet falls into the hands of the father of the bride, the wedding could be cancelled, and Bertie doesn't want that to happen. He soon learns that the booklet has been found by Stiffy Byng, Madeline's cousin who wants to marry Harold Pinker, the curate of the village. But Sir Watkyn would never agree on her marrying only a curate, so Stiffy is continuously scheming to get Harold accepted by her uncle. She wants Bertie to steal the cow-creamer and get Harold to stop the thief and retrieve the silver piece. Bertie refuses, but Stiffy blackmails him with the booklet. But Wooster being under constant surveillance by Spode, he would be the prime suspect automatically, so he cannot do it. Moreover, Stiffy doesn't like the village's constable, Oates, and asks Pinker to steal his helmet. Pinker first refuses, but finally does it by love for Stiffy. Finally, Dahlia steals herself the cow-creamer and gives it to Bertie to hide it, but Bertie knows that his room is going to be searched because Oates and Basset believe he has the stolen helmet. Then arrives Gussie who wants to flee the place with Wooster's car after Sir Watkin read the famous booklet, and Jeeves suggest to hide the cow creamer in a suitcase and give it to Gussie to deliver to Bertie's place in London. Oates and Sir Watkin search the room, find no cow creamer but do find the helmet (which had been hidden there by Stiffy) and want to throw Bertie into jail. Jeeves eventually manages to blackmail Spode (using Spode's secret, known by Jeeves from his gentlemen's gentlemen's club Book), already used earlier by Wooster to get Spode off his neck, to make him confess the theft of the helmet. In these circumstances, Oates' and Basset's search of the room is abusive, and Wooster threatens to sue Basset on that ground if he doesn't allow Stiffy's and Pinker's and Madeline's and Gussie's weddings, which Sir Watkin agrees upon.

[ Posté le 10 novembre 2009 à 13:05 | pas de commentaire | ]

Thank You, Jeeves

Traduction: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Catégories : [ Livres/Wodehouse ]

ISBN: 9780091739874

© Amazon.fr

Published in 1934.

Bertram Wooster refuses to give up playing the banjolele, and is therefore forced to leave his appartment for a cottage at Chuffnell Regis, the small town of which his friend Chuffy is the lord. Since Jeeves disapproves of Wooster playing the banjolele, he gives him his notice and enters the service of Chuffy. Visiting Chuffy, Wooster meets with displeasure some of his former nemesis, Glossop, Stoker, and Stoker's daughter Pauline to whom he had been engaged for fourty-eight hours, before his father broke the engagement on Glossop's advice. Now Chuffy is madly in love with Pauline, and so is she with him, but Chuffy, completely broke, doesn't dare asking her to marry him before he manages to sell his estate to Stoker. The deal is verbally concluded, but soon broken again because of Wooster's attempt to force Chuffy to ask Pauline in marriage makes her father believe she is still infatuated with Wooster. Later, Pauline escapes her father's yacht and swims to the shore to rejoin Chuffy. She stops at Wooster's cottage to ask him for clothes, but Chuffy discovers her presence there and imagines it is Wooster she wanted to see instead of him. They then break up. After that, Wooster is invited by Stoker aboad his yacht and kept prisoner; he wants to force Wooster to marry his daughter. Thanks to Jeeves, who happened to be aboard the yacht, temporarily serving Stoker, Wooster escapes by blackening his face with boot polish in order to blend with the company of black minstrels who played aboard the yacht the same night. Wooster then returns to his cottage, only to see it burned down by his replacement butler, Brinkley. He then returns to Chuffy's house in the hope to find there butter, which is his only hop to get the boot polish off his face. After a complicated meeting between all the main characters, Stoker is somehow blackmailed in letting Pauline marry Chuffy. In the end, Jeeves becomes Wooster's butler once again.

[ Posté le 10 novembre 2009 à 13:05 | pas de commentaire | ]

Right Ho, Jeeves

Traduction: [ Google | Babelfish ]

Catégories : [ Livres/Wodehouse ]

ISBN: 9780091745745

© Amazon.fr

Published in 1934.

Bertie is summoned to Brinkley Court by his Aunt Dahlia, who wants him to deliver a speech and give out end-of-year prizes to the pupils of the nearby Market Snodsbury Grammar School. Bertie is not enthousiasted at this prospect, but since his friend Gussie Fink-Nottle is desperately in love with Madeline Basset, a friend of Bertie's cousin Angela who happens to be staying at Brinkley Court, he sends Gussie there, presenting him to his aunt as the perfect man for the job. Bertie follows him shortly, only to find out that Angela had broken with her fiance Tuppy Glossop (who is also a friend of Bertie's). Various plots to reconcile the two lovebirds and help Gussie propose to Madeline fail miserably. Gussie, who never drank a drop of alcohol takes more than should have been reasonable in order to face the prize ceremony, eventually leading him to propose to Angela and getting Bertie engaged to Madeline against his will. Additionally, Anatole the French cook threatens to live, putting aunt Dahlia into a difficult situation with her husband. Given the catastrophic situation, Bertie finally accepts to try Jeeve's plan to ring the fire bell after midnight, in the hope that the right gentlemen would run to save the right ladies in distress. The plan utterly fails, and since someone closed the door shut while the keys were inside and all the servants out at a dance nine miles away, Bertie, being the only one still properly clothed, is sent out by force on a bicyle to go and fetch the backdoor key from the butler at the dance. The butler tells him that he doesn't have the key, since he gave it to Jeeves before leaving. After riding back, Jeeves explains that his actual plan was to focus eveybody's animosity onto one person, Bertie, so that they would forget their differences. The plot worked, Gussie and Madeline are finally engaged, Tuppy and Angela are reconciled and Anatole has accepted to withdraw his notice.

[ Posté le 10 novembre 2009 à 13:04 | pas de commentaire | ]