The real Lord Emsworth

As a writer, P.G. Wodehouse was something of a Jeeves, his most famous character. He came up with outrageous solutions to outrageous problems. He even out-jeeved Jeeves by inventing the problems in the first place. Wodehouse said his novels usually began with an absurd situation. Then he just had to figure out a way to get his characters into that situation and out of it again by the last page.

Otherwise Wodehouse was more like Lord Emsworth (Clarence) of his Blandings novels, the character he most identified with according to Robert McCrum, author of the superb 2004 biography Wodehouse. Clarence gives every appearance of being a befuddled old man. Actually he is just preoccupied. The only thing he cares to think about is his prize-winning pig, the Empress of Blandings. On that subject he is always alert,  always on top of things. Everything else just goes over his head. Wodehouse was that way. It was his writing that drew his focus. Most everything else he preferred to let his wife, agent or somebody else handle for him. When his wife gave parties, he would make a brief appearance, then suddenly disappear to return to his work.

It was this Lord Emsworth quality that led to the biggest crisis of Wodehouse's life, to which McCrumb devotes several chapters. Wodehouse was living in France when the Germans invaded early in World War II. He made no attempt to leave, although in fairness it should be noted that many other British citizens also stayed in France, assuming the Germans would be stopped just as they were in the first war.

The Nazis kept coming, however, and Wodehouse was soon their prisoner. Wodehouse being Wodehouse, he kept writing his funny stories and making light of a bad situation. When the Nazis, recognizing his propaganda value, offered him his release in exchange for doing a series of radio broadcasts, the writer viewed it as an opportunity to connect with his fans and assure them he was alright. In Great Britain especially, many saw it as betrayal, a collaboration with the enemy.

Wodehouse lived in the United States for the remainder of his long life, never returning to England because of his shame and, for many years, fear of prosecution. He was eventually knighted, but by then he was too old to travel and probably would not have returned to his home country even if he could have.

Most of the biography, if not as light as Wodehouse's novels, is at least lighter than most biographies. McCrumb describes the plots of much of his best work, and so much of his work was terrific. For about 70 years he was an important writer, not just of books but also of short stories, pieces for magazines and newspapers and even Broadway plays and Hollywood movies. For a number of years, in fact, his was one of the biggest names on Broadway, teaming with the likes of Jerome Kern and George Gershwin. His books remain in print and loved around the world. I have seen a couple of his musicals performed in recent years, and they are still entertaining.

Even though Wodehouse remained productive while a Nazi prisoner, for about five years after the war he found it difficult coming up with anything funny. Eventually he put his embarrassment behind him. Wodehouse fans would be kind to do likewise.