![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Book #19 - "Summer Moonshine"
May. 6th, 2008 12:00 pmYesterday evening I finished book #19 of 2008, Summer Moonshine by P.G. Wodehouse (1937). A fairly typical Wodehousian novel, it’s set in the usual country house, and features the usual genial-but-clueless Baronet and many romantic misunderstandings. The book deviates from formula in a number of ways, however. First, it features none of the stock characters. It is a stand-alone novel, with no connection (except style) to the larger “Woosterworld.” Second, the book is actually serious from time to time, with entire pages going by without a whimsical misunderstanding or amusing characterization.
In particular, there is a good, serious scene between the male and female protagonist, who are, respectively, the usual lovable rake and tomboyish, highly-capable country girl that crop up in most Wodehouse. The hero begs the heroine not to pledge herself to one Adrian Peake, a shiftless scrounger, simply because she feels “a sort of sloppy pity” for him. These scenes aren’t world-beating stuff by any means, but do prove that Wodehouse was capable of serious presentation of characters from time to time.
In particular, there is a good, serious scene between the male and female protagonist, who are, respectively, the usual lovable rake and tomboyish, highly-capable country girl that crop up in most Wodehouse. The hero begs the heroine not to pledge herself to one Adrian Peake, a shiftless scrounger, simply because she feels “a sort of sloppy pity” for him. These scenes aren’t world-beating stuff by any means, but do prove that Wodehouse was capable of serious presentation of characters from time to time.
