January 03, 2006

This Is Good. Stop.

John at Spitbull notes the possible parallels in literary merit between text-messaging and telegraphy, a subject about which I ordinarily might not be that interested, except that (in addition to mentioning Evelyn Waugh's aping of telegraphy styles in Scoop) he uses it as an excuse to quote an extremely funny passage from one of the best of P.G. Wodehouse's Bertie and Jeeves novels, Right Ho, Jeeves!

Wodehouse used telegram gags in other stories as well, but nowhere as extensively (or humorously) as here. If I remember right, there is another telegram exchange between Bertie and Gussie Fink-Nottle in this one involving ham and sausages relevant to modern encryption issues.

Posted by Robert at January 3, 2006 05:59 PM | TrackBack
Comments

Courtesy of NetFlix, I've been watching the Jeeves and Wooster DVDs. Now I have to read the books. Damn, life is such a struggle.

Posted by: Russ at January 3, 2006 08:25 PM

The books will make you brighter and happier. I would suggest the Wodehouse Playhouse vids from Acorn Media. I find them infinitely better than the Laurie/Fry take, although I admire them both as fine actors. Do think that the telegram which young Robbo had in mind was about quality smokes. Full Stop.

Posted by: pinky at January 4, 2006 04:21 PM

I agree about Wodehouse Playhouse and have to confess I don't much like the Fry/Laurie series. Wodehouse wrote the Bertie and Jeeves stories as first person narratives. How Bertie tells the story is at least as important as what he's talking about and is untranslateable to the screen.

Posted by: Robbo the LB at January 5, 2006 11:23 AM