Review: Mike and Psmith

For a short novel this has an abundance of titles. I've never read a novel with three to six (depending on how you count them) different titles before, and it's so confusing that I hope I never will again.

The novel currently called Mike and Psmith was first published under the name Mike in 1909. It was in two parts that were given different titles: Jackson Junior and The Lost Lambs. Both parts were later given new titles: Mike at Wrykyn and Enter Psmith. The second half, which had already had two titles, was then renamed again and became Mike and Psmith. What a mess!

Whatever you want to call it, the novel introduced one of P. G. Wodehouse's famous characters: Rupert Psmith, the hero of four novels. (His surname was "Smith" before he decided to alter the spelling, and it's still pronounced that way.) Apparently Wodehouse thought this book was his best work. I have to disagree. It's good, yes, but not as good as his Jeeves and Wooster stories.

The plot is a fairly straight-forward school story. Mike has been sent against his will to a new school, where he meets and befriends Psmith, has disagreements with a teacher, nearly gets caught climbing a drainpipe (it's a long story), is falsely accused of painting a dog (ditto), and eventually plays cricket for the school.

I greatly enjoyed the novel except for one thing. Too much cricket! As someone who knows nothing about any sort of sport, I was hopelessly lost during the lengthy passages devoted to the cricket games. When Mike talks about the results of a game he might as well have been speaking ancient Greek for all I understood. Unfortunately about half of the book is dedicated to cricket. I skipped as much as I could.

Apart from that this is a thoroughly entertaining novel with much of Wodehouse's trademark humour. The fiasco of Mike's shoes is my favourite scene, with the confusion over who actually painted the dog as a close second 😆

Is it available online?: Yes, on Gutenberg.

Rating: 9/10

Review: Jennings Novels

 Nothing like some comedic novels to brighten your day! (Especially when there's nothing humorous to be seen in the real world...)

Cover of the first novel

Jennings is a series of twenty-four novels by Anthony Buckeridge, published between 1950 and 1994. Apparently the series (renamed "Stompa", for reasons that probably made sense to the translators) is very popular in Norway and has inspired several Norwegian films. The books were also adapted into two English series, both of which are now lost.

All of the stories have the same basic premise. Jennings and his friend Darbishire get into trouble of some sort, usually involving their short-tempered teacher Mr. Wilkins. Jennings thinks of a way to get out of trouble. Inevitably he gets further into it, or gets entangled in a whole new problem. At last he finds an unexpected solution. Rinse and repeat several times in each novel. Sometimes it's Jennings' friends who get into trouble instead, and there'll usually be at least one person who's completely misunderstood everything with hilarious results. (Case in point: the confusion about the doctor and the vet in The Jennings Report.)

I first discovered some of these books as a child. Last year a friend was kind enough to give me several more, and I had a great time reading them and roaring with laughter over them. It's impossible to choose my favourite book in the series. Anyone who thinks school stories are just for children are sadly missing out on some of the funniest books ever written.

If you want a series of fairly short and absolutely hilarious books, try this one!

Is it available online?: Not as far as I know.

Rating: 10/10.

Review: The Pirates of Penzance (1983)

Logically this is the sort of film I should hate. In fact I probably would hate it... if it wasn't so genuinely and intentionally funny in how ludicrous it is.

The Pirates of Penzance is a 1983 film based on the 1880 opera by Gilbert and Sullivan. Apparently there are some differences between the music in the film and the opera, but the plot is the same.

I only recognised two actors:
Kevin Kline (Maurice in that horrific Beauty and the Beast remake) as the Pirate King
Angela Lansbury (Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd 1982) as Ruth

The plot is exactly the comedic absurdity you'd expect from a Gilbert and Sullivan opera. A mix-up leads to Frederic becoming an apprentice pirate. Our story begins on the day he's released from his apprenticeship (or so he thinks). As soon as he lands on the shore he meets Mabel, daughter of the very model of a modern Major-General, and they fall in love at first sight. Unfortunately Mabel's father does not approve. Hilarity ensues.

From every standpoint -- except the cast and their singing abilities -- this film should be a catastrophe. The picture is of roughly the same quality as my webcam, and the cameraman (like the majority of 1980s cameramen) had apparently never used a camera before. There are moments that make me wonder if the director thought he was adapting Alice in Wonderland instead of The Pirates of Penzance. The film's so absurd it often comes perilously close to later abominations like Moulin Rouge! and Anna Karenina.

And yet to paraphrase a quote I saw on Tumblr, I can't praise it in any way except by saying I loved every minute. I laughed so much I got a stitch in my side. The songs are so catchy that I still can't get them out of my head.

If you want something to cheer you up, try this film! It's one of the best cures for a bad mood I've ever seen.

Rating: 8/10.

Is it available online?: Yes, on YouTube.

Review: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder (Broadway, 2014)

I love so many musicals that it's impossible to decide which one I like best. This one might not be at the top of the list, but it's certainly in the top ten.

A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder is a 2012 musical based on the 1949 film Kind Hearts and Coronets, which in turn is based on the novel Israel Rank. I haven't read the novel, but I have seen the film. In some ways the musical sticks closely to it -- most notably, almost an entire family (including the women!) are played by the same actor.

I didn't recognise any of the cast, so on to the plot.

Like the film, the musical starts with the main character in prison for murder. The rest of the show explains how he got there. Two years earlier, Monty Navarro learns that his recently-deceased mother was actually an aristocrat who was disowned by her family. He's ninth in line to become an earl. So he decides to move up the line of succession by murdering everyone in front of him. Hilarity ensues, impossible though it sounds.

Now, a few of my thoughts while I was watching it.

For some reason our "hero"'s name has been changed. So has the surname of the family. But Sibella's name is unchanged. Why?

There are a lot of songs. And they're all incredibly catchy. (I caught myself humming "A Warning to the Company" while washing dishes.)

The staging of the reverend's death is frankly ridiculous. I know it's a black comedy, and a stage performance, but how did anyone think "staggering around the stage like a drunkard" was a convincing way to show "falling to his death"?

In the same scene Monty goes from acting out what happened, to sitting in his prison cell and writing his memoirs. The way he has to frantically rush from one part of the stage to the other, in full view of the audience, struck me as incredibly amateurish and better-suited to high school productions than Broadway. Couldn't they at least dim the lights to show the scene had changed?

That massive... curtain... thing in the middle of the stage leaves the actors with very little room to move around it. I spent several scenes expecting someone to trip or bump into it.

When I was annoyed or puzzled by the blocking I frequently found myself picturing how I'd stage a performance of this musical. (I suppose if I can't find any other job I could always try to get work as a theatre director!)

All right, so a black comedy isn't exactly the place to look for character development, but Sibella's decision to marry Lionel when she knows she won't be happy makes no sense. Monty just asked her to marry him, she knows he has money, and she certainly doesn't love Lionel, so... why?

For some reason Edith is renamed Phoebe. So Sibella and Lionel are the only characters to keep their names from Kind Hearts and Coronets. Again, why? If they were changing names anyway, why leave those two the same?

"Inside Out" had me in stitches XD A love song while someone's dying in the background should not be funny. But a love song where one of the singers is the murderer, about how the world would be better if we could see people's true natures? While the victim runs around chased by bees? Priceless!

Phoebe is Monty's cousin here, unlike in the film. I was confused. Was she going to become another victim? (Nope; she's one of the few D'Ysquiths Monty doesn't kill.)

All but two of the murders happen in the first act. Unfortunately, this means that the first act is much longer than the second. Too long, in fact. The second act feels incredibly rushed as a result.

"Why Are All the D'Ysquiths Dying?" is wonderfully morbid and funny. And it has some of my favourite lines in the show: "What a tasteless way of showing off!", "To lose one relative one can certainly forgive. But how can you excuse losing two or three or four or seven?", and "I can't imagine missing someone less." (Perfectly sums up my reaction to news of some people's deaths!)

Phoebe proposing to Monty while Sibella is in the house made me giggle even while being irritated by Monty and Sibella. I prefer the film's version of this sordid mess to the musical's. At least the film made me feel sorry for Edith/Phoebe; she did nothing to deserve being married to a serial killer. Here I was just impatiently waiting for the inevitable next murder and Monty's arrest.

The circumstances of Monty's arrest are different here. He's arrested for murdering the earl, and Sibella and Phoebe both pretend they're the murderer to get him released. The part that really annoyed me about this was when it's suddenly revealed Miss Shingle was the murderer this time. That comes out of nowhere and makes no sense 😒

Weirdest of all is the twist ending that there's another D'Ysquith still alive who's planning to kill Monty. I prefer the film's ending, especially the ambiguity about whether or not his memoirs were discovered.

Overall the musical is thoroughly entertaining and frequently very funny. The good parts outweigh the bad, and I love all of the songs!

Is it available online?: Yes, but I'd better not say where.

Rating: 8/10.

Review: The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm

Real life has been almost unbearable lately. Visiting family in hospital, dealing with obnoxious (to say the least!) relatives, an ever-increasing workload... So I searched for the funniest, most light-hearted book I could find just for a bit of escapism. I found this one.

The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm is a 1933 short story collection by Norman Hunter. It's the first in a series, some of which has been adapted into a TV series, a radio drama, and two TV films.

All the stories revolve around the title character, his friends, and his inventions. Professor Branestawm, as his name suggests, is an absent-minded professor of the "wears multiple pairs of glasses all at once" sort. His attempts to help people inevitably backfire badly. When he tries to catch a burglar he ends up catching himself. A foray into repairing clocks causes an explosion. He accidentally rewrites history when he invents time travel.

In short, it's brilliant and hilarious. And just what I needed to cheer me up. It's hard to worry about anything when reading the professor and Mrs. Flittersnoop's escape from the living paper. Or the library book fiasco 😆

I've never understood people who say children's books can't be enjoyed by adults. If a book is good, it can be enjoyed by readers of any age. (Actually, that's a pretty good test of whether or not its target age group should bother reading it.) This book brightened my day a lot more than some books aimed at older audiences have. Now, I just need to find the rest of the series...

Is it available online?: Unfortunately not.

Rating: 10/10.

Review: The Inimitable Jeeves (novel)

I'm so busy with Camp NaNoWriMo that I completely forgot there was supposed to be a review today. So I had to write one in a hurry. Luckily, I'd just finished this book 😄

The Inimitable Jeeves is the second of P. G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster novels, first published in 1923. It isn't really a novel; it's a short story collection. The stories are all connected, and all revolve around the extraordinary situations Bertie Wooster gets involved in.

All Jeeves and Wooster plots are very similar. Someone close to Bertie falls in love with an unsuitable girl. Someone -- usually Bertie's Aunt Agatha -- orders him to sort it out. Bertie only succeeds in landing himself in the soup, as he puts it. Jeeves comes along and sorts everything out. Then the cycle starts all over again.

Usually this would be a criticism. But Wodehouse's sense of humour and brilliant narration makes each repetition of the plot fresh and amusing. The characters' idiocy provides much hilarity, but even it pales in comparison to the wonderfully sarcastic narration. I absolutely love the bit where Bertie complains most of a café's menu must have "been specially prepared by the nastier-minded members of the Borgia family for people they had a particular grudge against" 😆

My favourite scenes include Bertie returning his aunt's jewels, the ill-advised "pushing Oswald off a bridge" plan, and Bingo pretending to be a communist to impress a girl. But of all the stories, my absolute favourite has to be "The Delayed Exit of Claude and Eustace". (Every time Eustace is mentioned, I keep thinking "There once was a boy named Eustace Wooster, and he almost deserved it" 😆) The twins, who are supposed to be on the way to South Africa, stay in London to fight over a girl who can't stand either of them. Bertie has to try to get them to leave while keeping the family (especially Aunt Agatha) from learning where they are. And of course Jeeves comes along with an excellent solution that leaves the readers in stitches 😆😆

If you want original, unique plots, this definitely isn't the book for you. But if you want to roar with laughter at every line, this is the perfect book to read!

Is it available online?: Yes, on Gutenberg.

Rating: 8/10.

Review: Ernest in Love (Takarazuka, 2016)

Camp NaNoWriMo has begun. That sound you just heard was hundreds of authors (including me!) crying in despair as they struggle to reach the daily word count. Taking breaks to watch musicals is the only way to stay sane. Luckily, this is a good musical to cheer me up, even amid the horrors of writing 1000+ words a day.

Ernest in Love is a musical adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. It was first performed in 1960. This version is a Japanese translation performed (for the third or fourth time, depending on how you count it) by the Takarazuka Revue. I've never seen/listened to the English version of the musical, so I don't know how closely it sticks to that. But I have seen The Importance of Being Earnest, so I wasn't completely lost.

Takarazuka fans tend to have one or more actress they especially love. For me it's Mirio (Asumi Rio or Rio Asumi, depending on whether you use the Japanese or Western name order). What will I do when she retires in November? ...Cry. Cry a lot 😭 In the meantime I'm doing my best to watch every one of her shows I can find.

Actresses I recognised:
Rio Asumi (Death in Elisabeth 2014) as Jack/Ernest
Toa Serika (Rudolf in Elisabeth 2014) as Algernon
Juria Hanano (Rachel in The Poe Clan) as Miss Prism
Rin Yuuma (Inspector Ledoux in Phantom 2011) as Lady Bracknell

For some reason the orchestra isn't in an orchestra pit. (Apparently this show was in a theatre that doesn't have an orchestra pit?? I can't see one, anyway 🤷) Instead they're on the stage, inside a... conservatory? This is the first Takarazuka production I've seen that does this.

The orchestra, in what looks like a bird cage. Goodness knows why.

The musical starts with Algernon's butler having a song and dance routine with some townsfolk. It's safe to assume this is the opening narration, but I understood maybe one word in twenty. Then Algernon wanders onstage, into what's apparently some sort of market-place, in his nightclothes. Huh?

I suppose dialogue provides some context for this scene, but it's pretty weird for non-Japanese speakers.

I fully expected most of the comedy to go over my head (the trials of watching anything in a language you don't speak...). Some of it certainly did, but I still roared with laughter frequently. Even when you don't understand everything (or anything), you can still tell when someone's telling a joke by their expressions and tone. And then there's the sheer absurdity of some scenes, which requires no translation to be funny.

Jack (AKA Ernest) and Gwendolen's first appearance is one of my favourite scenes 😃 Jack rehearsing his proposal in front of a mirror is funny on its own. Jack and Gwendolen pushing the mirror back and forth is even funnier. Sure, it makes no sense (they aren't even in the same house, let alone on different sides of the same mirror), but who cares about little things like that?

Jack 😍

Gwendolen

I laughed and laughed when Algernon stops Jack from eating sweets(?). Jack tries and tries to get those sweets or whatever they are, even moving his chair closer and giving Algernon puppy-dog eyes. Instead Algernon eats them himself. What a great friend 😆

Jack, Algernon, and a plate of... something edible. Can't be more specific than that, I'm sorry to say. (The joys of missing almost every word! 😔)

Love that song where Jack and Algernon get off the stage and walk around next to the audience! (Can only imagine how cool that must have been for the audience!) Doesn't hurt that the song itself is perfect for humming (and whistling, and clapping, and nodding...) along to.

Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen arrive. Gwendolen and Jack spend the next few minutes trying to get closer to each other without anyone noticing. When they're finally left alone they're apparently struck with a complete inability to speak. Their awkward grins at each other and the way neither can find anything to say are adorable. And of course, very funny. So is their "conversation". They run at each other, both say "はじめまして" (hajimemashite, "nice to meet you"; one of the few Japanese phrases I recognised immediately), and then they spend a minute frantically rushing around the stage. It's even funnier than it sounds 😆

What farce would be complete without a disapproving parent walking in at the worst possible moment? Gwendolen and Jack fall onto a sofa just in time for Lady Bracknell to see them. Naturally, she gets the wrong impression.

It's not what it looks like... but tell that to Lady Bracknell.

Lady Bracknell isn't pleased about her daughter's engagement. She's even less pleased to learn Jack was found in a handbag as a baby. There's a truly weird song here. It involves a giant handbag, dozens of extras in unconvincing wigs, and Jack wearing a baby bonnet. Goodness knows why.

Algernon -- using the name Ernest -- goes to visit Jack's ward, Cecily. His attempts at getting Cecily's attention while she's singing are priceless 😄 Of course they fall in love. Of course Jack doesn't approve. And of course Gwendolen turns up, learns Cecily is engaged to "Ernest Worthing", and gets the wrong impression.

Cecily

Love the bit where Jack, pretending to be in mourning, tells Miss Prism and the pastor that his brother Ernest has died, then learns "Ernest" is visiting 😆 And his face when Algernon appears! He looks so utterly disgusted!

The mix-up about who's engaged to whom is eventually resolved, and Gwendolen and Cecily learn neither of them is engaged to the non-existent Ernest. They aren't happy about it. Jack's and Algernon's reactions are priceless 😆 My favourite part is when Algernon calmly has a cup of tea while Jack sulks on the floor. Then Gwendolen and Cecily forgive them... just before Lady Bracknell arrives.

This scene is comedy gold, but special mention must go to the discovery of Jack's real parentage. Jack's excited shouting, Algernon and Jack hugging and crying, the onlookers' reactions... Perfect chaotic hilarity. And of course, all the implausibilities are wrapped up with a happy ending 😄

Takarazuka shows end with a revue of varying length. As far as I can tell, for one-act shows, the revue is about an hour long and separate from the musical that preceded it. For two-act shows like this one, the revue is much shorter and is an assortment of songs from the musical. The actresses wear very (very) glittery costumes as they dance and sing.

Some of the glittery, glittery costumes 😍

Ernest in Love is not the sort of musical you'd watch if you want a gripping plot or excellent songs. But as a hilarious farce with enjoyable songs, it's perfect. It's certainly very good at cheering up unhappy writers 😃

Is it available online?: ...Yes, but better not say where.

Rating: 6/10.

Review: A Damsel in Distress (novel)

I recently discovered a website called DailyLit. It emails daily installments of novels to its users, and it has a wide range of (mostly free) novels to choose from. I selected this one to start with because it's P. G. Wodehouse, and therefore guaranteed to be hilarious.

A Damsel in Distress was first published in 1919. It involves a case of mistaken identity, a match-making stepmother, an earl who prefers gardening to writing his family history, a walk through a ditch, and many more amusing characters and incidents. It's been adapted to film at least twice, and one of the film adaptations was turned into a stage musical in 2015.

P. G. Wodehouse's books are easy to recognise because so many of them use similar plots. Unlike many authors, he managed to turn this into part of the charm of his writing. It doesn't matter that basically every book has the same cast of characters with names and roles changed; the stories are still amusing and still manage to be original.

A Damsel in Distress revolves around the chaos that ensues when George Bevan falls in love at first sight with Maud, daughter of Lord Marshmoreton. Maud's already in love with a man she hasn't seen for over a year. Her aunt wants her to marry her step-cousin Reggie, who's in love with Alice, Maud's father's secretary. Maud's brother Percy mistakes George for the man she met a year ago, and sets out to foil their "relationship". As if that wasn't complicated enough, the servants have a betting pool on who Maud will marry, and they'll do anything, even destroy letters, to get her to marry whichever man they're betting on.

It's exactly as hilarious as it sounds. I couldn't even wait for the daily installments to arrive; I went to Gutenberg and read the rest of the book there. An hour later I'd finished it, and I had a stitch in my side from laughing so hard. The misunderstandings and tangled relationships are funny enough on their own, but when described with some of the best humourous writing in the English language, they become absolutely priceless. Take, for example, this excerpt about Percy's walk through a ditch:

There is nothing half-hearted about these ditches which accompany English country roads. They know they are intended to be ditches, not mere furrows, and they behave as such. The one that sheltered Lord Belpher was so deep that only his head and neck protruded above the level of the road, and so dirty that a bare twenty yards of travel was sufficient to coat him with mud. Rain, once fallen, is reluctant to leave the English ditch. It nestles inside it for weeks, forming a rich, oatmeal-like substance which has to be stirred to be believed. Percy stirred it. He churned it. He ploughed and sloshed through it. The mud stuck to him like a brother.

And this is only one short paragraph in a book full of hilarity. To quote Cranford, "I defy you not to roar."

If you need a book guaranteed to cheer you up, or if you just want to read something light and amusing, I definitely recommend this book!

Is it available online?: Yes, on Gutenberg as well as DailyLit.

Rating: 10/10.

Review: Singin' in the Rain (1952)

Oh look! A review that isn't of a book!

Musicals are rather silly by their very nature. It's not exactly realistic for people to burst out singing at random moments. The mark of a good musical is if it can make the viewers overlook the silliness. Or, if it's Singin' in the Rain, use the silliness to make it good.

Singin' in the Rain is a 1952 musical about making a musical, starring actors playing actors. I swear it makes more sense in the film.

I've heard of most of the actors, but I haven't seen any of their other films, so I didn't recognise any of them.

It's 1927. Lina and Don are the most popular stars of Monumental Pictures, but Don makes all their speeches. Approximately fifteen minutes into the film, we learn why. Lina's voice could peel paint. Everyone knows this... except her. But it's the era of silent films, so her voice doesn't matter to the public, right? 😏

Don and Lina

Then the first ever talking picture appears. While Don and Lina are making another silent film, The Dueling Cavalier. Naturally, the producer decides that instead of giving up on the film currently being filmed, they should turn it into a talking picture. There's just one problem: Lina.

The minute everyone realised there might be a few problems with this "talking picture" business 😆

The film gets made in spite of Lina's voice and sound-related difficulties ("The mike's picking up her heartbeat!" 😆). Only trouble is, said film is utterly ridiculous... which everyone only realises at the preview. Don assumes his career's over. But his friends Cosmo and Kathy have an idea: they'll turn The Dueling Cavalier into a musical, and dub Lina's voice with Kathy's!

Don, Kathy and Cosmo

Unfortunately, Lina has an idea of her own. She wants Kathy to keep dubbing her for years. Things look pretty bad... until she decides to make a speech...

One of the best -- not to mention funniest -- endings ever seen in musicals.

From start to end Singin' in the Rain is frothy, ridiculous nonsense. The frequent out-of-nowhere song and dance sequences are just plain weird. Only two of the songs are memorable. But it's funny enough that I don't care. From Lina's mishaps with the microphone, to Cosmo's hilarious antics, to the side-splitting final scene, the film is full of comical moments. So ignoring the silliness and judging it only on how enjoyable it is, it's a pretty good film!

Is it available online?: Not as far as I know.

Rating: 5/10.

Review: Love Among the Chickens (novel)

What ho there! Jolly glad to see you! Have a spot of tea and join me in reviewing this frightfully spiffing novel! (Can you tell how much fun I had thinking of these opening lines? 😊)

Love Among the Chickens is one of P. G. Wodehouse's many humourous novels, revolving around a misguided attempt to start a chicken farm. It was originally written in 1906, then almost entirely rewritten in 1921.

You can always tell when you're reading a book by P. G. Wodehouse (pronounced "wood-house", illogical though it seems). There's always the long-suffering narrator who gets dragged into a scrape through no fault of his own, and inevitably manages to make it worse. There's always the well-meaning but utterly wrong-headed friend who drags the narrator into the aforementioned scrape. There's always a background cast of colourful, eccentric characters, usually including a love interest for whom the narrator does all sorts of strange things. And of course there's always the comical, unexpected solution to the seemingly-hopeless mess the main characters have gotten themselves into.

Love Among the Chickens is a good example of the typical Wodehouse plot. It has narrator, friend, love interest, eccentric background characters, unexpected ending, and as many amusing moments as the average Laurel and Hardy short.

The plot begins when Jeremy Garnet, an author working on his next book, gets dragged off to Dorset to help his friend Ukridge start a chicken farm. Garnet knows nothing about chickens. Neither does Ukridge, or Mrs. Ukridge. To make things more complicated, Garnet falls in love with a girl staying nearby, he arranges for her father to fall out of a boat (...it makes sense in context), and the Ukridges are getting deeper and deeper into debt...

I first discovered this book while looking for Jeeves and Wooster books in the local library. There were none, but instead there was a copy of this. I sat down to read it. Two hours later I'd finished it, and my badly-muffled giggles had probably convinced the other library-users I was crazy.

There are so many hilarious moments. The incident of the cat stuck in the chimney, for one, and the ill-advised boat rescue for another. And then there's the final lines, when poor Garnet finds he's going to be dragged into yet another of Ukridge's madcap schemes 😆

This book might not be as well-known or quite as well-written as Wodehouse's Jeeves or Blandings books. But it's still very funny, and a good choice if you want something light to read!

Is it available online?: Yes, on Gutenberg.

Rating: 7/10.