Here is my review of Thank You, Wodehouse by J.H.C. Morris

I am quite impressed with this book, even though it may not be the sort of work that would deserve a place in the highest levels of literary criticism. J.H.C. Morris (and occasionally A.D. Macintyre) explore the world and characters created by P.G. Wodehouse with a considerable amount of gusto and skill.  There is a marked comfort here with “rolling up ones sleeves” and getting to work.

Morris has succeeded in making literary criticism funny as he examines the canon with a fine tooth comb and weighs the evidence to come to fascinating conclusions. There is a healthy balance between vigorous, serious scholarship and lighthearted joviality. The methodology is markedly deductive and the author is constantly harmonizing (and sometimes showing contradictions between) the various books in the Wodehouse canon. You will find some speculation, but usually it only appears when well grounded inferences simply cannot be made.

The best way I can describe this book is to say that it’s as if P.G. Wodehouse were commissioned from his grave to write a book of literary criticism about his own books. And it applies the sort of thorough, exploratory, and detailed approach that has been utilizing in the criticism of other literature (such as the Sherlock Holmes canon).

I also wish to share some of the flaws that I’ve found in this book.

First, It should be stated that the author is too hard on Jeeves, seeing in him nothing but an evil “domestic tyrant” and the blackest fiend to be found in English literature. While Jeeves is certainly not a totally saintly character, I find this over-representation of the unseemly aspects of his character to be a regrettable blot an otherwise fine work.

Second, another complaint I would have is that the ending is quite abrupt, with precious little at the end in the way of a conclusion to tie it all together.

Third, it takes the reader into some very deep water that might make all but the most obsessive Wodehouse fans quiver a bit. If you haven’t read over 10 or 20 Wodehouse books, you’ll probably find yourself slightly disoriented at certain points.

Previously, Mark Nenadov, Michael Plato, Olga Lukmanova, Ian Clary, Vincent Cancilla, Heather Weir, Bob Walton,  Sheila Kurian, Clint Humfrey, and Amanda Patchin’s answers on the topic of literature have been featured. Here are John and Kara Dekker’s answers.

1. Can you give a brief summary of where you live, your educational background, what you do for a living, what church you attend, and the religious tradition you stand in?

2. How has your early upbringing shaped your view and use of literature now?

John: I was taught to read when I was five, and by the time I was six I was a state winner in a read-a-thon in which I read more than 600 books in six weeks. This actually caused me to be burned out somewhat by reading, and over the next decade I strongly preferred non-fiction to fiction. Since then I have gone through a period of rediscovery and catch up on fiction reading that I missed out on in my childhood – books like Watership Down, The Wind in the Willows and The Lord of the Rings.

Kara: My parents provided me with oodles of books during my growing up years, and encouraged me to read by their enthusiastic example. My dad instilled in me a passion for well-illustrated children’s books, especially those with a creative use of words. I still love picking up authors such as Dr. Seuss and Robert McCloskey.

3. Are there any people who, in your adult life, have encouraged you to encounter literature in a deeper or more passionate way. If so, who? (they can people you know personally or not)

John: My brother Tony and my friend Luke have been especially diligent and insightful in recommending books that they think I would like. I was also privileged to be required to do a Language and Literature course at seminary, which was very stimulating – I did my major project on Milton’s Paradise Lost, which I had been always meaning to read. Finally, I have appreciated the writings of Douglas Wilson and Douglas Jones who edit Credenda Agenda.The issue on Beowulf both inspired me to read that poem, while the issue on P. G. Wodehouse kick-started a love that has constrained me to read more than a dozen Wodehouse novels so far.

Kara: I discovered the magazine Credenda Agenda in my formative years, and the way I read the Bible and think about life has been greatly influenced by its various columnists, especially Douglas Wilson. My understanding of how to read the Old Testament has grown through my marriage to John, as he teaches me to look for Christ in every page. And I find myself often mulling over the ideas contained in Peter Leithart’s Deep Exegesis.

4. What authors/works would you re-read if you had a month-long sabbatical to dedicate to reading?

John: I’m not sure I would re-read anything – I would be much more likely to tackle works I’d been putting off for some time, such as The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky, Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture by Brevard Childs or Boswell’s Life of Johnson. But if it had to be books I’d already read, I would include Through New Eyes by James Jordan and the Father Brown stories by G. K. Chesterton.

Kara: I’d like to re-read some childhood favourites, this time trying to see how the author’s theology works itself out in story form. I’d start with L.M. Alcott, because I’m more familiar with her setting amongst the Transcendentalists, and move on to L.M. Montgomery. Then I’d read all the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, just for fun.

5. Who are your favorite authors or characters portrayed in literature? (if any of them have substantially changed you, list how briefly)

John: My favourite authors would include J. R. R. Tolkien, P. G. Wodehouse and G. K. Chesterton. My favourite characters in these authors’ corpora would be Gandalf, Jeeves and Mr Pond.

Kara: John and I have very similar tastes! I would add to the above authors Laura Ingalls Wilder, Dorothy Sayers and Elizabeth Goudge. Sayers’ Lord Peter is one of my favourite literary characters..

6. Should Christians read more literature? What are the benefits to that? What are some cautions you would share

John: How much do they read now? I think it might depend on the person. There are, perhaps, some who should read less.

Kara: Reading is, for me, much more than an intellectual, fact-finding exercise. I’m passionate about reading for the simple joy of words. I would say that, yes, Christians should read more literature. I think there is a great danger in only reading those books with which we agree, with staying in familiar territory. Read widely!

7. To what degree is reading communal for you? (ie. Are you more solitary? Do you share in any way with your friends? Are you in reading groups?)

John: Kara and I read aloud to each other a fair bit. We’ve read a few books on marriage, some poetry, a lot of P. G. Wodehouse, Laura Ingalls Wilder, L. M. Montgomery and Face to Face: Meditations on Friendship and Hospitality by Steve Wilkins. Next year we plan to read An American Childhood by Annie Dillard.

Kara: I love to read out bits of books to whoever will listen. Part of the enjoyment of literature comes from sharing.

8. What are some methods or principles you use to decide what you will and won’t read?

9. What literary works or authors could be of the greatest value to the church if they were read more? Why?

10. Is there anything else you’d like to mention

John: No, I think that’s about it.

Kara: I realize I write this assuming a readership well steeped in the Bible. If that doesn’t describe you, start there.

Some thoughts about my reading plans in 2012.

• I reaffirm the reading focus I posted back in November.
• I want to re-read Brothers Karamazov, Robinson Crusoe, and The Hobbit.
• I’m planning to read a lot more kids books and parenting/fatherhood books.
• I want to continue to finish way more books than I buy.
• I want to focus particularly on books I own (rather than buying new ones or checking out more new titles from the library–though I still plan to utilize the library)
• I intend to report books I’ve read monthly on my blog instead of semi-frequently (If you want more detail week by week, you’ll have to check out my Goodreads profile). You can find a list of books I’ve read this year and in previous years here.
• For now, I’m done with the mini reviews I’ve been doing on my book log posts. I’m only going to post substantial essay-style reviews to my blog. In cases where a shorter review will do, I will only post to Goodreads and/or Amazon.
• I want to start reading some new stuff that I’ve been clued in to from the wonderful “Christians and Literature” survey responses I’ve been receiving.

That’s it for now.

Previously, Mark Nenadov, Michael Plato, Olga Lukmanova, Ian Clary, Vincent Cancilla, Heather Weir, Bob Walton,  Sheila Kurian, and Clint Humfrey’s answers on the topic of literature have been featured. Here are Amanda Patchin’s answers.

1. Can you give a brief summary of where you live, your educational background, what you do for a living, what church you attend, and the religious tradition you stand in?

2. How has your early upbringing shaped your view and use of literature now?

I had an isolated and melancholy childhood, shaped both by my introverted personality and my, let’s say, complicated family life. I am very much a born reader, and so I think that even a very happy home would have found me with my nose in a book all the time. Still, I have lived most of my life in books from the moment I could read. Books taught me everything I know about how the world worked: how people behaved and how they should behave, all the philosophy and history and learning available, and all the landscape and texture beyond our fences. I never had much of a teacher, had very few friends (and did not relate closely with those I had), and grew up without exposure to popular culture (no television, few movies, and no computer!). My mother was rather careful about the books I was allowed and so I mostly read classic literature. I have spent the last 13 years interacting with society, popular culture, and actual people(!) and so I do have real-world experiences to rely on, but I still find myself analyzing situations, beliefs, and behaviors through the lens of literature. I parent my boys with cautions gleaned from D.H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers in the front of my mind. I try to love my sister with Istra’s love and not Orual’s from C.S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces. When feeling like meddling, I think of Emma.

3. Are there any people who, in your adult life, have encouraged you to encounter literature in a deeper or more passionate way. If so, who? (they can people you know personally or not)

I don’t know that anyone could or should inspire me to more passion for literature – it probably wouldn’t be healthy for me! However, my friend Brent Towell has been an example of the disciplined pursuit of wisdom in literature. My conversations with him send me back to my books with renewed determination to wrestle with them and get all I can from them. Also, he introduced me to the glories of Gene Wolfe’s prose.

4. What authors/works would you re-read if you had a month-long sabbatical to dedicate to reading?

I rarely read more than three new books without re-reading old favorites. In fact, I have just spent the month of December re-reading my three favorite series: The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Book of the New Sun. There are a few dozen books that I have read more than 20 times each (Jane Eyre, Ben-Hur, Treasure Island, Lewis’s Space Trilogy – in fact pretty much the complete Lewis canon, etc.)

5. Who are your favorite authors or characters portrayed in literature? (if any of them have substantially changed you, list how briefly)

I am primarily indebted to C.S. Lewis for my worldview, to Douglas Wilson and the rest of the Moscow crew for my sense of humor and understanding of Christian living, and to Jane Eyre for knowing that I was not alone in the world.

6. Should Christians read more literature? What are the benefits to that? What are some cautions you would share?

Absolutely. We should be far more occupied with all manner of art – both in the making and the consuming of it. In understanding the arts we come close to understanding the artist and both are part of creation and imitations of the Creator. Literature teaches us to understand the story we are living and the one we should be living. These are incalculable benefits. They make us more of what we should be. Of course, literacy has pragmatic benefits too – but I feel that those should be considered a given.

As to cautions, I would just say that to the pure all things are pure. Naturally, we are all fallen and corruptible, but what is an occasion of sin for me may not be for you. Let us all be aware of our weaknesses and eager to destroy them.

7. To what degree is reading communal for you? (ie. Are you more solitary? Do you share in any way with your friends? Are you in reading groups?)

One of the reasons I enjoy having a blog is that I can talk about my reading there without boring everyone around the dinner table. Most of my family, my church, and my acquaintances don’t seem to be interested in the books and reading in the same way I am. I am unusually intense about my love of literature and I have very specific tastes for things that it seems most people find dry. I try not to be the enthusiast who won’t shut up about her weird books. Fortunately I have a handful of very close friends who share these passions and we often have dinner and discuss what we’re reading. I do not participate in formal reading groups very often.

8. What are some methods or principles you use to decide what you will and won’t read?

9. What literary works or authors could be of the greatest value to the church if they were read more? Why?

10. Is there anything else you’d like to mention

[No Answer Provided For This Question]

Previously, Mark Nenadov, Michael Plato, Olga Lukmanova, Ian Clary, Vincent Cancilla, Heather Weir, Bob Walton’s, and Sheila Kurian’s answers on the topic of literature have been featured. Here are Clint Humfrey’s answers.

1. Can you give a brief summary of where you live, your educational background, what you do for a living, what church you attend, and the religious tradition you stand in?

I live in High River, Alberta.  I have a Masters degree from Toronto Baptist Seminary where I later taught for three years. Currently I am a bi-vocational pastor of a downtown church in Calgary, Calvary Grace Church. Along with pastoring,  I work with my brother and father on our fourth generation ranch. I consider myself to a part of the Reformed and Evangelical traditions.

2. How has your early upbringing shaped your view and use of literature now?

I was never an easy reader, but my childhood was surrounded by stories. Whether taking the form of Mother Goose rhymes (any Mary is still ‘quite contrary’ to me), cowboy myths or farmers’ tall tales, storytelling marked the conversation at the dinner table.   I think that my orientation to stories well-told was started back then and further stirred by the vast imagination of an often solitary farm kid’s existence.

3. Are there any people who, in your adult life, have encouraged you to encounter literature in a deeper or more passionate way. If so, who? (they can people you know personally or not)

A college professor opened up to me the world of grammar, syntax and most of all, literary style. From there I began to appreciate in small ways the intentional structures that differentiated writers. She showed  how George Orwell filled the paragraph with long run-on sentences followed by a short punchy one.  She demanded linking verbs chopped in favor of active ones. She was ruthless, but I am grateful.

4. What authors/works would you re-read if you had a month-long sabbatical to dedicate to reading?

I would re-read The Border Trilogy, by Cormac McCarthy, that is All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, and Cities of the Plain. I would also go through Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, but probably skip over the biological tangents on whales as a species. Maybe Orwell’s 1984, or Homage to Catalonia. Certainly I would re-read The Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan, the 16thC. work that is just as evergreen and evocative today.  Last of all, I would make time to linger over Tennyson’s poem, Ulysses. I read it in high school and it is still my favorite.

5. Who are your favorite authors or characters portrayed in literature? (if any of them have substantially changed you, list how briefly)

I was particularly challenged by the character Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men. In his discourses that sound like metaphysical treatises, Bell poses the issue of ‘putting his soul at hazard’. He wrestles with the fundamental challenge of life in the real world, a world marked by death, corruption, evil and sin.  Into this world, Ed Tom Bell has a role to play, but to fix the world is not his right nor his responsibility. The books aches for resolution. Will Bell catch the antagonist, Chigurh? In the end, Bell does not catch Chigurh, and he retires without fixing what is broken in the world.  The closing discourse by Bell relays a dream he has of following his father into a howling wilderness and his father preparing a place for him there.   In all of this, Bell’s character reminds me of a pastor or minister in a church. Like the sheriff, the pastor must deal with the evil of sin in the world regularly.  There are broken people and broken relationships.  But the pastor is completely impotent to fix them.  He can only point people to the true Messiah.  And it is the Messiah, who leads the pastor on into the howling wilderness with the promise, “I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14.2).

6. Should Christians read more literature? What are the benefits to that? What are some cautions you would share?

Christians should read literature because Christians care for people, even their souls.  Literature, namely prose and poetry, offers windows into those souls. Christians with love for others will be able to see more clearly what their fellow human beings are feeling and wrestling with and be able to offer the only resolution available in this dark world, the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Christians ought to be wary however of how easy it is to delight in sin through literature. Wickedness can be articulated in beautiful prose and sometimes that aesthetic numbs us to the moral offensiveness of it. Sin is banal, but it can often be dressed up by the medium of its presentation. People need to watch out for that. I need to.

7. To what degree is reading communal for you? (ie. Are you more solitary? Do you share in any way with your friends? Are you in reading groups?)

Reading is mostly a solitary thing, but anything that is read and absorbed should spill out a bit. I prefer to know a book in such a way so that the characters or themes or even key lines can be shared with others. I don’t have the experience of reading it with others, but rather sharing the fruit of my reading with them.

8. What are some methods or principles you use to decide what you will and won’t read?

9. What literary works or authors could be of the greatest value to the church if they were read more? Why?

10. Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

I encourage anyone who is a slow reader like me to plod through one book, a good book, and let it sink into their bones, rather than skimming a bunch of ‘recommended titles’. And above all, let the Holy Scriptures be your source for not only literary, but spiritual saturation.