Nothing is Simple in Wodehouse (by Tong Ring) will I expect be proven at 7.30 this evening on BBC 2.
A contestant has chosen as their special subject on Mastermind the Blandings stories. His or her memory and wits will have to be razor sharp. The cars, chauffeurs, the pigmen and woman, the pubs, sisters, imposters and secretaries are just a few of the subjects they will have to have mastered. I don’t envy him/her.
War with Russia, Richard Shirreff’s didactic thriller, is full of facts and details about weapons systems, chains of command, etc. Its authenticity is excellent although he does slip up; no American President would have been at Camp David at the time of Pearl Harbour. It only became a presidential retreat the following year.
Wodehouse’s writing, on the other hand, appears devoid of anything factual until you realise his artistry at slipping over so much gen so genially. Take, for instance, the brand names he invents. You will know Donaldson’s Dog Joy and Buck-U-Uppo but how many more are there? The answer in short is about a hundred. For a fuller answer consult Advertising in the Wooster Sauce index and then read the lists in the By The Way supplements. I like the sound of Dr Wilberforce’s Golden Gargle – no doubt invented during Prohibition – after which Blenkinsop’s Balm for the Bilious will be necessary. I hope the Mastermind contestant has The Luck of the Bodkins this evening.
Barbara Cunningham (left) didn’t. But Wodehousians don’t play to win.