Jeeves, by Charles Williams

Barbara stretched out her hands, and Lionel pulled her to her feet.

"I just want to shimmer up, like Jeeves, not walk," she said.

"Do you like Jeeves, Mr. Persimmons?"

"Jeeves?" Gregory asked.

"I don't think I know it or him or them."

"Oh, you must," Barbara cried. "When I get back to London I'll send you a set."

"It's a book, or a man in a book," Lionel interrupted. "Barbara adores it."
.
"Well, so do you," Barbara said. "You always snigger when you read him."

"That is the weakness of the flesh," Lionel said. "One whouldn't snigger over Jeeves any more than one should snivel over Othello. Perfect art is beyond these easy emotions. I think Jeeves -- the whole book, preferably with the illustrations -- one of the final classic perfections of our time. It attains absolute being. Jeeves and his employer are one and yet diverse. It is the Don Quixote of the twentieth century."

"I must certainly read it," Gregory said, laughing. "Tell me more about it while we have tea."

"War In Heaven (Eerdmans 1978), page 157-8

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting. I was reading War in Heaven today and I bumped into that passage. I even quoted the same passage in a note I sent to the PGWNET mail group. Today! Did I plagiarize you or did you plagiarize me, or did we both read War in Heaven today and have the same thought to share it?

-Jimmy Pitt

Arborfield said...

Neither... just quoting both the 'master' CSW, drawing attention to the 'Master' Plum Wodehouse. Both VERY much worth reading!

Regards...

Anonymous said...

War in Heaven is pretty spooky stuff with all the black magic and whatnot. With six billion people alive I guess none of us are promised our thoughts will be unique - so I'm pretty pleased to have shared one with you.

What are we thinking now?

I'm reading "The Place of the Lion" now. I've got five of Williams's novels loaded on my Blackberry with Mobireader software. I got them from the Australian Gutenberg site. I feel wealthy having that much reading material ahead of me with a new (to me) author!

Arborfield said...

IMHO "Descent into Hell" is his best book... amazing. With "All Hallows Eve" coming a close second.

I discovered CSW many years ago now, via (as many do) CS Lewis. Williams was a completely unique writer that no-one at all has ever been able to emulate.

Hope you enjoy him,

Roger