Enjoying a PGW fest with 4 books in a row. This is as humorous as the first. As always it’s as expertly narrated as the rest of the series is. ( )

Jonathan Cecil shines once more in this narration of the second entry in the Uncle Fred series. Uncle Fred reminds me a lot of Galahad Threepwood in this one. ( )

Good, not great Wodehouse. Not that one minds common themes, but this was a bit too close to the mark for other Uncle Fred stories. In this one, he is only the one who is bringing sweetness and light to Pongo and Sally, Bill Oakshoot and Hermoine, the cop and the maid. ( )

Wodehouse, P. G. Uncle Dynamite. 1948. Norton, 2012.
Uncle Fred, the fifth earl of Ickenham, is back spreading sweetness and light. Uncle Fred thinks his nephew Pongo should marry a young sculptress, not Hermione, the straitlaced girl who is his current fiancée. He has met another young man who is pining for her. All that is required is stealing a few statues and pushing a policeman into the duck pond. What could be easier? Here he explains the “Ickenham system” for getting Hermione to say yes: “ignoring her struggles, clasp her to your bosom and shower kisses on her upturned face. You needn’t say much. Just ‘My mate” or something of that sort.” Works every time, he says. ( )

“Uncle Dynamite” didn’t live up to my expectations. Although I rate Uncle Fred as one of P. G. Wodehouse’s greatest character creations, the “barmy” earl didn’t equal the brilliant form of his appearances in other works I’ve read.

I think what let this novel down a bit was the amount of third-person narrative. This at times felt too rambling and it slowed the pace down. Snappy dialogue exchanges are what I look forward to in Woodhouse’s world, but these weren’t as plentiful as I would’ve liked.

The plot is fine, but not gripping. The cast of characters are amusing but not endearing.

In short, not my favourite novel by this author, but still worth reading. ( )