The Clicking of Cuthbert

By: P. G. Wodehouse

Narrated by: Frederick Davidson

Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's Summary

Who but P.G. Wodehouse could have extracted high comedy from the most noble and ancient game of golf? And who else could have combined this comedy with a real appreciation of the game, drawn from personal experience? Wodehouse's brilliant but human brand of humor is perfectly suited to these stories of love, rivalry, revenge, and fulfillment on the links.

While the Oldest Member sits in the clubhouse quoting Marcus Aurelius on patience and wisdom, outside on the green the fiercest human passions burn. All kinds of human life are here, from the cocky professional Sandy McHoots to the shy Ramsden Waters, whose only consolation is golf. Even golf-haters will not be able to resist stories that so perfectly blend physical farce with verbal wit and a gallery of unforgettable characters.

(P)1998 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic Reviews

"[Wodehouse is] a brilliantly funny writer - perhaps the most consistently funny the English language has yet produced." (The Times, London)
"Wodehouse is the greatest comic writer ever." (Douglas Adams)

I Don't Golf. But I Can't Stop Listening.

Like Kevin, Wodehouse's golf sagas used to leave me a bit tepid. I've only played one complete round of golf in my life and then it was a foursome playing best ball--and the best ball was rarely mine. But that single experience has helped me to understand that Wodehouse speaks sooth: when you DO hit the ball right (and I did once, purely by accident, a low, raking drive that went at least two thirds the distance of the fairway), you really do want to stop everything, untangle yourself and try to recollect what you did right. An impossible assignment, but there it is.

But more than that, though these are "golf stories" I've come to see that they really aren't about golf. They're about people who happen to play golf. Just as the Bertie and Jeeves stories revolve around a young man about town whose main objects in life are doing the done thing and avoiding his relatives, these are humorous tales about people obsessed with getting their score down in the 90's. Steeped in golf, they express their ideas and emotions (from insults to proposals of marriage) almost entirely in terms of golf. It's funny because it's, not so very far from the truth. Just think of any avid golfer you know.

Then, of course, there is Frederick Davidson's languid but never bored or boring delivery. His readings are usually at least an hour longer than those of, say, Jonathan Cecil reading the same book and it is time well spent; Davidson uses it to get all the juice out of every line. Both as a book (one of Wodehouse's best) and a performance (one of Davidson''s best) this is a must-have.

One of his golfing titles

This is fun, like all Wodehouse titles, but be aware that this is one of his stroke-by-stroke golfing titles. There are plots woven about these golf games, but buyer beware if you have a low tolerance for details of each club and hole played at the "Oldest Member's" club.

Simply Delightful

Very entertaining and worth the purchase price for the narration alone. Although the male-female dynamic is more than a bit antiquated in these short stories, the alternating grace and vicissitudes of the game of golf - as well as its obsessions - are accurately captured as if written the day before yesterday. These are stories at their core about how golfers think about golf, and they are as true now as when they were written. Decades-long devotees of the game will most enjoy the humor and subtleties of this writing. There are, beyond a bit of (possibly) excessive relationship chatter, laugh-out-loud moments in these stories if you truly know what it is to be a golfer.

Fun tales

I'm not a golfer, but I enjoyed these tales from Wodehouse. Most are "told" by the Oldest Member, usually to some poor guy who is disheartened by his golf game, although the last story is "historical."

Once Again Wodehhouse in His Prime

brings his enormous gifts as a stylist, concocter of seamless plots, and deployer of metaphors and similes to bear on golf which was one of his pursuits. Wodehouse came to golf in his thirties and like some of his characters was bitten hard by the golf bug. As a first rate humorist and third rate golfer Wodehouse was able to delve into the heart of this obsession and to get even with the game on the written page in a way he never could on the course. As I said in an earlier review, if you are a golfer with a smidgen of self awareness you will find aspects of your personality in thee stories. Wodehouse knew golf but he knew golfers even better.

I was not as happy with with narrator as I was with Cecil who did Heart of a Goof, but it is well done. Highly recommended.

Hilarious! But: poorly edited

This is classic Wodehouse but the editors of the audio left in almost a dozen second takes. Perhaps Audible doesn’t take responsibility, but it took me out of the story.
The reader is ok, but doesn’t have the range of voices others do. That said he has good comedy timing which makes up for almost anything.

Wodehouse’s golf stories: not my favorite

Having played years ago, but with only mild enthusiasm, I’m obviously not the target audience for this book. But even still, the conceit that golf turns people (men, in this telling) into obsessives with near-complete myopia toward anything but the game grows a little thin after awhile. Beyond that, while I generally like Frederick Davidson’s Wodehouse narrations, this one should have received a better edit from Blackstone Audio. In nearly each story, there’s at least one instance where Davidson’s second take on a line repeats his first take. I expect many other such instances were edited out, but those that remain are annoying and unprofessional on the part of whoever the audio engineer for this book was.

Needs editing for rereads

As others remark, there are about a dozen rereads that Blackstone did not remove by 1998 nor had Audible by 2006. With modern technology, should be a simple job for an intern. But if the errors are copyrighted, are they permanent? Alas, it’s as in golf that a bad swing can’t be unswung.

Love it!

This was truly an enjoyable experience. Very well read and very well written. So funny at times. I enjoyed myself from start to finish. Hehe the last story was great fun ☺️

Stuck on how to review this odd book

In 1922, maybe British people spoke much differently than now. The narrator may be perfect for the book, but to my ears, he’s just too, too, TOO haughty. I can see him, with a large gap in his front buck teeth, twirling his handlebar mustache, looking down his nose at all the plebeians. All the men in the story seem to be dukes, barons and earls, who have no need of crass ‘work’, having inherited their wealth. Their idea of women seems to be of marshmallow-voiced idiots, in pinafores and parasols, with nothing to do but sit around doing needlework while men decide whom they should marry upon meeting them.

Wodehouse has several amusing ways to turn a phrase. However, a great deal of the book, up to half, is dedicated to describing golf actions, using such silly words as mashy, niblick and fuzzled. I never did figure out what is ‘clicking’. All in all, it was an experience to have, but only once in my life.

Reasonable Wodehouse ruined by a snide sneering reader

From earliest sentences this reader was felt to be repellent to a measure never before encountered in any other audio book.
Quite why anyone could select Davidson from others capable of unobjectionable performances, defeats the imagination.
He is unpleasant, supercilious, sneering in his delivery and quickly projected as an acidic wart that one might cross the street to avoid meeting and having to engage in conversation, however briefly.
The material is, as expected, Wodehouse through and through.
Far from his best, but decent enough.
But this repellent reader's delivery was quite enough to ensure that before the halfway point I stopped listening and chose another title.
I believe that in the past I've read all the Wodehouse commonly available, but now that reading has become rather a trial because of reduced visual acuity, I've begun listening rather than reading and hoped to revisit these quality pre-war works, But all too many times this name shows as being that of the reader. These I now bypass in favour of others who aren't so enwrapped in self-projection as above detailed.
All just my opinion, of course. Your impression may differ. (But I doubt it)

Great stories

I'm not interested in golf at all, but I very much enjoyed this collection of golf related stories, better than I expected even though I'm a great fan of Wodehouse. I'm not keen on this narrator, and there are some production quality issues. Audio level fades for a couple of seconds sometimes, and there are several places where a sentence is repeated. I'd enjoy a technically better recording by a more suitable narrator. This narrator has a supercilious tone and ends most sentences with a slight rising inflexion, except when he ends with an exaggerated falling inflexion for no particular reason.

Terrible narration

I’ve been spoilt by only listening to Wodehouse narrated by Jonathan Cecil. This narrator was so horrendous that I couldn’t get past chapter 1. Sneering, supercilious and charmless. Totally ruined it for me. I’d have given zero stars for performance if I was allowed.

Great audio book

not a fan of golf but surprisingly loved this. Great PG Wodehouse humour and descriptions. Well read.

pure gold

PGW is a master of language, plotting and entertainment. I love history golf and good writing and here is a find of the very first water .... enjoy

Dreadful ill judged narration

Was looking forward to being cheered on my daily walk with a bit of classic Wodehouse. Had to give up, despite trying, because of the appalling narrator. Totally missed the required tone. Truly awful.

classic Wodehouse

love the stories, a few repeated phrases though which can be rather annoying. I will save to listen again.

Light and amusing though with production problems

Frederick Davidson's dry narration perfectly suits these whimsical stories, the humour of which can easily escape the inattentive ear. However this is clearly a lazy transcription from a tape or CD version as there are frequent repeats of a few seconds every so often.

Awful narration

Misses the spirit of the tales. Delivered in a sort of snide, sneering manner; all the light humour is absent. A great book ruined.

Brilliant

Really enjoyed coming back to these stories that I enjoyed so much as a teenager. So well -written.