Uncle Dynamite

De: P. G. Wodehouse

Narrado por: Jonathan Cecil

A chance meeting on a train brought together Lord Ickenham and Bill Oakshott - although being told that the love of his life, Hermione, was engaged to none other than Pongo, Lord Ickenham's nephew, did make Bill feel like he'd been struck behind the ear.

©2012 The Trustees of the Wodehouse Estate (P)2012 AudioGO

Fabulous

A wonderful tale, performed by my favorite interpreter of Wodehouse. Well worth the time and money.

the voices

the narrator was extremely talented, and did an amazing job with the many people he impersonated

Hermione...Herold Potter...Hmmm.

Has anyone else thought that Jo Rowling was inspired for her Harry Potter series by Uncle Dynamite?

Characters named: Hermione...Herold Potter...Reginald (sounds so close to Ronald) Reading tea leaves----Owls----an irascible uncle and a horse-faced aunt. Fred the trickster. I could go on and on. Marauders. Billius. Okay. I'll stop now ---- but seriously!

I am positive with the muffins bit and the heavy use of Gorgon ---- that Wodehouse was much inspired by Wilde as well.

And let me be clear ---- I love Sir Pelham's books! He is My favorite humorist of all-time.

Can't Beat a Wodehouse

What a pleasure it is to listen to Jonathan Cecil bring a P.G. Wodehouse book to life with its hilarious antics of the British upper class. It's a great way to enjoy a cup of tea and escape into another bygone world.

Slimm-o for Hypertrophy of the Trouser Seat

How do you keep separate in memory the many Wodehouse impostor books? As with Gilligan’s Island episodes, variations in plot are insufficient to differentiate. We have the non-unique situation where Pongo is mis-engaged to the MaryAnn (to push the analogy a bit) character who is better suited to Bill Oakshott. But we don’t have the engagement-switch trope set up by contrived jealousy. In its stead is the need to switch busts. The other motivation is desire to avoid judging a Bonny-Baby contest. Primarily Lord Ickenham (Uncle Fred) has an unbounded need to embed himself as an impostor.

We have Bill and Pongo as paired childhood friends and have Uncle Fred paired with a schoolboy rival and Sally vs Hermione as love interests. We have the local bobby churning the plot forward with combined buffoonery and eagerness. We’re at Ashenden Manor rather than Blandings. Aunts and desperate impoverishment are fortunately not major motivators this time out.
Uncle Fred’s inventiveness, and specifically his dialogue, are the highlights of this book. Otherwise, this 1948 mid-season episode will seem friendly and familiar but not uniquely inspired.