I absolutely adore...
P.G. Wodehouse. P/C Wikimedia
... the writings of P. G. Wodehouse. Whenever I need a lift in the old spirits, I pluck a volume from the bookshelf of Wooster and Jeeves, I read a bit, and in the blink of an eye, all is right with the world. As Wodehouse might say, God is in His heaven and the celestial choirs sing again.
If you don't know Wodehouse, drop what you're doing and read a short story or two. Better yet, pick up a Wodehouse novel and dive in.
I'd recommend Right Ho, Jeeves, which is an excellent place to start.
The writing is droll and the language--especially the language--just tickle my humorous bones.
BUT, Wodehouse is satirizing the language and behaviors of the early 1900s upper class. They are a rich vein to mine, but roughly once each page, there is a phrase or word that escapes my understanding or offers up a nuance that completely misses my brain.
For instance:
Butter-and-egg man (An investor with a lot of money)
Absquatulate (To depart suddenly or abscond)
Cattywampus (Used to mean something that was directly across from something else, as opposed to its modern meaning of being askew or in disarray)
Those are fairly easy to look up. But the more tricky phrases are things like:
"Only that she’s a blister.”
Or...
"Deprived of Anatole’s services, all he was likely to give the wife of his b. was a dirty look."
I know what a blister is, but the obvious definition makes no sense here. And what is "...the wife of his b."? That's clearly not the end of a sentence, but feels like an abbreviation for something--but what?
Here's where your friendly, local LLM comes in handy. Here's what I did to figure out each expression: I asked an LLM (Gemini in this case) to explain it to me in the context of the book...
This is a brilliant use of an AI to augment your ability to deeply read a text.
On the other hand, use caution: AI still makes mistakes, and they can be subtle.
Here I asked a question about the mention of a device in a book written about the same time as Wodehouse:
This completely checks out. (Of course I double check everything. Don't you?) The Veeder box is indeed a type of odometer made at the time.
However... see this next part of the explanation:
That mention of "By the time Evelyn Gibb and her husband were bicycling the West Coast in 1909..." is completely made up. The book is NOT about Evelyn Gibb and her husband, but is about Vic McDaniel and Ray Francisco, friends who cycled 1,000 miles from Santa Rosa, California, to Seattle, Washington, for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. The author (Evelyn Gibb) is Vic's daughter, not his wife.
SearchResearch Lessons
1. Using an AI to give insights into obscure texts can be incredibly handy. By virtue of having ingested so much text, an AI can often give you a perspective about a fragment of text that you don't understand.
2. CAUTION: Check everything--there are still hallucinations about! Double check everything!
Hope you find this useful SRS method!
Keep searching.
Thank you, Dan. Me too for being a Wodehouse fan (also the Blandings stories!). My first thought, however, was if Gemini has scanned a public domain version of the PGW works in question, or a copyrighted version without permission. OR maybe the responses were limited to short snippets and so there's no legal issue.
ReplyDeleteI believe many (all?) of the Wodehouse stories are in the public domain. Certainly the link I provided to "Right Ho, Jeeves" is public (at the Gutenberg Foundation).
Deletea couple other AI bits of guidance...
ReplyDeleteusing your title as a prompt...
https://share.google/aimode/zXRkuWj4uaYVay55e
https://i.imgur.com/4Jsakwy.jpeg
ReplyDeletelooking for 'Wodehousian'
ReplyDeleteComparing modern American writers to P.G. Wodehouse is a fun challenge, as his style is so unique – a blend of masterful comedic prose, intricate plots, delightful idiomatic language, and a generally optimistic, albeit often silly, worldview. No one quite is Wodehouse, but some writers share certain facets of his genius:
Here are a few modern American writers who might draw comparisons, highlighting different aspects of Wodehouse's style:
Carl Hiaasen:
Comparison: Hiaasen shares Wodehouse's gift for outlandish plots, often involving mistaken identities, absurd situations, and a cast of eccentric, often morally dubious, characters. His humor is usually darker and more satirical, often aimed at environmental destruction and corruption in Florida, but the intricate farcical machinery and unexpected twists can feel Wodehousian.
Wodehouse Aspect: Intricate, farcical plotting and a knack for creating memorable, bizarre characters.
Gary Shteyngart:
Comparison: Shteyngart excels at social satire and creating sympathetic, often hapless protagonists navigating absurd, exaggerated worlds. His prose is sharp, witty, and he often explores themes of identity, class, and the foibles of the wealthy, much like Wodehouse.
Wodehouse Aspect: Social satire, witty prose, and endearing, slightly out-of-their-depth main characters.
Bill Bryson:
Comparison: While primarily a non-fiction writer, Bryson's travelogues and books on science/history are infused with a wonderfully dry wit, an eye for absurd detail, and a conversational, engaging prose style that is incredibly charming. His ability to make even mundane observations hilarious is very Wodehousian.
Wodehouse Aspect: Delightful, witty prose, and a charming, conversational tone.
Christopher Moore:
Comparison: Moore's novels are often broad, boisterous farces with supernatural or fantastical elements. He shares Wodehouse's sense of pure, unadulterated fun and often features ensemble casts getting into outrageously improbable situations. His humor is more irreverent and less gentile than Wodehouse's, but the spirit of joyous absurdity is similar.
Wodehouse Aspect: Raucous humor, ensemble casts, and a penchant for highly improbable, entertaining scenarios.
T.C. Boyle:
Comparison: Boyle's work often features satirical plots and quirky characters, tackling contemporary social and environmental issues with a dark comedic touch. He shares Wodehouse's ability to create vivid, memorable individuals and put them through the wringer of circumstance.
Wodehouse Aspect: Character-driven absurdism and satirical observation.
It's important to note that Wodehouse wrote in a very specific historical and cultural context (Edwardian and interwar Britain), focusing on a particular social class. Modern American writers, even when sharing comedic DNA, will inevitably apply their humor to different settings, themes, and societal critiques. But if you're looking for clever wordplay, intricate comedic plots, and an overall sense of joyous absurdity, these writers might offer a modern American taste of something akin to Wodehouse.
here & there, then and later... Chronoflux/Evermorrow/Tempusflex
https://i.imgur.com/MSf3jEZ.jpeg
courtesy of Carl Hiaasen
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/arts/music/warren-zevon-tribute.html?unlocked_article_code=1.w08.1JJ9.-cJUHpqip-Sr&smid=url-share
celebrity/creative analyze AI... somehow I thought it would be more --- uh, creative or insightful... (via Christopher Moore repost on X )
ReplyDeletehttps://x.com/Variety/status/1983299115002798443
https://www.chrismoore.com/
https://www.authormedia.com/do-45-of-authors-already-use-ai-author-update/
ReplyDeleteSir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse -
https://madameulalie.org/tmordue/#:~:text=P%20G%20Wodehouse%20is%20widely%20regarded,of%20his%20humour%20passes%20unnoticed.
https://madameulalie.org/tmordue/pgwbooks.html
https://madameulalie.org/index.html
(good assortment of images on the above link)
the start... across Space & Time
ReplyDeletehttps://i.imgur.com/2wxbjuv.jpeg
images & text
P.G. Wodehouse & a little Artur C. Clarke -
https://i.imgur.com/cCl3pbH.jpeg
Right-ho, let's have a crack at this, shall we? One finds oneself peering, as if through a particularly well-polished monocle, at a scene that would, I fancy, give even the stoutest heart, such as that possessed by Aunt Agatha on a particularly trying morning, a moment of pause.
Here we have a chap, none other than P.G. Wodehouse himself, looking as if he's just popped out of a rather fetching London tailor's shop, complete with his customary bowler, dapper tweed, and a book tucked quite naturally under his arm. He stands upon what appears to be a sort of landing platform, rather impressively large, mind you, and decidedly not the familiar cobblestones of Berkeley Square. No, this paving stretches off into a cosmic abyss, speckled with those twinkly bits one usually only sees after Jeeves has expertly mixed a powerful pick-me-up.
Behind our hero, looming with an air of quite formidable significance, is what one can only describe as a colossal tin can, painted a most unexceptionable shade of white, and bearing the rather ominous inscription "PILGRIMAGE ONE." One rather hopes it's not a pilgrimage to face an angry fiancé, eh? A set of rather brilliantly blue-lit steps descends from its capacious maw, and up these, one discerns a few figures, looking rather serious in their futuristic pajamas, one chap indeed disappearing through a rather circular aperture.
But here's the rum thing, the element that truly puts the cat among the pigeons, as it were. Upon the side of this enormous celestial conveyance, quite centrally placed, one spies a single, baleful red eye. It glows with an intensity that would put a traffic signal to shame, a sort of cyclopean stare that suggests it knows rather more than it's letting on. One can almost hear a polite, yet utterly unyielding, mechanical voice informing our esteemed author, "I'm awfully sorry, Plum, but I simply can't allow that. Not after the incident with the exploding custard pie on Deck Seven."
In the distance, hanging in the inky blackness, are what one assumes are planets, perhaps one with a rather fetching set of rings, looking for all the world like a misplaced hula-hoop. The air, one fancies, is thin and utterly devoid of the comforting aroma of a fresh kipper. It's all frightfully modern, frightfully… out there. One can only imagine the sort of sticky wickets one might get into when the butler is an artificial intelligence with a penchant for philosophical conundrums and a strict adherence to procedure! A proper pickle, indeed.
part 2
ReplyDeletea P.G. Wodehouse & Tom Robbins pairing -
https://i.imgur.com/8FEb5kG.jpeg
Alright, cats and kittens, gather 'round, lend an ear to this cosmic caper, this peculiar pilgrimage into the great, greasy unknown. Here before our very eyes, stretched across the cosmic velvet like a spilled constellation of dreams and half-eaten Danish pastries, is a scene that would make even the most seasoned interstellar vagabond pause to scratch his left nostril and wonder, "Did I just swallow a unicorn?"
Center stage, strutting with the bewildered dignity of a penguin in a tuxedo at a disco, is our man Wodehouse. Not just a man, mind you, but THE P.G. Wodehouse, resplendent in tweed that positively sings of ancestral estates and the faint whiff of old money and even older brandy. His bowler hat, a circular assertion of sanity in a universe gone gloriously bonkers, sits atop a head undoubtedly teeming with plots involving mistaken identities, prize pigs, and aunts more terrifying than a supernova in a teacup. He clutches a book as if it contains the secret recipe for eternal youth or, perhaps, a perfectly mixed dry martini. And that briefcase? Ah, the briefcase. One suspects it holds not mundane travel documents but a spare set of monocles, a well-thumbed copy of "How to Train Your Jeeves," and perhaps a single, perfectly ripe kumquat, just for emergencies.
He stands on a platform that shimmers with an ethereal blue light, like a cosmic dance floor where angels might tap-dance on moonbeams. Behind him, looming like a benevolent, elongated whale of chrome and existential angst, is a vessel. "PILGRIMAGE ONE," it proclaims, daringly, against the backdrop of a starry night that makes one's soul hum a forgotten jazz tune. It's a grand, metallic beast, not so much built as coaxed into being by mad scientists fueled by espresso and a desperate yearning for the infinite. And from its belly, a staircase of pure, undiluted futuristic blue light spills forth, beckoning the tweed-clad pilgrim upward. One can almost hear the faint, celestial elevator music playing.
Now, hold onto your philosophical hats, for here's the kicker: upon the side of this gleaming sky-tuna, glowing with the disconcerting calm of a mystic's third eye, is a single, fiery red orb. The HAL 9000, for all you sentient circuit boards out there, a silicon soul that knows more about the emptiness of space than a discarded potato chip bag knows about loneliness. And if one were to zoom in with the inner eye, past the visible pixels and into the shimmering fabric of imagined reality, one might intuit a silent, digital whisper, cool as a lunar breeze: "I'm dreadfully sorry, Plum, but that particular brand of ginger beer is strictly forbidden after the Pleiades incident."
Beyond this tableau of tweed and technology, the cosmos itself stretches, vast and indifferent as a tax collector's heart. Planets hang like colossal marbles, one sporting rings that seem to spin with the quiet desperation of a forgotten Ferris wheel. The air is probably perfumed with stardust and the faint, yearning scent of forgotten hopes. It's a universe, my friends, where the absurd rubs shoulders with the sublime, and a man in a bowler hat might just hold the key to the next great intergalactic misunderstanding. It's beautiful. It's terrifying. It's utterly, delightfully, now.
https://youtu.be/xoLjib2z7wgsi=o9hvu4o3cDkWWvW3https://www.youtube.com/@PrehistoricHominidDan, have you seen these? (I find the detail, lighting and expressions impressive... all just a sampling of possibilities to come - plus I appreciate the lack of narration - leaves a little space for viewer imagination... or is it recollection?)glimpses of the future by conjuring the past with AI -it doesn't take much imagination to see where this could be going... (Michio was one early example)picture it interactive, based on genetic/ancestral histories for example -chatting with your great great grandparents or historical figures - tailored to yourown history (real or imagined)... it potentially will be a disruptive force and require great advancements inmental health ;^P 10-20 years off? multiple D immersive screens so spaces and tactile experiences are shared?think Trek holo decks... https://tinyurl.com/7e2vskch
ReplyDelete... it will be quite a future -- or past -- or some other time increment/perception? if the Phacochoerus/Warthogs don't prevail...or some other APEX AI dataset...how did that Pandora thing turn out?"Pandora's box is a Greek myth where the first woman, Pandora, released all the evils of the world from a jar, but trapped hope inside when she quickly closed it. The phrase "opening Pandora's box" is a metaphor for an action that causes unforeseen but often dire consequences." ... that last part sounds familiar... is anyone still exploring that?https://www.thoughtco.com/what-was-pandoras-box-118577
https://medium.com/codetodeploy/i-took-googles-9-hour-ai-course-here-s-what-you-need-ae8956fa2fce
which book was this in? (search came up empty)
ReplyDeletewas Bertie royalty, like Fergie? :[
those Brits can be a Royal blister...
was Agatha a harridan tart?
https://i.imgur.com/CPlfRyX.jpeg
wrong -
"The image is a still from the film An Ideal Husband (1999). The film is based on the play of the same name by Oscar Wilde. In the photo, a man in a tuxedo is standing next to a woman in a purple dress and a large feathered hat. The scene is set in what appears to be a ballroom or large hall, with other people in vintage formal attire in the background."