P.G. Wodehouse

Typically, I'm not much for comic novels. But reading P.G. Wodehouse's The Inimitable Jeeves, I couldn't help but laugh. 

In many ways, the novel reminded me of another funny book: Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat, first published in 1889. Wodehouse - who published Jeeves in 1923 - shared something with Jerome: and it was more profound, I think, than a good laugh. 

Both men were exceptional stylists. And both, too, were committed to what we might today call a formal narrative structure.

Put differently: at least part of what's funny about Jeeves or Three Men is that the laughter operates within a narrative defined by its ceremonial qualities, its customary nature. It's that layer of formality, I think, that enhances the humor, that magnifies the hilarity. 

It's the incongruity, I suppose, that makes it all work. That is: the playfulness and unpredictability of the characters serve as a counter to the traditional qualities of the narration, which seek - above all else - to instill a sense of order. When this order is frustrated, we laugh.

And while there are moments in Jeeves and Three Men that are downright silly - including a large part in the former during which Bingo orchestrates a betting ring involving children's sports - there is also something redeeming about these moments: the silliness highlights the fact that serious writers can capture lighthearted moments and still be considered masters of their craft.

That's certainly the case for Wodehouse and Jerome, who shared a tremendous facility for language and story-telling.