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Rachel Lowndes
Sebastian Faulks Guildford Book Festival
Sebastian Faulks brought his PG Wodehouse tribute to Guildford
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Rachel Lowndes
Sebastian Faulks in Guildford
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Sebastian Faulks' Jeeves and the Wedding Bells
Sebastian Faulks pays homage to his boyhood hero, PG Wodehouse with his latest book
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Rachel Lowndes
Sebastian Faulks - Jeeves & The Wedding Bells
Sebastian Faulks signs copies of his tribute to PG Wodehouse, Jeeves and The Wedding Bells, at the Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford
Best-selling author Sebastian Faulks launched his 15th book ‘Jeeves and the Wedding Bells’ at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, with an evening speaking about his daring take on his boyhood hero's most famous duo
The London papers have been full of news about Sebastian Faulks’ latest works this week, launched on Monday at Brown's in Mayfair. It’s not the novel written in his own name, A Possible Life that has been generating the column inches, but his homage to his boyhood hero P.G. Wodehouse, Jeeves and the Wedding Bells.
Self-deprecating, charming and perhaps anticipating a mixed response to someone taking on the great - and terribly popular - British writer, Sebastian opened his talk at the Yvonne Arnaud asking the audience: “What have I done?” It is a question some of his critics have been perhaps unfairly asking this week.
Such is the loyalty of Jeeves and Wooster fans, that some have been a little hesitant in their praise about Faulks' latest works. Some have been quite accusational in tone, asking how dare Sebastian take on the great British writer. Indeed, The Telegraph's Christopher Howse says that the novel is just simply not Wodehouse. Quite.
Jeeves and the Wedding Bells is the second time Sebastian has chosen to write a pastiche. He wrote Devil May Care asa tribute to the James Bond series creator Ian Fleming in 2008. He told his Guildford crowd that his wife’s family has the saying “Once funny, twice silly, three times a smack.” “I’m now in twice silly country,” he joked.
Either way, Sebastian freely admits that he took upon himself an enormous challenge of trying to emulate one of the great prose stylists of the 20th century and his boyhood hero no less.
Despite initially turning down the offer of writing the novel, conscious of the enormous expectation of emulating Wodehouse, he said embracing Jeeves sand Wooster has given him a huge amount of pleasure. And he has brought some of his own take to the novel saying: “I believed it could work if it was substantially different, it is 80% Wodehouse.”
He says he “tuned and dialed into the voice of P.G. Wodehouse”. He is stylistically Wodehouse, but his characters are not - quite. In particular, he has brought more psychological and emotional depth to Bertie, observing the request made to him by Wodehouse’s estate that he bring it in line for today’s young audiences.
Regardless of the high-brow opinions of the London newspaper critics, Sebastian’s homage is a jolly good yarn - thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining – almost as much as Sebastian’s presence and chat on stage. It’s on my recommended list and should be on yours.
