When I shared one of the letters from P.G. Wodehouse: A Life in Letters edited by Sophie Ratcliffe a couple of weeks ago (when Wodehouse wrote to Denis Mackail to praise the newly published Greenery Street), I mentioned the book was full of Wodehouse’s comments on authors who were his contemporaries. What I’d forgotten until I found myself flipping through the book again this weekend was that Wodehouse’s reading was wider than that!
In June 1945 Wodehouse was living in Paris when he discovered the genius of that most British of authors, Anthony Trollope. Trollope had been recommended to him by his old school friend, Bill Townend, and it was to Bill that Wodehouse wrote to share his excitement:
[…] In one of your letters you asked me if I had ever read anything by Trollope. At that time I hadn’t, but the other day, reading in Edward Marsh’s A Number of People that Barrie had been fascinated by a book of his called Is He Popenjoy? I took it out of the American Library. I found it almost intolerably slow at first, and then suddenly it gripped me, and now I am devouring it. It is rather like listening to somebody who is long-winded telling you a story about real people. The characters live in the most extraordinary way and you feel that the whole thing is true. […] Anyways, I think Trollope is damned good and I mean to read as much of him as I can get hold of.
I’m always interested in what authors my favorite authors read. Popenjoy wouldn’t be my choice to introduce anyone to Trollope, much as I love it, but I’m glad it took with PGW.
I bought this book I think after reading about it here. I need to get around to reading it myself.
It’s not a Trollope I’ve read (yet) but I think it can be good to start with lesser novels sometimes. You learn to like the author with faults firmly visible and then discover how much better they could be!
I think Trollope is damned good too! Great post, thanks.
You’re very welcome. Glad you enjoyed it!
I love this! “It is rather like listening to somebody who is long-winded telling you a story about real people. The characters live in the most extraordinary way and you feel that the whole thing is true.” That’s a great description, really.
Isn’t it? And it’s so true of Trollope. More than any other Victorian author his comments on basic human quirks and emotions feel the most true to life to me.
I am delighted to learn that one of my favorite authors loves one of my other favorite authors. Trollope IS damned good and now I must move Popinjay to the top of my TBR list.
As a long time reader of PGW having just recently discovered Trollope and found that somehow he reminded me a little of PGW, I searched for joint mentions of the two and found this excellent blog.
In PGW’s letter, the passage about “…telling you a story about real people” reminds me of Hawthorne’s oft-quoted assessment of Trollope:
“just as real as if some giant had hewn a great lump out of the earth and put it under a glass case, with all its inhabitants going about their daily business, and not suspecting that they were made a show of