Livergant, A. (2021). Pelham Grenville Wodehouse. On the benefits of optimism. Moscow: AST: Redaktsiya Eleny Shuninoy. (In Russ.)

Abstract

The reviewer considers A. Livergant’s biography of P. G. Wodehouse a highly relevant book that succeeds in describing Wodehouse’s optimism and dedication to writing as a source of irrepressible enthusiasm for life even in the darkest of times. The biographer focuses on a carefully reconstructed story of Wodehouse’s radio broadcasts made from a Berlin-based studio as a turning point in the writer’s career that nearly ruined his reputation. This particular incident in the life of Wodehouse enables the author to start a conversation about confounding circumstances that often interfered with people’s lives in that tragic period and questions that do not yield to a simple answer. Livergant discusses various Russian translations of the writer’s novels and helps to form an idea about a ‘Russian’ Wodehouse. He includes a number of his own translations, completing the image of Wodehouse — the book’s protagonist with recognisable qualities of Jeeves and Wooster, and specifying his own standpoint as a biographer.