Thursday 10 December 2015

Wake Up, Sir! By Jonathan Ames


When I have friends over I always bring them to Shakespeare and company. It is my little Parisian treasure. This time was not different, I had a dear friend visiting, during a very tough period for this city and for all of us, so I brought her there to show her this place of peace. We straight decided to buy a common book to read "together" in distance. The choice was literally like this "tell me a letter and I will show you which book will decide to be read by us". The letter was the A, this book "jumped out" from the crowd to be read (with her big amaze).
I thought it was the perfect book, light but not ordinary.
So we started it together in two different countries. I have just finished it, she is almost there. During the all reading we would share impressions and quotes.

Alan Blair is an alcoholic and a writer, in this order. One day he decides to start a trip with his valet Jevees. The initial intentions are very good, they will get a bit of fresh air and he will eventually find the concentration to finish his second novel. However, things get an unexpected turn from the beginning of the trip and Alan will start to display all the strange aspects of his temper. You might think the book is all around Alan, but I found the main character being his valet, Jeeves, the detached but caring man who helps Alan to face all his adventures (mostly turning into problems).

I found the book very enjoyable, easy to read but never predictable, and it made me smile all the time ( and I really needed that in this period!). Critics say Jonathan Ames is the modern Wodehouse, I found this book being in between Jonas Jonasson's books for this series-of-unfortunate-events' s style  and the Barney's Version by Mordecai Richler for the on-the-edge- effect of alcohol (both books I actually think were written after this, so the inspiration might be reverse).

He walked me to the door. He said, "I'll miss you until I see you again."