The Pothunters

By: P. G. Wodehouse

Narrated by: Graham Scott

The Pothunters

By P. G. Wodehouse

Narrated by Graham Scott

The Pothunters was Wodehouse's first published novel and the first of a number of early school stories. Life at the fictional St. Austin's public school is thrown into confusion when the cricket pavilion is burgled, and two of the school's silver sports trophies (or "pots" in the language of the schoolboys) are stolen. The hunt for the missing trophies piques the interest of the boys, their school masters, and even a Scotland Yard detective, and is played out against the idyllic background of Edwardian public school life.

Public Domain (P)2023 Voices of Today

Wodehouse's first published book

Wodehouse's first published book, this one is definitely NOT the place to start if you are wanting to get into Plum's writing; in fact, I would say this is more geared for Wodehouse completists (such as myself). It's a lighthearted short novel about the goings-on at an English public school (the fictional St. Austin's), particularly regarding the theft of two silver sports prizes (aka the "pots"). There are a number of smiles but no real solid laughs in this one (in sharp contrast to Plum's hilarious later works) but it's well written and you can see the development of a comic genius in the works here. The narrator is decent enough though he is no Jonathan Cecil.

Not Wodehouse as we know him

I didn't finish this book because it wasn't funny and it wasn't intended to be funny. It seemed like a boy's story of the day, with interminable details about boxing and boys' school.