(no subject)

No one should be surprised that Wodehouse's letters are very charming, though I am rather baffled by some of the editorial decisions. There's a lengthy preface explaining why the editor, who claims to have been a personal friend of the family, chose to group them by subject and recipient rather than chronologically, so that was all right, but I don't understand their selection of letters about his wife. In all the other sections of the book, there were letters describing amusing incidents that had happened to the two of them or things they had done together. In the section on Ethel, there were exclusively letters in which he complained about things she had done, and then one final soppy love letter written to her. Could the editor not see any of the other letters in which she featured heavily as being 'about' her? Were they actively attempting to create the impression that he disliked his wife (and then possibly pull this supposed rug out from under the reader with the reveal of the love letter)? Now, it's not as though he was complaining in ways that were completely baffling for some people who were married a good long time. His letters didn't make me feel awful about their relationship in the way that lots of published letters from men of that generation do. They just sometimes didn't agree and complained to their friends about it. But it makes me uncomfortable that some editor decided these were humourous as a lump, because men totes hate their wives, amirite? Leaves a bad taste in the mouth. It's a shame, because the rest of the collection is fine.


In totally different writing news, I am still amused that I can write porn fairly straightfacedly, but editing still makes me crack up. There's still just something about having to write people earnest notes about why you don't think they need to mention there that his cock is hard, they mentioned it above, that makes me giggle. (Not at your porn, I assure anyone who I'm betaing! Just as the contrast between the earnestness of my comments and the, well, porniness of the porn.)