Thorne Smith (1892–1934)

This was published a few years after [b:Topper|3034224|Topper|Thorne Smith|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328311464l/3034224._SY75_.jpg|3064821], which it vaguely resembles in content and tone, although the two books have no characters in common.

As in [b:Topper|3034224|Topper|Thorne Smith|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328311464l/3034224._SY75_.jpg|3064821], a wealthy, respectable man in early middle age is beset by supernatural events and begins to be naughty and disruptive to society in general. He drinks too much, although so does everyone else (in the USA during the counter-productive era of the National Prohibition Act). He's unhappily married, but an attractive young woman is unaccountably fascinated by him.

The clear difference is that there are no ghosts in this one. Instead, Mr Lamb meets a mysterious Puckish stranger who literally enchants him, so that he intermittently turns into animals of different kinds. His adventures are quite entertaining if you like that kind of thing.

I'd describe it as a good-natured romp, set in days of old, almost a century ago.… (more)

This is quite well written, in an endearing and droll style, and is furthermore an historical document, dating from the last year of the First World War. I was tempted to give it three stars, except that it doesn't really go anywhere or achieve anything, and I may not feel the urge to reread it.

It's a semi-autobiographical diary of the author's experiences as a US naval recruit, presumably exaggerated for humorous effect. Being a diary rather than a novel, it has no particular plot and just stops whenever he leaves off writing.

Thorne Smith later became better known for humorous alcoholic fantasies, but this was his first publication; it has no element of fantasy and remarkably little alcohol in it (the Prohibition Era had not yet started). It turns self-deprecation into an art form; if we can identify the protagonist with the author, he was the worst naval recruit ever.… (more)

The fantasy element here is a swimming pool that becomes enchanted, and rejuvenates anyone who uses it. Quite a nice idea that could form the basis of an amusing story.

Unfortunately, this story is of a drunken party that seems endless and pointless. Thorne Smith's books tend to be alcoholic and not strong on plot, but this was published in the year he died, and he wasn't at his best.

It's readable enough that I was able to finish it, and I don't actively dislike it, so I've generously awarded two stars rather than one, but I don't think it was really worth reading.

Some people seem to like it, probably because the writing style can be amusing if you have a compatible sense of humour.

A couple of reviewers seem shocked by the 'racism' in it, apparently because the protagonist has a Japanese servant who is frequently insulted. I imagine that Smith just wanted a frequently-insulted servant, and thought that making him Japanese would add to the comic effect. I wasn't born in the 1930s, but as far as I know racism hadn't been identified as a Bad Thing in those days. If you choose to read books that old, you shouldn't be surprised by it.

The servant is somewhat over-insulted, but it slides off him like water off a duck's back, and I wouldn't have bothered to mention it except that some readers seem particularly sensitive to it.

The long-suffering servant of foreign origin turns up in more recent fiction than this: offhand, I remember Manuel in the Fawlty Towers television series and Cato in the Pink Panther films. Not very recent, but at least within my lifetime!… (more)

This is the second outing of Cosmo Topper and his ghostly friends, and time has gone by, the author is six years older and even more world-weary. Although this time the action is set in France, which gives him a chance to have a go at the French as well as the Americans.

I originally preferred this second book, but now I find the first rather charming—childish in a nice way. The second book has its moments, but it displays a more adolescent sense of humour with a touch of malice, which may not appeal unless you're in the mood for it.

By now we're into the 1930s, and sex is permitted—adulterous sex, even—although quite discreetly and not in front of the cameras. This comes as something of a relief: two consecutive novels in which Cosmo and Marion fail to consummate their relationship would have been too much to swallow, at least for modern readers.… (more)