A Gentleman and his Gentleman
[ORD PETER WIMSEY is one of the most delightful of the amateur detectives of fiction. The son of a duke, he hobnobs without effort with all classes of society; since it is only those who feel themselves socially inferior who find any need for snobbishness. He’s an unassuming, small-made man, friendly, jolly, often witty, often satirical, but hiding behind an ineffective manner, the analytical brilliance of brain, the dash and personal daring that make him so fine a detective that Scotland Yard is
glad to co-opt him in particularly baffling crimes. Lord Peter is served by the perfect "gentleman’s gentleman,’ Bunter, who had been his batman in the War, had saved his life, and had been of great service in helping to restore Lord Peter after ‘the breakdown the war caused in all his faculties and all his interests. Bunter’s conversation is delici-. ous. It is of a formality and
correctness that would grace a Victorian text book on thé Art of Conversation. It is full of polysyllables of startling pedantry, of phrases turned with palpable tact and care. It contrasts most amusingly with Lord Peter’s casual, slangy way of expressing himself, so that a conversation between the two of them is a delight--Bunter, heavy, careful, and dull-Lord Peter airy, vivid and gay. Bunter has, among his many talents, one of particular value to Lord Peter-that of being an expert photographer.-("A few minutes with Women Novelists: Dorothy Sayers,’ by Margaret Johnston, 2YA, March 29).
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 95, 18 April 1941, Page 5
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249A Gentleman and his Gentleman New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 95, 18 April 1941, Page 5
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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