Pigs Have Wings - P.G. Wodehouse - A Short Summary and Review

Pigs Have Wings - P.G. Wodehouse - A Short Summary and Review

By: a.d. elliott | Take the Back Roads - Art and Other Odd Adventures

A Rite of Fancy Book Recommendation and Review

Book cover of Pigs Have Wings by P.G. Wodehouse displayed beside a humorous pig-themed background with the words “A Short Summary and Review.”

A story about noble, British, fat pigs, which have gone missing.

A short summary of the book:

When a prized pig disappears from Blandings Castle, what follows is a series of misunderstandings, scheming aristocrats, misplaced affections, and highly incompetent plots. The Empress of Blandings,  arguably the most important character in the book, becomes the focal point of a delightfully ridiculous mystery involving nobles, impostors, and good old-fashioned British silliness.

Set in Wodehouse’s beloved Blandings universe, the story leans fully into farce. Characters chase pigs, money, and love in equal measure, while dialogue crackles with exaggerated politeness and barely concealed panic. Logic is optional. Dignity is fleeting. Laughter is guaranteed.

My favorite book from the book:

"Sudden joy affects different people in different ways."
- P.G. Wodehouse, Pigs Have Wings

Quote graphic featuring a close-up of a pig with text reading “Sudden joy affects different people in different ways.” – P.G. Wodehouse.

Questions to ponder while reading:

Would you, after reading, now consider using a pin to pop a blister?

What would you do with a pig in your kitchen?

My review:

Pigs Have Wings is peak Wodehouse,  absurd, elegant, and gloriously unserious. It reads like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stumbled into Downton Abbey and promptly slipped on a banana peel. There is mystery, yes, but the true star is the comedy of human incompetence.

The characters are earnest in the way only the British upper class can be when everything is falling apart. Alliances form. Schemes unravel. Pigs are treated with greater reverence than most of the people. And somehow, despite the chaos, everything remains deliciously light.

It is utterly ridiculous, and I laughed the entire time. If you are feeling heavy, serious, or vaguely irritated at the modern world, this book is the literary equivalent of a well-timed tonic. Wodehouse understood something essential: joy does affect different people in different ways, and sometimes the cure is simply watching very proper people behave very improperly.

The book is the cure for what ails you.

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About the Author
a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller traveling through life

She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.

You can also browse her online photography gallery at shop.takethebackroads.com.

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