Golf Stories · Chapter
The Clicking of Cuthbert explained
A young man declares he is giving up golf, but the Oldest Member tells him the story of Cuthbert Banks to prove golf's practical value.
What happens
A young man declares he is giving up golf, but the Oldest Member tells him the story of Cuthbert Banks to prove golf's practical value. Cuthbert, a golfer in Wood Hills, falls in love with Adeline Smethurst, a cultured woman who rejects him for lacking intellectual ambition. After a near-hit by Cuthbert's golf ball disrupts a lecture by Raymond Parsloe Devine, Cuthbert meets Adeline. He proposes but is turned down because she wants a husband of achievement. Later, Cuthbert impresses Adeline by hosting the famous Russian novelist Vladimir Brusiloff, who prefers golf talk to literary discussion. Brusiloff's visit leads to Cuthbert winning Adeline's heart, and they marry, with Adeline becoming a golf enthusiast. The young man, inspired, retrieves his clubs.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Marriage
Cuthbert's pursuit of Adeline and their eventual marriage, which is cemented by his golf prowess.
Social Class and Status
The divide between the Golfers and the Cultured in Wood Hills, and Adeline's desire to marry a man of achievement.
Humor and Absurdity
Comic situations such as the golf ball nearly hitting Devine, Brusiloff's preference for golf over literature, and the naming of Cuthbert's son.
Characters to notice
- Cuthbert Banks
The protagonist, a skilled golfer who wins Adeline's love through his golf connections.
- Adeline Smethurst
Mrs. Smethurst's niece, a cultured woman who initially rejects Cuthbert for lacking intellectual ambition.
- Raymond Parsloe Devine
A rising young novelist whose lecture is disrupted by Cuthbert's golf ball.
- Vladimir Brusiloff
A famous Russian novelist who visits Wood Hills and prefers discussing golf with Cuthbert.
- Mrs. Willoughby Smethurst
Adeline's aunt, who promotes culture in Wood Hills and opposes the golf club.
- The Sage
The Oldest Member who narrates the story of Cuthbert Banks to the young man.
Key passages
“You are giving up golf?”
The Oldest Member asks the young man if he is quitting the game.
Opens the frame story and sets up the Sage's narrative.
“Love is not everything.”
Adeline tells Cuthbert that love alone is insufficient for her ambitions.
Key moment in Cuthbert's rejection and the theme of ambition.
“The niblicksky is what I use most.”
Brusiloff humorously uses a Russian-sounding term for a golf club.
Highlights the absurdity and Brusiloff's golf obsession.