The Uncommon Reader: A Novella by Alan Bennett
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Book Reviews of The Uncommon Reader: A Novella
Book Review: "Reading is untidy, discursive and perpetually inviting."
Summary: 5 Stars
In his novella,"The Uncommon Reader," Alan Bennett imagines what might happen if Queen Elizabeth II suddenly became a book addict. By happenstance, Her Majesty comes across the City of Westminster traveling library, housed in "a large removal-like van." The sole borrower that day is a kitchen worker named Norman Seakins. After chatting with the driver/librarian and young Seakins, Elizabeth impulsively states, "Now that one is here I suppose one ought to borrow a book."
Although she has read before, reading has never been a hobby, since "it was in the nature of her job that she didn't have hobbies." She rashly chooses a rather dull book by Ivy Compton-Burnett, whom she had once made a dame. This inauspicious selection does not dampen the Queen's ardor. On the contrary, with Seakins as her literary advisor and amanuensis, Elizabeth eagerly wends her way through a wide variety of works old and new, by such varied authors as Henry James, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Marcel Proust, Jean Genet, Jane Austen, Ian McEwan, Alice Munro, and A. S. Byatt. She even ventures into biography, including those of movie stars (shocking!). As time passes, Elizabeth starts to record particularly interesting passages and musings about what she has read. Her obsession soon brings about consequences that no one could have predicted.
Elizabeth's unsympathetic underlings, alarmed at the changes that they see in their heretofore reliable and predictable monarch, try to sabotage the Queen's new habit. They are annoyed that she has begun to perform her ceremonial duties perfunctorily; she is in a hurry to return to her reading. A disturbing rumor starts to circulate that Elizabeth may be suffering from dementia. Not only is this untrue, but for the first time, the Queen fully realizes how much she has missed. Even though she is a world traveler who has seen and done a great deal, reading has opened up a vast, uncharted territory: "One book led to another, doors kept opening wherever she turned and the days weren't long enough for the reading she wanted to do."
"The Uncommon Reader" is a witty soufflé that is both a paean to the joys of the printed word and a satirical take-off on the monarchy, a much-battered institution in recent years. In his airy and entertaining style, Bennett paints a delightfully hilarious portrait of a formidable woman longing to break out of her stultifying routine. Reading proves to be the perfect antidote to what ails her, and it also helps her to become more compassionate and thoughtful. For those who adore books and enjoy savvy, irreverent, and pointed humor, "The Uncommon Reader" is an uncommon treat.
Book Review: For readers and about a reader -- absolutely delightful
Summary: 5 Stars
Bennett is one of the very best comic writers presently working in the English language, and this short book -- only 120 pages -- will keep you thoroughly entertained for the few hours it takes to read it. The set-up is simple. Queen Elizabeth II, pursuing a corgi around the corner of Buckingham Palace one afternoon, encounters the bookmobile that supplies her staff with its reading on a weekly basis. Looking inside from curiosity, and startling the librarian and the young man from the kitchen staff patronizing the collection, her natural politeness drives her to check out a book. Having done so, she feels duty-bound (duty being something Her Majesty understands thoroughly) to actually read it. And the experience is transformative. So begins her amazed discovery of an entirely new world she never really knew existed -- the world of literature. And Norman, the young kitchen skivvy (well, he is gay), becomes her guide and amanuensis. Her first approach to reading is omnivorous and her tastes, as she begins to develop them, are highly eclectic. Many of the more modern authors are people she has actually met, in her capacity as monarch -- a few of them she has even knighted -- but she never knew what to say to them before. Her enthusiasm for opening fire stations and attending youth concerts, which she has done for half a century, begins to wane. She'd rather be reading. The Prime Minister and the various equerries who surround her worry about this tendency and try to stave off what they fear is a signal of the queen's decline, but she's been in this business far longer than any of them and manages without much difficulty to follow her own desires. And after a few years, the time comes when she realizes that to read is essentially to be a spectator -- and Her Majesty has always been a doer. And what should one "do" in regard to books? Why, become a writer, of course. The narrative flows effortlessly and the sly and dry humor will keep you smiling. Bennett is also paying the queen quite a compliment by assuming she possesses the intellect to discover (given the opportunity) that there's more to life than horses and corgis. One sincerely hopes the Sovereign acquires a copy of the book. One never knows.Book Review: the uncommon reader is the uncommon of all citizens, it is Queen Elizabeth II herself
Summary: 5 Stars
The Uncommon Reader, by Alan Bennett (124 pgs., 2007). Bennett is known as one of Great Britain's leading dramatists. He's written numerous plays for the theater, screenplays for the movies, & plays for television. This was only his second published work of fiction. His first was a collection of three short stories. This is a novella. He's also published three autobiographical books.
Like most British playwrights, Bennett has a biting wit & that low key British sense of humor. The premise of this novella is very unique. The uncommon reader is the most uncommon of all citizens of the United Kingdom. It is Queen Elizabeth II, herself.
When her unruly Corgis wander into a mobile library truck parked near Buckingham Palace, the Queen feels obligated to take out a book. Norman, a lowly peon in the Royal Kitchens is the only other patron in the library & she strikes up a conversation with him. Soon the Queen is reading more & more & she has moved Norman upstairs to be her page & assist in her reading endeavors, much to chagrin of the other pages & her Private Secretary who soon feel left out of the Queen's new world. Bennett's trick is turning the mere act of becoming a voracious reader into some sort of revolutionary act on the Queen's part. In this age of the Internet & video games, reading is seen as some sort of subversive activity.
This novella is short, but much sarcasm of today's world & the insularity of the upper class & the unintelligence of many political leaders, fills its pages. The more intellectual the reader of this book is, the more one chuckles while reading it. After doing much reading the Queen decides she wants to become a writer; but not a writer of fluff or dryness. She wants to write critically of the many Prime Ministers who have served under her & to write about all the political games & upheavals she has seen & to finally express her own opinion about things. The current Prime Minister & many of her privy councillors are aghast at this latest plan of the Queen. In the end, Bennett delivers a totally unexpected resolution to this crisis.
Book Review: "Once upon a time ...
Summary: 5 Stars
"It was the dogs' fault."
The Queen (aka "One") met Norman Seakins and books in a van parked near the garbage bins.
One "read of course, as one did, but liking books was something she left to other people."
One is thorough: "Books, bread and butter, mashed potato - one finishes what's on one's plate."
Norman becomes her amanuensis (and more); he "was unaffected by her because she seemed so ancient, her royalty obliterated by her seniority."
Except with Norman, One is unable to discuss books:
The President of France "looked wildly about for his minister of culture."
Her driver "opened the glove compartment and took out his copy of the `Sun'."
Asked what they were reading: "To this very few of Her Majesty's loyal subjects had a ready answer (though one did try: `The Bible?')."
Her staff: "I'm afraid Her Majesty is getting to be what is known as a handful."
Or One is disinclined: "Harry Potter, but to this the Queen (who had no time for fantasy) invariably said briskly, `Yes. One is saving that for a rainy day.'"
Even authors "she found were best met on the pages of their books."
So the Queen decides to join her ancestors and relatives - Henry VIII on heresy, Victoria with Leaves from a Highland Journal, the Duke of Windsor with A King's Story - and become an author herself.
To the consternation of her ministers -- the Queen has a "terrible sense of duty" -- she announces "One must not talk about it or it will never get done."
And they all lived interestingly ever after.
Robert C. Ross 2008
Book Review: Filled with charm, humor, and deep insight into the joys and consequences of reading
Summary: 5 Stars
This little 121-page novella is a comic jewel in which Alan Bennett speculates what might happen if a very well-known person were to read a book...and actually enjoy the experience.
If Queen Elizabeth II hadn't chased her Corgis 'round the back of Windsor Castle and stumbled across the bookmobile parked outside the kitchens, none of this would've happened. But the Corgis did, and she did, and the Queen checked out a book-- just to be polite. Who'da thunk she'd actually read it and go back for another?
"Books did not defer. All readers were equal, and this took her back to the beginning of her life. As a girl, one of her greatest thrills had been on VE night, when she and her sister had slipped out of the gates and mingled unrecognized with the crowds. There was something of that, she felt, to reading. It was anonymous; it was shared; it was common. And she who had led a life apart now found that she craved it. Here in these pages and between these covers she could go unrecognized."
Turning such a world figure into a reading fiend is a stroke of comic genius as the reader rides along in the state carriage while Her Majesty learns how to wave and read at the same time or watches the servants learn to cope with a formerly punctual monarch who now wants to wait until she's finished the chapter she's reading.
The Uncommon Reader isn't all fun and games. On a deeper level, Bennett shows how the world opens up to anyone who chooses to read for both enlightenment and enjoyment. Whether we realize it or not, reading transforms us.
Read it for the humor. Read it because you're a fan of the royals. Read it because of the truths it contains. For whatever the reason...
...read it!