The Uncommon Reader: A Novella

The Uncommon Reader: A Novella
by Alan Bennett

The Uncommon Reader: A Novella
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Book Summary Information

Author: Alan Bennett
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-09-30
ISBN: 0312427646
Number of pages: 128
Publisher: Picador

Book Reviews of The Uncommon Reader: A Novella

Book Review: Absolutely Wonderful
Summary: 5 Stars

Amusing and thought-provoking, with a wicked twist at the end. What happens when Her Majesty (accidentally) discovers reading? Of course, she has always read - Cabinet documents and the like - but not books! Reading (in fact having any hobby) represents preference and her advisers are dead against that. Not to speak of the difficulty they now have of keeping to schedules, and orchestrating those meet and greets. It used to be so easy - she would ask people where they came from, how long it took and how they travelled - now, she is quizzing them on Genet and Proust and all sorts of things - and lending books!
The character of the Queen is a delight - smart, witty, sharply observant, and quite ruthless in her charming subtle way...
Alan Bennett's writing style is a work of art - each word, each character is perfect. Very easy to read, but full of depth and thought.

Summary of The Uncommon Reader: A Novella

From one of England's most celebrated writers, the author of the award-winning The History Boys, a funny and superbly observed novella about the Queen of England and the subversive power of reading

When her corgis stray into a mobile library parked near Buckingham Palace, the Queen feels duty-bound to borrow a book. Discovering the joy of reading widely (from J. R. Ackerley, Jean Genet, and Ivy Compton-Burnett to the classics) and intelligently, she finds that her view of the world changes dramatically. Abetted in her newfound obsession by Norman, a young man from the royal kitchens, the Queen comes to question the prescribed order of the world and loses patience with the routines of her role as monarch. Her new passion for reading?initially alarms the palace staff and soon leads to surprising and very funny consequences for the country at large.?

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