The Uncommon Reader: A Novella
by Alan Bennett
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Book Reviews of The Uncommon Reader: A Novella
Book Review: It's an interesting fantasy but I had problems with it.
Summary: 3 Stars
This one had been lurking for a while on my Mt. To-Be-Read, and last night I was looking for something to lightly amuse me on a very cold night. Being the inveterate Royal-watcher that I am, I knew that this was one novella that I needed to read, so I settled in with a good, stiff cup of tea and started to read.
Alan Bennett, a very successful author, takes on England's monarchy in this cheerful little tale of subversion and literary adventures. With spare prose, he poses the question of what if The Queen, England's current monarch and head of the Commonwealth, turned into a reader? And we're talking not of those many documents that she reviews in her special red boxes but novels? And as with readers who come to love their books, what if she turned into a passionate, compulsive reader?
Such is the premise here, when the Queen's troop of corgis take off after a van fitted out as a lending library. In an attempt to be polite, she checks out a book by Ivy Compton-Burnett. And she meets a young man who works in the Palace as a kitchen skivvy, Norman Seakins, who actually does read books. Gradually, the two develop a sort-of friendship, and Norman incurs the jealousy of palace staff, and the Queen's knowledge of literature grows apace with poor Norman's rise to becoming as it were, the Queen's Reader.
Soon enough, the Queen starts to resent her official duties as Monarch, preferring to spend her time reading -- and that natural corollary to being bookish, thinking about her reading. Some think she's getting senile, what with the notebooks full of her thoughts and scribbles, and the eventual chaos that erupts when the outside world learns that she's a reader. Books, not flowers, are being presented to her on royal walkabouts, and slowly there is a growing revolution growing in the palace.
This rather tongue-in-cheek story had me chuckling in spots, thoughtful in others, but at the end, disappointed. While I did enjoy Mr. Bennett's use of very clever prose, it was the ending that finally ruined the book for me. Too, Mr. Bennett seems to be taking a backhanded swipe at everyone who doesn't read, at least doesn't read what he likes, and especially at the institution of monarchy itself. By the time I got to the end of this one, I was heartily bored, and just glad to see the story end.
It's good for an hour or two of reading -- it's less than 120 pages in length, and printed in a small format -- but I won't be wasting any of my time on a reread. Somehow I think that Britain's Royals are not this vapid or befuddled, and while I do know that this is satire, it just didn't feel right or too believable.
Depending on your tolerance for the silly, or the weird, or mockery of conservative establishment, this might suit. Or it might not. One never knows.
Overall, three stars. Somewhat recommended.
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: Book Review: The Uncommon Reader
Summary: 4 Stars
The Review
My friend, Lisa, lent me this book after our book club meeting last week. From the looks of her review, I believe she enjoyed it. One of the things that she states in her review is that the reader can see themselves in the Queen, herself. I could totally relate when her reading appetite increases.
Overall, this quick little royal jaunt is about how the Queen of England, quite frankly by accident, starts reading literature. One after another, she devours them up. Her interest in reading becomes such a part of her persona that there are other aspects of her life that she tends to allow to hold less importance for her. As you can imagine, others around her discourage this change and attempt to alter her path.
One thing that the Queen discovers is that there is a writer inside of her that needs to emerge as a result of this reading. Bravo, Queenie!
What made this novella enjoyable for me were some of the terrific quotes in there:
" `... Books are not about passing time. They're about other lives. Other worlds. Far from wanting time to pass, Sir Kevin, one just wishes one had more of it. If one wanted to pass the time one could go to New Zealand.' "
"Books did not defer. All readers were equal, and this took her back to the beginning of her life."
"Authors, she soon decided, were probably best met within the pages of their novels, and as much creatures of the reader's imagination as the character in their books. Nor did they seem to think one had done them a kindness by reading their writings. Rather they had done one the kindness by writing them."
"You don't put your life into your books. You find it there."
I am finding that I am enjoying the "novella." With two being reviewed this week, I enjoy the speed and conciseness of the novella. This was a particularly charming book and because I am an avid reader, I could relate.
On Sher's "Out of Ten Scale:"
As you will see in my review of Disquiet, I have really only read and reviewed two novellas and they both are fiction. I think I preferred Disquiet to The Uncommon Reader, although I did like this book. Consequently, the genre Fiction:Novella, I am going to rate this book an 8 OUT OF 10.
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.