The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
- Title: The Uncommon Reader: A Novella
- Author: Alan Bennett
- Publisher: Picador
- Year of Publication: 2007
- Pages: 120
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
One of my favorite movies of 2006 was The History Boys, based on the play written by Alan Bennett (and he wrote the screenplay, too). When I saw this novella on the LibraryThing Early Reviewer request list, I hoped for a story as fascinating and touching as The History Boys was.
I wasn’t disappointed. The Uncommon Reader is a fictional story of the real life Queen of England and her recent foray into the world of literature. Bennett is able to capture the essence of reading, once again, and establish characters so close one can touch them. It is funny I should say that because Hector in The History Boys says:
The best moments in reading are when you come across something—a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things—which you had thought special and particular to you. Now here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out and taken yours.
Bennett is not dead, given, but his novella certainly struck a chord in my bookworm heart. Many chords, in fact.
I am no queen, but I can definitely relate to this:
The appeal of reading, she thought, lay in its indifference: there was something undeferring about literature. Books did not care who was reading them or whether one read them or not. All readers were equal, herself included. Literature, she thought, is a commonwealth; letters a republic. (30)
The novella gives the reader a sense of the life of English royalty: hectic, pampered, and much removed from the ordinary. Every hobby or habit is questioned, and normality and humanity seem far off. This fictitious version of Queen Elizabeth II finds solace in reading, and finds her humanity. Through the literature she reads, she is able to sympathize and learn, to live through the lives of the ordinary people she has been so distant from. She is able to grow and think for herself in a totally new way.
And none of this happens without causing friction.
I found this work to be a great read in parts, but sometimes it got a bit slow. For 120 pages, it took me an awful long time to read. Of course, I am glad that I did, and I would recommend this to anyone who likes to think about why they read and what it does for them… and anyone who is interested in the royal family, too. Fictitious though it is, The Uncommon Reader sure is believable. 3.5/5
Thank you to LibraryThing Early Reviewers and Picador for this free copy of The Uncommon Reader!
Tags: book review, books, British literature, LibraryThing Early Reviewers, monarchy, movies, novella