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• Title: The Uncommon Reader: A Novella
• Author: Alan Bennett
• Publisher: Picador
• Year of Publication: 2007
• Pages: 120

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!

• Title: The Empress of Weehawken
• Author: Irene Dische
• Publisher: Picador
• Year of Publication: 2007
• Pages: 307

This novel is written in the style of a memoir, but the narrator is the author’s grandmother, Elisabeth Rother. Before the story begins, the author’s note reads: “Certain events and characters in this novel were inspired by real people and events. But the actual events, characters, and dialogue depicted are fictional.” The story spans the majority of the narrator’s life, including many details about her granddaughter, Irene Dische, which may or may not be true.

Right from the first sentence, I was hooked. Within Part One (out of five), I found the narrator’s cynicism and complexity of her character endearing. I knew I would enjoy the novel from that point, and I was right. It begins by explaining that the story really is about Irene, the granddaughter: “the hows and whys of her, a kind of True Confession I have decided to write for her since she has just reached a spot that is as lonely as a vacuum” (p. 5). Despite her goal, the story is really about the narrator, and what she did and why she did it. She is flawed by her own ignorance and manipulative personality, yet she is easily lovable in her own way.

The narrator often explains that the men in her life are weak, and that the women are the real backbone of the family. Evidence to that statement is presented time and time again, and it becomes apparent that the narrator, her daughter Renate, and her granddaughter Irene are the strongest people in the family.

I enjoyed Dische’s narration through her grandmother. The story took on a conversational tone, referring briefly to episodes that would happen eventually, and then explaining, “I’ll get to that later.”

The author succeeded wonderfully with her character development, plot, and tone. This was really one of the best novels I have read in a while. (5/5)

Thank you, LibraryThing Early Reviewers and Picador, for this free copy of The Empress of Weehawken by Irene Dische!

• Title: The Age of the Conglomerates: A Novel of the Future
• Author: Thomas Nevins (Random House Authors)
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Year of Publication: 2008
• Pages: 290

Thomas Nevins’ The Age of the Conglomerates is a gripping story reminiscent of the dystopian novels that predate it (1984, Anthem), but with a modern twist.

The setting is in 2048, and not much removed from the current state America is in now. One man, the Chairman, is running the show, with little to no opposition from other governmental bodies.

The story follows the protagonist, Christine Salters, who is the director of genetics at the New York Medical Center, her would-be boyfriend, Gabriel Cruz, her teenage sister, Ximena Salters, and her grandparents, George and Patsy Salters.

In the beginning of the novel, it is difficult to get past the fact that the plot seems to be so heavily influenced by 1984 and other works in the same vain. However, once the story picks up momentum, it is clear that the two stories are very different. Unlike the others, the setting of this story is not so drastically different from the time it was written, and the technology described is not totally made up. It is not a science fiction novel as much as a dystopian thriller. It is much easier to imagine than the others, and frightening because of that fact.

As a novel, the story lacks a bit, but it is forgivable. There are some strings left untied at the end of the tale, such as what happens to the Chairman and the rest of the citizens of the nation. The denouement seems a bit rushed since the chapters and sections become drastically shorter, and the narration falls into a different pace than the rest of the novel. There are some other things the novel leaves to be desired, like a deeper understanding of Christine and who she is. Ximena and the parts about her seem gratuitous at best, since her characterization is especially shallow.

Despite the flaws, the novel is still a fun and quick read. (3/5)

Thank you, LibraryThing Early Reviewers and Random House, for sending me a free copy of this book.