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The Uncommon Reader: A Novella | 
 enlarge | Author: Alan Bennett
Publisher: Picador
Category: Book
List Price: $12.00
Buy New: $5.68
You Save: $6.32 (53%)
New (38) Used (6) from $5.68
Rating:  89 reviews
Sales Rank: 1819
Media: Paperback
Pages: 128
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7 x 4.6 x 0.6
ISBN: 0312427646
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780312427641
ASIN: 0312427646
Publication Date: September 30, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
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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| Customer Reviews: Read 84 more reviews...
 It's an interesting fantasy but I had problems with it. November 26, 2008
Rebecca Huston (On the Banks of the Hudson)
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.
 Go ahead...read this book! November 26, 2008
Sergio (Texas)
Go ahead...read this book. It will only take an evening or two, and, even though it's about Queen Elizabeth II, it's just plain fun. And I laughed out loud when I bumped into the last page. Fantastic (but don't dare peek or the rest will be ruined).
This is a not-so-serious book about falling in love with reading, learning what you can from it, and then getting on with what's next. If you are a reader, you'll recognize yourself somewhere in this story. If not, you just might be tempted into reconsidering. Bennett treats Her Magesty gently but still has a bit of fun at her expense. The rest of the court...well, they don't fare so well.
The Uncommon Reader November 24, 2008
T. C. Postma (3735MH Bosch en Duin, Netherlands)
Eminently readable highly original and mildly sarcastic spoof centering on the Queen of England and her entourage. Very funny.
 One should read this novella. November 23, 2008
L. Rader (Atlanta)
The Uncommon Reader is a lighthearted and winsome little novella, a pleasant break from the heavier tomes of capital 'L' Literature, but no less smart for it. In his fictional scenario, Alan Bennett follows what might happen if Queen Elizabeth II went to fetch her corgis out of a traveling library and, to be polite, checked out a book. And then found that she actually quite enjoyed reading. And then began to take less pleasure in her queenly duties because of this newfound hobby. The novella shows an internal development spurred by reading and compellingly notes that one who reads begins to see others in a more empathetic way. While part of the fun of this novella is playing with the idea of the Queen as a fictional character, book fans will also enjoy The Uncommon Reader's many allusions to other texts.
 Dissappointed November 22, 2008
NaneCook (Chicago, IL)
After the initial cleverness of this book, which I did laugh out loud at a couple times thinking of the queen getting hooked on reading, it deflated for me. I think because the longer it went, the plausibility factor greatly diminished. I did pass along the book to a friend though, for grins.
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