The Uncommon Reader

This is a novella with a premise that the Queen of England takes up reading, and was a really fun romp. She discovers that she has never been encourageed to have an opinion but quite likes it; her staff stumble to figure out what she is doing and even get rid of her reading valet behind her back. She becomes more empathetic and understanding of her people and is dismayed when others don't also have knowledge about books. Very fun very quick read - would make for a lively book club discussion about the power of the books we read, or don't read.

A comical, quick book where Her Majesty, the Queen of England, stumbles upon the love of reading. A great book about books and the love and enjoyment of reading. Very fast read, only 120 pages.

Some quotes:

‘Books are not about passing the time. They're about other lives. Other worlds. Far from wanting time to pass, Sir Kevin, one just wishes one had more of it.'

“A book is a device to ignite the imagination.”

“You don't put your life into your books, you find it there.”

“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.”

Read it twice, and on the second reading I found myself equally charmed but also disappointed. It hardly begins before it's over. A fictionalized Queen Elizabeth stumbling unexpectedly into the labyrinth of literature, becoming a bookish Queen, causing problems for those who seek to keep her comfortably in her own lane. This book could have been so much more, the book that exists just the starter's pistol for a long exploration of the monarchy, the history she saw and created, veering away from the simple interest of literature into . . . what? A million possibilities appear, the simple opening dominoeing, consequences befalling consequences, wars perhaps breaking out as a result, beheadings in the Middle East, regimes toppled. Rushdie, after all, failed to contain the drama and the absurdity to the page. The Crown isn't popular accidentally. What a great feast of a novel this could have been. And maybe will be. Probably not by Bennett as he is only 7 or so years shy of the Queen at the age of her death, a death which still feels surprisingly untimely — but by someone. It's the type of novel I'm not sure we really get anymore.

Anyway. Read it if you haven't. Bennett is, as previously stated, charming, if a little on the surface.

The Queen (yes, that's the Queen of England) unexpectedly drops into a bookmobile and unexpectedly develops a love, a passion for reading.

That's the whole plot behind this tiny novel.

And does she ever become a better person. She found, as she read more and more, that she could put herself into the place of someone else, that she could understand the feelings of others. “'At the risk of sounding like a piece of steak,' she said, ‘they tenderize one.'”

She grows to loath her other duties. Her meetings with the Prime Minister are tedious. She finds reading the opposite of briefings, she tells him. “Briefing closes down a subject, reading opens it up.”

But no one likes her reading. Reading made others uneasy. A conversation between the Queen and her private secretary:

“'I feel, ma'am, that while not exactly elitist it sends the wrong message. It tends to exclude.'

‘Exclude? Surely most people can read?'

‘They can read, ma'am, but I'm not sure that they do.'”

In the end, the Queen turns to writing, but books have had their say.

A fun little story for those of us who love books.

Utterly charming and quite funny. What happens when Her Majesty, chasing her unruly corgi, stumbles upon the bookmobile and feels obliged to check out a book and then actually read it? And discovers reading for its own sake and not as a duty. Hilarity ensues, provided the reader has a dry and acerbic sense of humor.

“- ‘What's that?' ‘A book. I borrowed it.' - ‘Dead, I suppose.' ‘Who?' - ‘The Beaton fellow.' ‘Oh yes. Everybody's dead.' - ‘Good show, though.' And he went off to bed glumly singing ‘Oh, what a beautiful morning' as the Queen opened her book.” In this short novella, the Queen herself stumbles upon a travelling library and, pretty much accidentally, gets into reading. The entire concept, though, is so foreign to the household (who are annoyed by the more and more thinking monarch) and the family (who are fairly happy to be left alone) that everyone gets upset with her majesty. Hilarity ensues. Well, maybe not actual hilarity but definitely some very amused smiling – with a stiff upper lip, of course. After all, the queen is portrayed as fairly human and sometimes, my own upbringing seems to make a cameo: “‘To tell you the truth, ma'am, I never got through more than a few pages. How far did your Majesty get?' - ‘Oh, to the end. Once I start a book I finish it. That was the way one was brought up. Books, bread and butter, mashed potato – one finishes what's on one's plate. That's always been my philosophy.'” That has been my philosophy as well and certainly is the main reason my DNF shelf actually consists of one single solitary ashamed book. Judging by the quality of many of the books I've read, I could have saved years of my lifetimes by actually DNF'ing more often. But I digress. It's all this books fault, though: It all but invited me to think beyond its edges, between the pages and the lines and let my thoughts fly, just like her majesty: “What she was finding also was how 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.” We – as readers – know exactly what she means and how one book leads to the next; opens up new (reading) paths to follow. This book for example came from a recent blog post on GoodReads. Plus: This fictional queen has a wonderful take on books: “‘Pass the time?' said the Queen. ‘Books are not about passing the 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.'” The entire book was a true breath of fresh air after the stocky, stuffy, simplistic confines of David Eddings' Belgariad. It's by no means a masterpiece or more than just highly amusing but I really enjoyed the entire literary journey and the coming-of-age of a reader. The only issue I take is with the ending; but We will graciously overlook this slight demerit as one is wont to. ;-) “‘I think of literature,' she wrote, ‘as a vast country to the far borders of which I am journeying but will never reach. And I have started too late. I will never catch up.'” Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

I enjoyed this very short read very much. I am not a fan of the British Royals and don't keep up with their every move like others do, but I enjoyed imagining the Queen Mother shirking off responsibilities to catch up with her new found love of reading. The book is infused with that delicious dry, British humor which I love so much. I think I would've given it another star had I read and known some of the references mentioned in the book. A great, short read for book lovers.