Subversive and highly enjoyable, The Uncommon Reader offers the perfect argument for reading, written by one of its great champions, Alan Bennett.Īlan Bennett has been one of our leading dramatists since the success of Beyond the Fringe in the 1960s. And so, as she devours work by everyone from Hardy to Brookner to Proust to Samuel Beckett, her equerries conspire to bring the Queen's literary odyssey to a close. This second, more fortunate choice of book awakens in Her Majesty a passion for reading so great that her public duties begin to suffer. Duff read though it proves to be, upbringing demands she finish it and, so as not to appear rude, she withdraws another.

But finding herself at its steps, she goes up to apologise for all the yapping and ends up taking out a novel by Ivy Compton-Burnett, last borrowed in 1989.

Had the dogs not taken exception to the strange van parked in the royal grounds, the Queen might never have learnt of the Westminster travelling library's weekly visits to the palace. Perhaps you could find him one of our old paperbacks on his way out.' But these were good cat people.'Oh Norman,' said the Queen, 'the prime minister doesn't seem to have read any Hardy. Probably more so than I thought it would be since I find talking animals of just about any sort, when placed in a live action setting, to be ludicrous. I imagine it will generate some great discussion. My book club picked this as our next read and I’m glad. There is a lot of social commentary in this small book, from class and social rank to the obligations a ruler owes to their country to the many virtues of literature. I don’t care who you are, everyone ought to have interests outside of work and support of friends or family. They all treated her like either a dumb old woman in need of humoring or someone who shouldn’t have any personal interests and just do boring duties 100% of the time. I did think it was kind of sad too that no one other than Norman, the former kitchen boy, was at all supportive of her reading. So they came across as boneheads, which I am sure was Bennett’s intention. What was funny though was that all her snobby officials and courtiers didn’t have a clue what she was talking about when making references to some very famous authors and their books. I do know she basically had to ask to be educated because she wasn’t supposed to be the monarch and then, well. I admit I know little of Queen Elizabeth’s personal life so I have no idea if she was never a reader until later in her life or not. Mostly I thought this was a witty little story with several places that made me laugh out loud.

Her family, government officials, and courtiers are Not Amused by her newfound obsession, either. The Queen has discovered a love of reading and it’s affecting her ability to do – or rather, her interest in doing – her royal duties. This was a totally delightful little diversion.

The uncommon reader book review