The Uncommon Reader

Utterly charming book about the Queen stumbling across a mobile library that visits Buckingham Palace regularly and being assisted to choose reading matter by the helpful Norman. It's unusual because it shows how limited the Queen is by her very proper job which might not look like one, christening ships, knighting people, opening hospitals, hosting dinner parties and being nice to foreign politicians, but it certainly would feel like one. She escapes not from reality with a book, but into it, i [...]

Alan Bennett brings to life what a world would be like if Queen Elizabeth II started reading voraciously after stumbling upon a travelling library“You don't put your life into your books, you find it there.”Quaint and quiet I think can best describe this. Bennett's usual work is often quite in your face with it's definite humour, but the funny side of this book seems to boil away quietly underneath, rearing it's lovely little head every now and then like a little postage stamp on the edge of [...]

Oh wow. If I could give this book six stars, or heck, even ten, I would. It is so great--there's a lot of subtlety in here that Readers' Advisory librarians will definitely clue into, especially in how society views readers, reading, and books.A lot of us read, sure. A lot of us really enjoy books. But because we are average joes, commoners, small potatoes, this is nothing groundbreaking. It likely will not become upsetting if we take up reading as a hobby. But what if someone important takes up [...]

Reading this feels like putting a pot of water on to boil, forgetting about it, and coming back to find a delightful stew. The analogy relates to Queen Elizabeth wandering into a bookmobile, getting hooked on reading books, and the various consequences that ensue.I have 14 or 16 GR friends now who rate this 4 or better. Must be the word "reader" in the title that inspires a grab. You can’t go wrong, as it’s a short pleasant read. Very subtle and understated, with humor that builds quietly un [...]

Onvan : The Uncommon Reader - Nevisande : Alan Bennett - ISBN : 374280967 - ISBN13 : 9780374280963 - Dar 120 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2007

Rating: 4.125* of fiveWitty, irreverent, and completely charming, Bennett's novella is one I would sincerely hope that Her Majesty read and laughed at when it was published.There are many reviews of this effervescent entertainment, so I will confine myself to noting that the book carries with it a none-too-subtle punch line which I can't imagine would have made Mr. Bennett more likely to be in line for a life peerage, but which I can imagine made him a popular figure around Highgrove.A delightfu [...]

Several people had recommended The Uncommon Reader to me over the last year, but somehow I only got around to it this morning. Don't be as slow as I was! The idea is very simple - the Queen gets hooked on reading - but Bennett handles it perfectly. It's a delight, and takes about an hour to read.Maybe a short extract will do the job:'Exploded?' said the Queen. 'But it was Anita Brookner.'The young man, who seemed remarkably undeferential, said security may have thought it was a device.The Queen [...]

My first thought was, "I wonder what the Queen thought of this". She probably didn't read it, and if she did, I hope she thought it was funny because it was. In this story she becomes an avid reader after accidentally stumbling upon a mobile library outside the palace. I didn't count them, but Bennett mentions more book titles and authors names than any book I've read. The Queen, much to everyones dismay, spends all her time reading and begins to neglect her queenly duties. She takes on everythi [...]

"The Old Gal", (the Queen), is reading.'again'!!!! "Reading is untidy discursive and perpetually inviting. Briefing closes down a subject, reading opens it up." "With this dictionary always in hand, Norman read out: 'Opsimath: one who learns late in life'. "It was a sense of making up for lost time that made her read with such rapidity and in the process now making more frequent (and more confident) comments of her own, bringing to what was in effect literary criticism the same forthrightness wi [...]

What would happen if the Queen started to notice the little things in life? You know, the type of things that seem to only matter to the lower stations. Futhermore, what if she was only noticing these things because she started reading books? That is the premise to this very fast-paced novella from Alan Bennett. Overall, this story has some wonderful insight in to the magic of reading, exploring new worlds and meeting new characters through the written word. Additionally, this slim story is also [...]

This was a delightful interlude. Indeed, a mischievous wit is driving this novella about the Queen discovering reading and the consequences for the nation.The opening incident in the book with the French president started me off with wicked giggles, and it continued with the subtle parody on staff and politicians gracing her majesty's world. A perfect Sunday afternoon read. Great read for Mother's Day!

What’s better for a book lover than a book about books? It’s like when Xzbit in Pimp My Ride puts a car inside of your car because he knows you love cars.And Alan Bennett puts books in your book. He also puts the Queen there, so you know you are in for a treat. Imagine that the Queen, old as she is, suddenly discovers the joy of reading. She engages a certain Nelson to help her acquire books and guide her through the world of literature. That does sound like a dream job, doesn’t it? To bec [...]

Libro sottile e che si legge molto rapidamente, ma non per questo una velina: mi è piaciuta molto l'idea di Bennett di rendere la regina un'assidua lettrice e mandare così in crisi tutto l'establishment intorno alla sua persona, perché non sta bene che una sovrana abbia un hobby così solitario e le tante sciocchezze che le ripete il primo ministro (LOL, è davvero Tony Blair). È bellissimo come viene descritto il potere della lettura e il percorso di crescita della regina come lettrice, che [...]

A delightful (and slightly crazy) little novel about books and reading and the many worlds they take the reader into or rather the world they take us away from. When the Queen stumbles upon a mobile library outside one of the kitchen doors, and borrows an Ivy Compton-Burnett book just to be polite, little does she know that this is to be the beginning of a love affair with books. She is delighted, and soon lost as any of us readers are as she moves through Mitford and Ackerley, Dickens and Henry [...]

There are already thousands of reviews of this delightful book about the Queen's new-found love of reading, so you don't need me to tell you how much fun it is. In lieu of a review, I'll list some of the best quotes about reading I have ever seen, all featured within the pages of this book.'Reading is untidy, discursive and perpetually inviting.''A book is a device to ignite the imagination.''I think of literature,' she wrote, 'as a vast country to the far borders of which I am journeying but wi [...]

How can I not like a book about someone who loves to read? In this case that someone just happens to be the Queen of England .It was clever and really a pleasure to read. There is not too much to say about the plot; its a short read. However,like others,I'll mention a few of my favorite quotes."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.""Books are not about passing the time. [...]

Let me kiss the Queen! :) Deutsche Rezi dahinter.A highly recommendation. What a funny and warm-hearted book.It's an explanation of love to reading.The Queen, looking after her corgis, discovers a mobile library parked near her Palace. She feels obliged to borrow a book - and then she borrows another and anotherThe servants around her are very confused and think it's the beginning of Alzheimer's disease.The story is very humorous and tells how reading can change people and life.Run, don't walk, [...]

What a change from the 800 page behemoths that seem to be fashionable at the moment. Sly humour, warmth, thoughtfulness, alongside a revolutionary vision, and all within the space of around 120 pages.I re-read this for a group that actually pay me to come and talk booktalk to them. There is always a limit on the length of any work due for discussion. This one slides in under the wire with ease: we shall see if we manage to fill 90 minutes talking about it. Questions, anyone?That won't fly the mo [...]

A short novella that’s odd and original and wise; chalk full of clever, understated and so typically British humour. The Queen accidently stumbles across a bookmobile and despite the disapproval of her advisors, decides to take up reading.“I feel, ma’am, that while not exactly elitist, it sends the wrong message. It tends to exclude.’ Reading that becomes a passion bordering on obsession.She’d got quite good at reading and waving, the trick being to keep the book below the level of the [...]

I don't know how this little novella ended up on my radar, but it was a sweet grin of a book. Queen Elizabeth, in her eightieth year, discovers the joys of reading literature quite accidentally when she happens upon a book mobile in the process of trying to round up her barking Corgis. Norman, a cook from her Royal kitchen, is a borrower and a friendship ensues, with him becoming the purveyor of the world of pleasurable books. As the Queen's interest becomes more avid in the plethora of fiction [...]

I really didn't like this book at all. I picked it up because so many people seem to like it and I thought it would be probable that I would like it too. However, I found it to be extremely boring. This author is supposed to be a great wit and I just didn't "get" his humor in writing style or otherwise. This book seems to be an endless author and book review which I didn't like. The book moved along so slowly that I was surprised to find that I was halfway through the book still waiting for the [...]

Who would have thought! I have something in common with the Queen of England!Well, kind of! I wasn't a non reader (which is how Bennett portrays the Queen) but for eight long years I worked in our local supermarket, originally on checkouts (soul destroying) & then managing the Bulk Bins. This was the hardest I had ever worked in my life. One of the few perks we had in what is essentially a miserable way to make a living was we were able to read the unsold magazines. (at work only - that was [...]

May be Three and half stars.It is a funny little novella that speaks of the pleasures of reading. To expound this thesis, the author's creative imagination and liberty had sought the help of the Queen. Yes, Her majesty, the Queen is the main protagonist of this novella and the story is about how in her older days she gets enchanted by the pleasures of reading.All through the book there are some interesting observations on reading. And they are certainly a delight for the regular reader. Here are [...]

When the Queen of England stumbles across a traveling bookstore, her newly developed appetite for books turns into an obsessiond the fun begins.There are many great lines and phrases for us readers to enjoy in this short story. favorite: "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." Amusing little novella!

Beautiful novella, imagining the effect on courtiers, corgis and protocol if the Queen develops a reading habit. The books she chooses are carefully chosen by Bennett to illuminate her metamorphosis. The main danger is reading it too quickly to savour it as it deserves. Bennett at his best.

"Un libro è un ordigno per infiammare l'immaginazione."

The Queen is bored. The Queen needs a hobby. However, instead of pursuing a queenly hobby (ahem, don’t ask me what that is), she stumbles upon a mobile library just outside her gates and pursues reading; what ensues thereafter is a barrel full of fun, at least until the very end.Alan Bennett’s, The Uncommon Reader, has been on my TBR since a very long time. To be honest, I don’t remember when or why I added it to my TBR as I don’t even remember reading the blurb, which incidentally is tr [...]

من خلال مكتبة متنقلة تقف قرب قصرها، قررت الملكة استعارة كتاب لينفتح أمام ملكة بريطانية المسنة عالم جديد عالم القراءة الباب الذي إذا انفتح فلا مغلق له فالكتاب صار شغلها الشاغل و تحولت إلى قارئة نهمة و لكن هذا الشغف الجديد بدأ يؤثر على حياتها و مهامها، و يثير حفيظة كل من حولها � [...]

You may not be such a voracious reader if you could not relate to this novella.The story is simple but interesting. It is about the queen of England, an UNCOMMON READER (look its meaning up in Wikepedia), who will fall to reading books when she meets across a travelling library. There she meets Norman, the kitchen boy, who will introduce her to different writers she has never met yet. The queen will completely immerse herself in books, derelict in her duty as Her Majesty of England. Ad nauseam b [...]

My enjoyment of this little gem of a book was considerably enhanced by listening to it being read by the author. Essentially a parable about the life-changing potential of an appreciation for good literature, it displays Bennett's caustic intelligence and wit to great advantage. Choosing Queen Elizabeth II as his protagonist gives Bennett amazing scope for making his point about reading good books. After all, if the Queen's life can be changed in both small and monumental ways through reading, s [...]