The Uncommon Reader (2007)
by Alan Bennett
Fiction, 128 pages (Novella)
Published by Picador

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.

In the title we find the clue to what is contained within: a book that explores the meaning of “common” and “uncommon”, expressed through the mind’s eye of those who are – and aren’t. This is a story where perception rules, and how the changing of it alters us and everything around us.

What if other’s perceptions of you are given more importance; that your whole life has been in service to these perceptions. Then one day, through fate, you discover a new way of thinking, of “seeing”.

However, as much as the Queen wishes to share this discovery and to put it into practice, she is thwarted at every juncture, sabotaged in her efforts to learn more, to grow, and to enjoy the sense of self-possession it affords her.

Her journey of discovery began with a simple charitable act; checking out a book from a mobile library her Corgi’s had terrorized. Initially she thought nothing of it.

She read of course, as one did, but liking books was something she left to other people. It was a hobby and it was in the nature of her job that she didn’t have hobbies.

Her job was to take an interest, not to be interested herself.

At least this is what she thought, at first.

What she was finding also was how one book lead to another, doors kept opening wherever she turned and the days weren’t long enough for the reading she wanted to do.

Reading was only the beginning to the evolution of her self-awareness. Soon, it was suggested that she think of writing, keeping a journal in order to divert her away from reading. However this does not have the intended result. At least as far as her staff and prime minister are concerned.

…it came to her again that she did not want simply to be a reader. A reader was next door to being a spectator, whereas when she was writing she was doing, and doing was her duty.

She switched on the light again and reached for her notebook and wrote: ‘You don’t put your life into your books. You find it there.’

And so she resolved to do so.

As much as I have quoted here, it does not come close to what you will find as you read this novella, and I do urge you to read it. Humorous, thought-provoking, I really enjoyed this book: a definite keeper.

According to my rating system, I normally give the highest rating to a book I literally could not put down. Now at a little over 120 pages, this is one that could be read in one sitting quite easily. However, if this had been a stinker, I would not have made it past page 50, and if it had just been okay, I would have finished it, but only because it wouldn’t have taken much effort.

But this book is good…it really is, so it deserves the highest rating, 5 out of 5 Stars.

Author and actor Alan Bennett was born in Armley in Leeds, Yorkshire in 1934. After some time teaching and studying at Oxford, in 1960 Bennett, along with Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller, and Peter Cook, achieved instant fame by appearing at the Edinburgh Festival in the satirical revue Beyond the Fringe. His first stage play, Forty Years On, was produced in 1968. Many television, stage and radio plays followed, along with screenplays, short stories, novellas, a large body of non-fictional prose and broadcasting, and many appearances as an actor.

Bennett received worldwide recognition with his screen adaptation of his play The Madness of King George III, which was nominated for an Academy Award. He followed this success with The History Boys, which won thee Olivier awards and six Tony awards.