Bridgman reviewed The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
Review of 'The Uncommon Reader' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
A nice little book I picked up by accident in the fiction section at a used bookstore thinking it should have been elsewhere.
You know how sometimes you can fall away from reading? Work or family matters get in the way and you lose the habit. You think you read because you read newspapers and magazines and things online but then you realize you haven't read a whole book for ages. It happened to me because of medical stuff. The Uncommon Reader is a nice reminder of why it's good to read.
The plot is that the Queen stumbles on a van that distributes books while chasing her corgis. She gets a book, and then another and another and becomes an avid reader. It changes her for the better as she develops an interest in words and books and describes herself as an opsimath—a person who begins to learn or …
A nice little book I picked up by accident in the fiction section at a used bookstore thinking it should have been elsewhere.
You know how sometimes you can fall away from reading? Work or family matters get in the way and you lose the habit. You think you read because you read newspapers and magazines and things online but then you realize you haven't read a whole book for ages. It happened to me because of medical stuff. The Uncommon Reader is a nice reminder of why it's good to read.
The plot is that the Queen stumbles on a van that distributes books while chasing her corgis. She gets a book, and then another and another and becomes an avid reader. It changes her for the better as she develops an interest in words and books and describes herself as an opsimath—a person who begins to learn or study only late in life.
She bridles when an aide named Kevin suggests that she is well briefed on so many topics:
"Of course," said the Queen, "but briefing is not reading. In fact is is the antithesis of reading. Briefing is terse, factual and to the point. Reading is untidy, discursive and perpetually inviting. Briefing closes down a subject, reading opens it up."
"I wonder whether I can bring Your Majesty back to the visit to the shoe factory, said Sir Kevin.
"Next time," said the Queen shortly. "Where did I put my book?"
Among other things An Uncommon Reader is, of course, a comedy.
It's small and just 120 pages long, by the way. I read it in a day, which I don't usually do.
