Uncommon Reader

Uncommon Reader, by Alan Bennett

Reading and readers are dying; 70 years of tomes have been written about a familiar aging British monarch. Why does one want to read a novel about the late-life discovery of literature by Queen Elizabeth II? One does, as Her Majesty would say, if one loves to laugh. I read this book in a sitting--128 pages of completely satisfying wry British humor, passion and empathy. Bennett's descriptions of palace, protocol and duty, are perfect. The Queen journeys from absorption in her Corgis, perfect attire, and banal, scripted small talk to mechanical stick throwing, repeating an outfit two days in a row, and questioning her subjects and visiting dignitaries about their reading habits (her gifts of favorite books are promptly sold on Ebay by the recipients). She becomes so absorbed in a book in her lap, that we see her waving mechanically from her limo. The Queen rationalizes her delightful and voracious habit as duty and most folks probably think librarians can do the same. If only.......
-Marianne