“Briefing is terse, factual, and to the point. Reading is untidy, discursive, and perpetually inviting. Briefing closes down a subject, reading opens it up” the exalted words of HRH, Queen Elizabeth II, herself. Take that, people who think reading 15-minute summaries of books counts as reading. I mean you do you, but be honest to yourself and call that a briefing perhaps.
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Benett is not just a book about books but also an account of rediscovery. As the head of the Commonwealth and with a life like hers, the Queen possibly has more life experiences than 100 books stacked together. But a chance discovery of a mobile library and an employee, Norman, who read a lot more than the average page at the Palace led her down the path to becoming a full-fledged bibliophile. As she says so herself, she is an opsimath – someone who learns late in life. But upon delving deep into reading, there was no looking back for her. Bacall, Forster, Austen, Shakespeare, the Brontes, Renault, Seth, Munro – the spread was far and wide. Norman is uplifted from his lowly status as a dishwasher to the Queen’s amanuensis, her literary assistant. Much to the chagrin of her staff, who wondered at this sudden upheaval in her lifestyle with respect to her dereliction of typical duties, her wardrobe, and general engagement with the public. I loved her evolution as a reader and it inspires me to be consistent with this series as well. In fact, she goes one step ahead by coming to the realization that as a reader she was limited to the extent of the books’ setting. But roughing it out as a writer, exposing one’s thoughts to the fore is much tougher in comparison. Her staff tries to convince her to write a memoir, but Elizabeth Windsor has made up her mind. She wants to challenge herself, put out something radical. Inspired by Proust, she wants to redeem herself by analysis and self-reflection. Putting yourself out there is tough, I get it.
The read: This novella is simply a lot of fun. Most notably, the subtle sass the Queen employs to great effect, particularly during her conversations with the Prime Minister and her adviser who wrinkle their nose at the thought of reading. The writing is clean and effortless – almost like it was a personal account by herself. Bennett does a great job of maintaining a fine balance between her existence as a Monarch and the spotlight on her new hobby. The text does well to focus on the literature because is reading that uncommon after all?
21/365.
Trivia: The first book she picks up is one by Ivy Compton Burnett, a prolific author who had a penchant for writing about Edwardian households. As the text suggests, Compton-Burnett was made a Dame by the Queen herself in 1967. Don’t think this bit was too interesting, but I really liked the self-reference.
Documentation:
Book: The Uncommon Reader
Author: Alan Benett
Year of Release: 2007
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux