The great thing about being a book reviewer is that you get to read a lot of books. The not-so-great thing is that there are many other things to do as well. Sometimes, the many other things take a long time, which means there is less time left for book-reading than you would ideally like. If you are reading for a hobby, that’s not so bad. But if you are reading to review a book for a magazine that insists on having weekly deadlines, it’s a nightmare.
For this week’s feature book I chose Richard Russo’s Bridge of Sighs, failing to notice that it was about 600 pages long and printed in the tiniest typeface you’ve ever seen. It’s good and I was thoroughly enjoying it, but as my weekly deadline approached, it occurred to me that to get it finished in time, I would have to stay up for three days in a row and insert a whole extra 24-hour period between oonday and Tuesday.
And so I bring you The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett. This book is 124 very small pages with very big printing. You can read it in two hours. And you should.
Alan is the celebrated British author of the award-winning play and film The History Boys. With tongue firmly in cheek, he explores the subversive power of reading in regal fashion in this little hardcover delight.
The uncommon reader of the title is the modern-day Queen of England. out chasing the corgis one day, she stumbles upon a travelling library in the grounds of Buckingham Palace and subsequently becomes addicted to reading to the point where she can’t really be bothered opening Parliament because she has such a good page-turner on the go. Hilarious!
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