Summary and Reviews of The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

Media Reviews

Los Angeles Times - Maud Newton The Uncommon Reader is a celebration of both reading and its counterpart, independent thinking. In this age of corporate politics, Bennett suggests, even a monarch may have greater potential for empathy with her fellow man than does the machine of democratic government.

New York Times - Michiko Kakutani In recounting this story of a ruler who becomes a reader, a monarch who’d rather write than reign, Mr. Bennett has written a captivating fairy tale. It’s a tale that's as charming as the old Gregory Peck-Audrey Hepburn movie Roman Holiday, and as keenly observed as Stephen Frears's award-winning movie The Queen — a tale that showcases its author’s customary élan and keen but humane wit.

The Christian Science Monitor - Marjorie Kehe The staggeringly prodigious Bennett, an award-winning playwright (The History Boys), bestselling novelist, and memoirist, has fun with the writers and books the queen relishes (and doesn't). Avid readers will enjoy his playful erudition in this entertaining reminder as to why we read and write. Here's hoping the multifaceted Bennett never puts down his pen.

USA Today - Bob Minzesheimer The Uncommon Reader is a political and literary satire. But it's also a lovely lesson in the redemptive and subversive power of reading and how one book can lead to another and another and another. The queen discovers that reading "was, among other things, a muscle and one that she had seemingly developed."

O, The Oprah Magazine - David Gates Bennett’s deadpan, self-deprecating humor translates perfectly.

Observer ...a masterpiece of comic brevity.

The Spectator - Sam Leith The way Bennett burlesques the world is so entirely his own that by now there should be a word to identify it. Forget making him a peer of the realm. Let’s give him his own adjective. ‘Bennettesque’ is ugly, and ‘Bennettish’, though I’ve been forced to use it for clarity, sounds altogether too querulous. The Queen is poised to inherit ‘Elizabethan’. I think 'Alan' would do.

The Sunday Times (UK) - Lindsay Duguid For all its hilarity The Uncommon Reader has a heartfelt tone. It offers a lament on old age, some thoughts on reticence and a backward glance at a life wasted.

The Times (UK) An exquisitely produced jewel of a book...[but] beneath the tasteful gilt-and-beige cover seethes a savagely Swiftian indignation against stupidity, Philistinism and arrogance in public places, and a passionate argument for the civilising power of art.

Library Journal Though the book is at times annoyingly snobbish and harping that people do not read enough, the unusual story line keeps readers engrossed.

Publishers Weekly There are lessons packed in here, but Bennett doesn't wallop readers with them. It's a fun little book.

Reader Reviews

Cloggie Downunder
uncommonly funny!
The Uncommon Reader is a novella by novelist and playwright, Alan Bennett. The story starts with the Queen coming across the mobile library van parked near Buckingham Palace, where Norman, a young man from the kitchens, is choosing a book. After ...   Read More Nicole
I agree with the Queen you can always find time to read
This was such an interesting little book to read because Bennett so deftly explores, through the Queen's newly acquired habit reading, the many ways that becoming involved in books can be absorbing and ultimately life changing. It is interesting too...   Read More Velma
A Reader's Fairy Tale
This book has a lot of humor, intriguing ideas, and charm packed into a small package. I found it to be absolutely delightful! A reader's fairy tale with a lesson for the world. I finished it in just one day, but I will never forget it. Dorothy T.
Uncommon little novel
This is a jolly little fairy tale (I had to keep reminding myself of that distinction) full of British humour and witty satire. I could identify with Her Majesty's obsession: When reading a good book, I frequently have put off housework and even ...   Read More

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