Comments on: The Uncommon Reader http://somanybooksblog.com/2008/01/03/the-uncommon-reader/ the agony and ecstasy of a reading life Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:53:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Stefanie http://somanybooksblog.com/2008/01/03/the-uncommon-reader/#comment-38003 Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:57:01 +0000 http://somanybooksblog.com/2008/01/03/the-uncommon-reader/#comment-38003 Heh, yeah, it really stinks when that happens ;)

]]> By: J.S. Peyton http://somanybooksblog.com/2008/01/03/the-uncommon-reader/#comment-37957 Mon, 07 Jan 2008 16:25:40 +0000 http://somanybooksblog.com/2008/01/03/the-uncommon-reader/#comment-37957 I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. I need to read this book! Don’t you just hate when you get sucked into a book you’d just intended to dip into? I know – I don’t either. :)

]]> By: Stefanie http://somanybooksblog.com/2008/01/03/the-uncommon-reader/#comment-37925 Sun, 06 Jan 2008 22:18:08 +0000 http://somanybooksblog.com/2008/01/03/the-uncommon-reader/#comment-37925 Cass, yes the absurdity is what helps make it so funny. Sir Kevin was a hoot and I snickered whenever the Queen would say things that would make him wince. And yes, asking the French President what he thought of Jean Genet was worth a good giggle.

Litlove, I’m sure it would get a laugh or two out of you, or at the very least, lots of broad smiles.

]]> By: Litlove http://somanybooksblog.com/2008/01/03/the-uncommon-reader/#comment-37923 Sun, 06 Jan 2008 20:42:32 +0000 http://somanybooksblog.com/2008/01/03/the-uncommon-reader/#comment-37923 This sounds delightful to me. The Queen is such a figurehead that it’s quite a British tradition to project all kinds of unusual fantasies onto her terribly respectable frame. I like to think she has a lively sense of humour and laps it all up. I’ll certainly be looking out for this!

]]> By: Cass http://somanybooksblog.com/2008/01/03/the-uncommon-reader/#comment-37904 Sun, 06 Jan 2008 09:33:33 +0000 http://somanybooksblog.com/2008/01/03/the-uncommon-reader/#comment-37904 This was a goodin wasn’t it?! I really enjoy Alan Bennett’s writing.

As Sylvia rightly points out, it is highly unlikely that the Queen would actually walk the corgies herself, stumble across a mobile library, have opportunity let alone the desire to converse with the kitchen staff or that she would sloppily eschew her royal duties in order ot squeeze a few extra chapters in.

But for me it is the absurdity and implausability of the situation that makes Bennett’s work so throughly enjoyable! Bennett in his work loves to coax you into suspending disbelief and just running with the very ‘what if’ outlandish tale he has humourous crafted for you, tales that few others could get away with.

I especially enjoyed the characterisation of the Queen’s Kiwi advisor who couldn’t seem to get past his insecurity at originating from the ‘colony’, and also when the Queen seeks the somewhat conservative French President’s opinion on Jean Genet! Funny stuff.

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