The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
So goes the story of Alan Bennett's The Uncommon Reader. One of the other uncommon things about this book is how I always find it misplaced in one of the local bookshops. Perhaps because the back cover blurb says it's about the Queen as a reader? Because it is always placed in the Nonfiction shelf, when it is most definitely NOT a nonfiction book at all. Unless, that is, at some point in her life, the Queen was...wait. That would be a spoiler.
Anyway, it's a short and lovely book. I say that because I don't think any book lover who reads this book can fail to recognize their own journey and their own travails. The Queen, though, did not start out loving reading from her childhood, like many readers. In fact, she does not like the first book she borrows very much. But it does make her curious about books. And this leads her to another book. And another. And another. Until she hires an "assistant" who is similarly a lover of reading and her ministers show concern over the effects of her hobby.
Regardless how we came to love reading, however, I think the Queen's struggle to find a fellow reader, the challenge of finding a set of people with which to discuss the books she reads, is familiar to us. And, I'm willing to bet, any reader will find familiar, too, the disbelief of people (even family and friends) that reading is a worthwhile hobby. Or that talking or writing about what one is reading is actually of interest to other people.
For instance, one fellow book blogger asked me recently if my friends read my book blog. I said no. She had the same answer. And we laughed. I've seen other bloggers lament that the fact that their friends and family wonder about their blogging activities.
But, let's not even talk about book blogging. Let's talk about book clubs. In my case, I was driven to find a book club because I had to--had to--talk about books with people who were willing to talk about books. And so I was happy to find one online. It seems that my story is similar to most of the people who now form part of the book club. And, this is also the same story for other online book clubs that I know of. We find people online because, unfortunately, it's a bit difficult to find a lot of people in real life who want to talk about books. They either don't want to or say they don't have the time.
And then there are those who say that reading takes one away from real-life and its duties and responsibilities. In my opinion, this is pure hogwash, stemming from either insecurity or ignorance, so I won't even bother to comment on it.
The Queen does not end up blogging. (Thank God, because that would've been a tacky plot development.) But she is desirous of discussing her thoughts with people who've read the same books as she. And, as I mentioned, reading has become an adventure because she is led from one book to another. Queen though she is, she isn't a snobbish reader at all. She reads classics, literary novels, and genre books. She takes them all on their own terms.
Many readers understand this. One book leads you to another, as one author leads you to another. For instance, I recently read Richard Hughes' A High Wind in Jamaica, which I loved. The book had an introduction by Francine Prose, a writer I had never read. And so, when I saw a Francine Prose book being sold at avalon.ph, I bought it because I'm curious about her. The book arrived yesterday and, as I read the blurbs, I saw one from Gary Shteyngart, whom I also read recently and loved. And this one author leading to another and making connections with other familiar authors makes it seem like I'm building a family of my own, with my beloved authors.
Anyway, I think I've talked more about me than about this book, which should tell you that I found much in this book to relate to, hence liked it a lot. I'm just a common reader, compared to this Uncommon one. Then again, readers, whoever they are, aren't really that common, are they?
By the way, I'd like to thank another common/uncommon reader for lending me this book. Thanks, Aldrin!
Comments
Ah well, even if our real-life friends don't read our blogs, at least we've made new friends through it.:)
Hey, here is something. What is wrong with talking about oneself when writing a blog about a book? Isn't it the second-best form of flattery (the best being 'to be imitated') for a writer/book if the reader can relate to the story, and was touched by it, enough to write about the experience of reading the book?
This question makes me recall an article I read: http://goo.gl/6SVkB
One question posed was: Do the reviewers really talk more about themselves than they do about the book. According to the blog entry, some authors expressed irritation about this.
Anyway, I think authors can be a mite touchy. Of course they will get negative reviews. And reviewers will have different ways of reviewing.
I've seen a few authors react badly to negative reviews, though I'm glad to say there are only very few of them. Generally, I think most of authors understand that, once their work is out there, they have very little control over how it's going to be received. That said, I also think it's good that reviewers take the same responsibility for their words that authors take over their work.
I have to agree about finding that venue to talk about books with people. I think that's also the reason I willingly joined Myra and Fats to form GB. It was a venue to talk about books. While I know people who do read, they aren't as passionate about it as I am. They don't have that desire to join the journey of discovering writers.
This was a wonderful post and I'm going to keep a look out for that book. :)
And yup, thank you so much for responding to our call (hahaha) - so sad we got only one response, hahaa, but hopefully we get more as the months progress. It's always so nice to connect with people such as yourself. =) It's a blessing to know you.