The Uncomon Reader
Okay, I know I said I was leaving the country last week. Well, that little trip got delayed but this time I swear, I am in Brussels. I left on Tuesday night about 10 pm and landed in London around six in the morning. I am saying all this in the past tense because it all happened days ago. You should be reading this on Thursday and once again it is Monday night.
I am nestled all snug in my chair flipping the channels and looking for some inspiration. I could be knitting. I am trying to finish a little bag for my camera before I leave. I think I can get it finished up tonight if I don’t spend too long rambling to you all. I will do my best to keep this short.
I was trying to think of something to tell you about that you may not have heard too many times this season. I mean, how many times do you have to hear about Tree of Smoke before you decide whether or not you are going to read it? Some things you just aren’t going to do, no matter who tells you it is a good thing. In fact, sometimes there can be too much talk about an issue, ending with you/me hating the very idea of whatever it is. For example, I like Barack Obama. I think he has a shot at being the president and think he would do a fine job. But if Oprah doesn’t shut up pretty soon, I am going to vote for Huckabee just to make a mess.
Right. I finished a book recently and I thought I might tell you about it. It has nothing to do with an event, but it is part of our gift guide and I actually liked it. The book is The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett. Now, some of you might know how I fell about Bennett. If you don’t, I dislike him. I think he is a pretentious prat. When I was working in London at Waterstone's, Bennett came out with his two-volume tome Untold Stories. He then made a public statement that the whole world should not buy his book at Waterstone's. A Waterstone's opened a branch in the same area as a little bookshop he used to frequent. From what a friend of mine told me, it wasn’t great bookshop to begin with and having a good bookstore nearby was the straw the closed that shop.
It is never good to see bookshop close, but it does happen. It happens here all the time. One bookstore closes and two more open. Think of it as the circle of life. Anyway. For an author to go public saying to not buy his book from a bookstore is just ridiculous in my eyes. I work for an independent bookstore, but I still shop at other bookstores. I frequent all the bookstores in my area, corporate and independent. We are all trying to keep books in the world, why would you tell people to not buy them? Doofus.
I disliked him so much, that every time my manager, Mark, would bring the book on to our floor (the art floor), I would take them back downstairs to the fiction floor. I wasn’t an art book; therefore it wasn’t going to live on my floor. We fought over it everyday for a month. Ah, good times.
So, I don’t like Alan Bennett, but I did like this little book. It is obvious that Bennett is a playwright because he writes in a very brief style sparing us all the superfluous details you find in regular novels. Passage of time occurs, but there is nothing to let you know that happened. Overt descriptions of persons and their clothing are left out. That would be the job of costuming. Describe the surroundings? That would be set design’s job.
Sparse though the book may be, it is quite elegant. I won't tell you what it is all about, I would hate for you to grow weary of hearing about the book and end up not reading it. I will ask you to imagine what it would be like to discover reading at a late age and then imagine that the person doing the discovering was the Queen. Think about the implications of that, and then pick up this little (less than 200 pages) book. You can burn through it in an afternoon, but also gather more from it with a second reading and perhaps a third.
You might even notice that Bennett makes a reference to Hatchard’s. He even holds it is high esteem and treats it with a bit of reverence. I wont say anything about that but I will give you three guesses as to who owns Hatchard’s.
Wish me luck on my trip. I will touch base with you upon my return.
Oh, Alan Bennett’s little book can be picked up at Olsson’s Books for $13.50.
I am nestled all snug in my chair flipping the channels and looking for some inspiration. I could be knitting. I am trying to finish a little bag for my camera before I leave. I think I can get it finished up tonight if I don’t spend too long rambling to you all. I will do my best to keep this short.
I was trying to think of something to tell you about that you may not have heard too many times this season. I mean, how many times do you have to hear about Tree of Smoke before you decide whether or not you are going to read it? Some things you just aren’t going to do, no matter who tells you it is a good thing. In fact, sometimes there can be too much talk about an issue, ending with you/me hating the very idea of whatever it is. For example, I like Barack Obama. I think he has a shot at being the president and think he would do a fine job. But if Oprah doesn’t shut up pretty soon, I am going to vote for Huckabee just to make a mess.
Right. I finished a book recently and I thought I might tell you about it. It has nothing to do with an event, but it is part of our gift guide and I actually liked it. The book is The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett. Now, some of you might know how I fell about Bennett. If you don’t, I dislike him. I think he is a pretentious prat. When I was working in London at Waterstone's, Bennett came out with his two-volume tome Untold Stories. He then made a public statement that the whole world should not buy his book at Waterstone's. A Waterstone's opened a branch in the same area as a little bookshop he used to frequent. From what a friend of mine told me, it wasn’t great bookshop to begin with and having a good bookstore nearby was the straw the closed that shop. It is never good to see bookshop close, but it does happen. It happens here all the time. One bookstore closes and two more open. Think of it as the circle of life. Anyway. For an author to go public saying to not buy his book from a bookstore is just ridiculous in my eyes. I work for an independent bookstore, but I still shop at other bookstores. I frequent all the bookstores in my area, corporate and independent. We are all trying to keep books in the world, why would you tell people to not buy them? Doofus.
I disliked him so much, that every time my manager, Mark, would bring the book on to our floor (the art floor), I would take them back downstairs to the fiction floor. I wasn’t an art book; therefore it wasn’t going to live on my floor. We fought over it everyday for a month. Ah, good times.
So, I don’t like Alan Bennett, but I did like this little book. It is obvious that Bennett is a playwright because he writes in a very brief style sparing us all the superfluous details you find in regular novels. Passage of time occurs, but there is nothing to let you know that happened. Overt descriptions of persons and their clothing are left out. That would be the job of costuming. Describe the surroundings? That would be set design’s job.
Sparse though the book may be, it is quite elegant. I won't tell you what it is all about, I would hate for you to grow weary of hearing about the book and end up not reading it. I will ask you to imagine what it would be like to discover reading at a late age and then imagine that the person doing the discovering was the Queen. Think about the implications of that, and then pick up this little (less than 200 pages) book. You can burn through it in an afternoon, but also gather more from it with a second reading and perhaps a third.
You might even notice that Bennett makes a reference to Hatchard’s. He even holds it is high esteem and treats it with a bit of reverence. I wont say anything about that but I will give you three guesses as to who owns Hatchard’s.
Wish me luck on my trip. I will touch base with you upon my return.
Oh, Alan Bennett’s little book can be picked up at Olsson’s Books for $13.50.
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