Wednesday 23 March 2022

I have been reading...

... several books, not all of them working for me but such is life. First of all Spring has sprung here in the UK and we have primroses!

 

 

So, I reread The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett.

I think this is my third time of reading this joyous little book. Chasing after one of the corgis one day The Queen comes across the mobile library. It stops at Buckingham Palace really so that the numerous staff can use it but the only one who does is one of the kitchen staff, Norman. Feeling as though she should, The Queen borrows a book, enjoys it, goes back for more and rescues Norman from the kitchen. He becomes her mentor in reading, helping her to choose books and discussing them with her. It changes her in the manner in which it changes all of us who read. I can't remember who it was who said something like, 'I am the sum of all the books I have read', but it's true for readers. The Queen's 'higher up' staff don't particularly care for the changes, so what's to be done? Alan Bennett's gentle humour shines in this book, not laugh out loud funny but I giggled my way through it and it cheered me no end. I thought he got The Duke of Edinburgh particularly spot-on... absolutely hilarious. In a few years I suspect I will read this one for the fourth time.

Next, a non fiction, The Almost Nearly Perfect People by Michael Booth.

This is a study of the various countries that make up Scandinavia: Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Iceland. For anyone knowing nothing about those countries this would be a good place to start. Sadly for me, I have read books about several of them and what I found was that this author pretty much had the same observations to make as the others. All five countries have come at the top of happiness polls for years, but are they the perfect places to live that we're always being told they are? Yes.... and 'not necessarily' is the answer. There were things this book had to teach me. I wasn't aware of exactly how close the Swedish government was to Nazi Germany in WW2, that was a bit of an eye-opener. I didn't realise how rich Norway became after oil was discovered under The North Sea and how they may have diddled the Danes out of their share. Finland was the author's favourite country but they have huge problems with alcohol and guns and suicide rates. While interesting in parts, I found this book dragged a bit for me, I took 5 weeks to get through it and didn't touch it at all for days at a time. But it is very well written and a good place to start if you know nothing about Scandinavia.

Lastly, another non-fiction, The Greedy Queen by Annie Gray.

'In July 2015 a pair of extraordinarily large bloomers were auctioned in Wiltshire', is a pretty good starting sentence for any book, don'tcha think? Apparently they went for £12,900 and I'm pretty sure I remember it on the news... oh for the days when the news had time for that kind of article, we had no idea. Anyway, Queen Victoria loved her food, I think that's a truth universally acknowledged, and this book charts her relationship with it, pretty much chronologically but not pedantically so. She was quite the party animal when she was young, I didn't know that, thinking nothing of staying up all night eating and drinking but then she was a teenager when she came to the throne and, when it comes to teenagers, not much changes it seems. Albert tried to change her when they got married but it was bearing 9 children that did the trick and his death of course. It's thought that food was her way of coping with the grief but really, well-off Victorians 'did' eat a lot. It was interesting the way Annie Gray compared the guargatuan meals consumed at the palace with what the majority of The Queen's subjects were barely subsisting on. That's not to say she wasn't without sympathy and this book does, I think, get to the nitty-gritty of the woman. I enjoyed it, didn't love it, rather too many facts and figures and minute details of menus for my liking but not at all a bad read. I think this is a book to read if you already know a fair bit about Queen Victoria.

Happy Spring and I hope you're all finding some good books to read.


23 comments:

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

I haven't read any of these but, the first one seems to have the most appeal - especially since you've read it several times.

Sue in Suffolk said...

I only read The Uncommon Reader for the first time just recently and loved it and wondered how I'd missed it for so many years especially as it only takes an hour or so to read.
We 'did' Northern Europe for O level Geography - probably put me off reading any more about the area for life!

Yvonne @ Fiction Books Reviews said...

Mmm! I may not be rushing off to read the last couple of those books anytime soon.

Dave had regional offices in Finland many years ago and had to visit on a regular basis. He always commented on what a 'grey' country it was, including the population. I guess even they are trying to find ways of coping with their challenges right now though, as many thousands of Russians have fled to Finland during the present crisis.

On a positive note however, I have been promising myself to read 'The Uncommon Reader' for some time now, so your post has at least prompted me to add it to my 'wish list', Thank You! :)

Cath said...

Diane: Yes, that first book is definitely the best of the three and best of all? it's a short book that's quick to read and full of charm.

Cath said...

Sue: Yes, The Uncommon Reader is quite short and full of charm. I loved the 'How far have you come?' running joke.

Ah yes, I can imagine doing Northern Europe for O level geography might put you off further reading. I did CSE (the forerunner of GCSEs) geography, which I think was a bit easier and we studied Cornwall (my home county) endlessly.

Cath said...

Yvonne: Noooo, don't fall over yourself to get the last two books, although the Queen Victoria one was quite interesting in parts.

Oh, how fascinating! Fancy getting to visit Finland regularly, although it doesn't sound like it was exactly scintilating. I think the incredibly long, dark winters get to the population, so drinking heavily is pretty common. I do love the sound of all those lakes though and all that forest. Yes, they must have their very own refugee crisis at the moment but we're not hearing much about it.

Do read The Uncommon Reader... it's very short and will make you smile at the very least.

Susan said...

I love THE UNCOMMON READER! Such a fun book. I should re-read it just because it makes me smile :)

Dorothy Borders said...

Isn't it wonderful to have a book that we can reread and enjoy again and again? The Uncommon Reader does indeed sound like a winner.

Lark said...

Primroses and The Uncommon Reader...two of my favorite things! :D

Jeane said...

I have been wanting to try The Uncommon Reader. It sounds even better than I had imagined!

Cath said...

Susan: I'm so glad you love The Uncommon Reader, I adore its gentle humour. It makes for a really reread when the world is in turmoil.

Dorothy: Yes, it certainly is nice to have books we love enough to reread them again and again. I find that a lot of books about books fall into that category... for me anyway. Susan Hill's two books, Howards End is on the Landing and Jacob's Room is Full of Books, are perfect examples.

Lark: They're two of my favourite things too. :-)

Jeane: Yes, do try The Uncommon Reader. It pokes such gentle fun at the royal family and Alan Bennett is always good.

Kay said...

What lovely blooms! I'm still waiting to see more flowers so I can share them. Maybe next week...

Sam said...

The primroses are really starting to look nice. We are finally into some nice spring weather here, and things are starting to green up nicely, but it's still a little cool for my taste.

The Uncommon Reader, although I've only read it once, is one of my favorite books from the last few years...one of those novels that you can't help but wish was nonfiction.

I haven't read the other two, but you make both of them sound interesting despite the negative feelings you had about each. The book on Scandinavia sounds like something I might like...especially now that Finland is moving ever so steadily toward joining NATO. Sad times.

Margot Kinberg said...

That's a lovely photo, Cath - thanks for sharing! Thanks for the thoughts on what you're reading, too. I've not (yet) read the Bennett, but I have the feeling I ought to...

TracyK said...

I love your primroses. I haven't seen any that look that those here, maybe the climate isn't right, but I can still check them out at the plant store we use. I am now working hard on weeding and actually for once seeing some reward for my effort.

I think it is time for me to reread The Uncommon Reader, but I will have to unearth it first.

Your two books of nonfiction tempt me, but I have enough nonfiction books I have not read yet, so I will wait on them. Although I am not too sure about the book on the Scandinavian countries, I know little about them and am really bad with geography, so I know I would learn a lot. The book about Queen Victoria's eating sounds interesting but I don't know much about Queen Victoria, so maybe not the place to start, as you say.

Cath said...

Kay: Thanks, primroses are almost the first things to bloom in English gardens. I think I actually had one or two in flower late December but now is really 'their' time, so to speak and I think of them as the first sign that Spring is here.

Cath said...

Sam: Yes, the primroses are starting to look nice but another week or two will see them even bigger and prettier.

Oh, me too with wishing The Uncommon Reader was non-fiction. I think The Queen probably does read and I wonder what. Her mother was a massive Dick Francis fan... horsey books... so I wonder if The Queen is too. Nice to think about.

The Scandinavia book could well be one you would like if you don't know a lot about the subject. It really is quite informative and there are some nice anecdotes. Yes, we live in sad and dangerous times unfortunately. And I think the sick perpetrator is enjoying it.

Cath said...

Margot: Thank you, I think we all need something nice to look at at the moment.

The Uncommon Reader is a gentle, amusing read that's so well worth the effort. Not that there's a lot of effort involved as it's quite short.

Cath said...

Tracy: Thank you. They're essentlially a wild, hardy, woodland plant that have been appropriated for gardens. There's a more ornamental variety which come in all colours and we call polyanthus, but all of them are of the primula family. You might find something similar in your garden centres but I think primroses might not be compatible with your climate.

The two non-fictions were good but not good enough for me to advise people to rush out and buy them.

CLM said...

There was a book I read at about 7 called Primrose Day about a WWII evacuee to the US and I was fascinated by it, wondering what they looked like and whether it was prim-rose or prime-rose! I could have used the Internet then and should have known to go to the school library to look it up!

I once read that the average woman gains two inches to her waistline per child so if you look at it that way, Victoria had some excuse! I suspect if I had someone else cooking for me like Victoria, I would also eat a lot more . . . sometimes it is just too much trouble to go to when living alone.

Vallypee said...

Gosh, what a lot of comments, Cath! I shall have to come back and read them all. Once again a great and informative write-up of the books you're reading. Thank you!

Cath said...

Constance: Yes primrose is 'prim' rhymming with 'grim'. I have loads growing in the flower bed outside my bedroom window and it's a joy to open the curtains on them every day.

That's interesting about women gaining two inches for every child. For a while I'd gained more than that. LOL! But yeah, when you have an army of cooks cooking for you and supplying your every whim you're going to put on weight, full stop.

Cath said...

Val: Yes... I'm not sure why certain posts generate more comments than others. Odd. Glad you enjoyed reading the post anyway.