Even for non-Bennett fans

Advantages: Will last you a long time! Entertaining, humourous, and poignant.
Disadvantages: Not a quick read.

...Alan Bennett was unknown to me before I picked up this book. All I knew was that he was a playwright. I acquired the novel from Asda at a very good price of £3.99. I was looking for an intellectual, stimulating and humourous read. I definitely got what I asked for. The book is long and the print is small so it takes a while to read. It is what it says it is though - it is a mix of journal entries and musings. Naturally, it is very well written, and is easy to follow - but it is clear that this something written for adults as the language can be quite complex. Bennett does not leave much to the imagination, it has to be said, and he reveals a lot of personal insight on his family life, and can be at times very critical of family members. So much so that as a reader I felt quite invasive, almost like an intruder, knowing so much...

jazzzza 06.09.2007 · Read review
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Review of Untold Stories - Alan Bennett

Reflections

Advantages: A wonderful collection
Disadvantages: Nothing major

...Untold Stories is an anthology of prose, family memoir, diaries, reviews and general writings by Alan Bennett. The book is over 600 pages long and recieved a glowing critical reception when it was first published in 2005. The book is certainly more candid and personal than the previous Bennett collections. While it was being put together and written, Bennett was battling cancer and given less than a 50% chance of survival. Bennett, aware that the book might well be published after his death, was inspired to tell some 'untold stories' about his family and his personal life so, for the first time, we are able to read Bennett's thoughts about being gay and his relationships as well as some bittersweet memories of his parents and a moving account of his mother's struggle with mental illness. Happily, Bennett confounded his Doctors by beating...

arthurpringle 02.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of Untold Stories - Alan Bennett

The History Boy's Annual

Advantages: Compendium of short autobiographical stories, insights into plays, theatres and actors.
Disadvantages: Diaries can get a little tedious. Lectures not well illustrated.

...Alan Bennett likens his book ?Untold Stories? to one of those comic-book Christmas Annuals jam-packed with all sorts of stories, pictures and puzzles. ?Untold Stories? is indeed a compendium style book with its collection of autobiographical stories, diary entries, lectures, comments on plays / theatres & actors and photographs. And just like an annual, Untold Stories was published in readiness for Christmas in October 2005. Alan Bennett was diagnosed with cancer in 1977 and thought he was dying when he gathered together his works for the book. In his final story of the book, ?Another Rock Bun? which details his illness from his feelings on hearing the diagnosis through to his current state of remission, Bennett explains that he ?had no wish to travel or to see exotic parts of the world . . . so instead I began, I suppose, to tidy...

MAFARRIMOND 19.05.2007 · Read review
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Review of Untold Stories - Alan Bennett

Her Majesty's New Hobby

Advantages: A very enjoyable gentle read
Disadvantages: None

...I have to be honest and admit that while of course I know of Alan Bennett, I had not read any of his work until I read The Uncommon Reader, which is one of the latest books set for the reading group I go to monthly. Bennett has had a very distinguished career, as both a novelist and a playwright, but somehow I've never actually read anything by him. The Uncommon Reader is a novella of only 120 pages. It is a simple "what if" story - what would happen if the Queen, having come across a travelling library at the palace doors, became engrossed in reading? I don't want to give too much away, but that is the main premise of the story which is written in the blurb on the back of the book. She discovers the joys of reading, and how it can transport the reader elsewhere. Bennett has written a charming story which is easy to read and to...

eilidhcatriona 12.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett

The Tenderising of Elizabeth Regina

Advantages: Readable and amusing
Disadvantages: Does not come up to Bennett's usual standard

...Secretary or manages to highlight the ignorance of her Prime Minister are told with a certain relish. ?The Uncommon Reader? is unquestionably an erudite, well constructed and memorable piece so why, on each of the three occasions I have reached its final page, have I felt a certain disappointment. It may be that the answer lies more in my expectations than in any shortcoming in the work itself and perhaps if I had come to it without any prior knowledge of the author, my delight would have been unqualified. But this is Alan Bennett who has entertained us for over forty years. From his ?Beyond the Fringe? days with Peter Cook and Dudley More in the sixties to his latest play ?The History Boys? in the noughties, he has traded on the mundanities of life to entertain with his distinctive brand of humour often born of pathos but never sinking into...

suesie 01.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett

Idiosyncratic

Advantages: Funny and enjoyable
Disadvantages: The theatrical sections are a bit heavy going

...Writing Home is a collection of Alan Bennett's prose writings, diaries, thoughts on plays and films he has worked on, his family background and much, much more. It was first published in 1994 and is a very good book to dip into now and again when you are stuck for something to read. On the back cover it states that the book brings together twenty-five years worth of reminiscences, reviews, broadcasting and diaries. There are broadly five sections to the book. The first is titled 'Past and Present' and includes five seperate pieces of writing. These include three gentle and nostalgic autobiographical chapters about Bennett's family and relatives and growing up in Leeds. Also included are tributes to Innes Lloyd and Bennett's great friend of many years, the broadcaster Russell Harty, who died in 1988. There is also a very enjoyable...

arthurpringle 15.06.2008 · Read review
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Review of Writing Home - Alan Bennett

Telling Tales on Mam and Dad.

Advantages: Great introduction to Bennett.
Disadvantages: Quite pricey for a short book.

...?Telling Tales? by Alan Bennett does exactly what it says on the cover? Alan Bennett, one of the country?s best loved wordsmiths, tells ten tales about his childhood in Leeds, a provincial city in the West Riding where life generally tended to avoid. In several of the tales Bennett details the causes of his frustration as a youth ? he knew that his family was very ordinary (not working class, but certainly not middle class), yet at the same time being much different to all others. His mother, too, assumed that life for everyone else was much different to hers and that the cocktail party lifestyle she read about in Woman?s Own was the norm and attainable by a move to the hallowed ?down South?. We learn much about Bennett?s ?Mam and Dad? (so good to see the word Mam, I feel I?m one of the few who still uses it). Their real names were...

Pozza 27.02.2004 · Read review
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Review of Telling Tales - Alan Bennett

We are amused

Advantages: Clever concept, sparkling dialogue, witty
Disadvantages: Too short for a paperback

...As the Grand Old Man of British letters and unofficial Writer Laureate, it is fitting that Alan Bennett should have chosen the Queen as the subject of this story. Not that this is his first foray into royal subject-matter: the Madness of King George was a successful play and film. But George III is a dead and gone figure of history. The Queen is very much alive, and writing a fictional piece about a well known public figure is quite a different proposition. The result, however, is an absolute delight. The premise - and this is no more than appears on the dust jacket and summaries - is that the corgis wander off and the Queen, in hot pursuit, follows them into a mobile library parked at the back of the palace. Persuaded to borrow a book, one thing leads to another and she becomes an avid reader. It is the consequences of this...

Chouchinciao 04.08.2008 · Read review
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Review of The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett

A Book of Many Parts

Advantages: A collection of writings by Alan Bennett.
Disadvantages: Some parts may not be to your taste.

...Four years ago I read Alan Bennett's "Writing Home". It was a collection of short writings, his "Lady in the Van", excerpts from his diaries during the nineteen eighties, notes on his plays and some short pieces to finish with. It was all topped off with some decent black and white photos which linked neatly with the text. I found the book enjoyable, but not overwhelmingly so and concluded that it had been published with the intention of making the most of the Christmas market. I decided that I wouldn't buy another like it. It reminded me of a large suitcase into which everything gets stuffed. There's no accounting for gifts though and that was how I acquired "Untold Stories", published in October 2005 - just in time for the Christmas market. There's an important difference with this book which makes it far superior to...

SueMagee 26.01.2006 · Read review
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Review of Untold Stories - Alan Bennett

Forty years beyond the fringe

Advantages: Lovely
Disadvantages: Luvvies

...When Poet Laureate John Betjeman died, a very important title was conferred on Alan Bennett. He took over the role of National Teddy Bear. At least, according to journalist Francis Wheen he did. Apparently, the NTB may be gloomy, but also cheery. He must, above all, be lovable. And Bennett is undoubtedly widely loved. But I think Bennett's appeal is almost independent of his writing. He stands for peculiarly British values. He's successful - something we Brits are supposed to hate. But we don't. When it's combined with modesty, we love it. His nostalgia, his wit, his desire to preserve threatened places and ways of life embody all we feel is best about our national character. Yet his character, his work and his life are all deeper, more complex and less cuddly than any teddy. Most who love Bennett know little of his work. I...

Silverback 17.06.2003 · Read review
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Review of Writing Home - Alan Bennett