The Uncommon Reader
Alan Bennet
I loved Bennet's play The History Boys when I saw it a few years ago on Broadway--a very pleasing balance of wry wit and big ideas. I loved The Uncommon Reader for much the same reason. The plot, in a nutshell, is this: Queen Elizabeth II, whilst walking her dogs, happens upon a book mobile and discovers the addictive quality of good books for the first time in her life. Enter Norman, who works in the palace kitchens and who Her Majesty leans on for book recommendations (clearly, she has not discovered this blog), even though his reading choices "tended to be determined by whether an author was gay or not." Hilarity ensues as palace keepers adjust to this new royal habit and Her Majesty adjusts to a few bold new ideas. Screwball and charming though the premise is, what makes The Uncommon Reader stand out is the narrative voice: a keenly intelligent woman discovering literature for the first time while being in the fairly unique position of actually having met (and been bored to tears by) many of modern lit's major players. This voice was sharp and fresh and lively--just the cheering thing for this Oregon almost-but-not-quite spring.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Pirate Taverna is dead. Long live Casa Diablo.
Last weekend, my husband and I had our first only-in-Portland conversation since moving out here from New York roughly two years ago.
Me: So they changed that pirate themed vegan cafe into a strip club...
He: A pirate themed strip club?
Alas, no. Just another strip club of the Girls! Girls! Girls! Bring Cash! variety. Although if any city would have a pirate strip club, I think it would be this one. I love Portland. So much I've started a blog about it. Now, the Internet and I have a bit of a history, a shared tango of procrastination, ambition and disappointment. A few years ago I pledged on livejournal to review every single book I read in a year. Five months and thirty-seven books later (I read a lot) we made the NY to PDX move and by the time we settled in I was two months behind. Considering the rate at which I read (even slowed down by the move) that's a lot of reviews. The more I put off reviewing the more they piled up, and lazy cuss that I am, I abandoned the attempt.
Not this time. I'm starting this blog with reasonable (read: low) expectations. With--dare I say it?--a mission statement. You won't see daily updates. You might not even see weekly ones. What you will see is at least one book review, one area restaurant/shop/cafe/experience review, and one general state of the Manaster report a month.
Stay tuned.
Me: So they changed that pirate themed vegan cafe into a strip club...
He: A pirate themed strip club?
Alas, no. Just another strip club of the Girls! Girls! Girls! Bring Cash! variety. Although if any city would have a pirate strip club, I think it would be this one. I love Portland. So much I've started a blog about it. Now, the Internet and I have a bit of a history, a shared tango of procrastination, ambition and disappointment. A few years ago I pledged on livejournal to review every single book I read in a year. Five months and thirty-seven books later (I read a lot) we made the NY to PDX move and by the time we settled in I was two months behind. Considering the rate at which I read (even slowed down by the move) that's a lot of reviews. The more I put off reviewing the more they piled up, and lazy cuss that I am, I abandoned the attempt.
Not this time. I'm starting this blog with reasonable (read: low) expectations. With--dare I say it?--a mission statement. You won't see daily updates. You might not even see weekly ones. What you will see is at least one book review, one area restaurant/shop/cafe/experience review, and one general state of the Manaster report a month.
Stay tuned.
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