“ ‘I think of literature’ she wrote
‘as a vast country to the far borders of which I am journeying but will
never reach’ ”
That’s a
sentence, imaginary said by the queen in the book ,that really represent what I
fell about literature. Literature is something you could never grasp in its
entirety, as a matter of fact I will
always feel a sense of inferiority and inadequacy, no matter how competent I
will become trough my life. Of course this sense of inadequacy will decrease as
one becomes more and more confident with the greatest poems and writings but I
believe that one should always show an absolute and unreserved respect for the
world of literature and poetry.
Talking now
more specifically about the book I can say that it was quite entertaining and
amusing. The idea behind it is certainly attention-grabbing: What would happen
if the queen became an avid reader?
This assumption
gives to the author the opportunity to indulge in the depiction of the
pleasures of reading that can sometimes even prevail over the duties one has to
carry out (and in the case of a queen I
can easily see why! ).
“ Having discovered the delights of reading for
herself, Her Majesty was keen to pass them on. ‘Do you read, Summers?’ she said
to chauffer en route for Northampton.
‘Read, ma’am?’
‘Books?’
‘ When I get the chance ma’am. I never seem to find
the time’
‘That’s what a lot of people say. One must make the time’”
How true! Unfortunately, even though I am a passionate
reader I often have to renounce to this pleasure because sadly one never seems to find the time
(paraphrasing the words of the chauffer), but on the other hand we find the
simple and yet sharp answer of the queen that cannot be anything but
shared. Brilliant in its simplicity but a bit
difficult in its enforcement in everyday life.
"Books are not about passing the time. They're
about other lives. Other worlds. Far from wanting time to pass one just wishes
one had more of it."
Exactly! I do wish I had a lot more time to dedicate to this activity,
since reading opens one’s mind, broadens one’s horizons, it is a window on
different ,sometimes unknown and fascinating worlds. To my mind one of the
greatest features of literature is the possibility offered to live a thousand
of different lives, to make millions of indirect experiences than one would
probably never get the chance to make.
In conclusion I think that this
book offers food for thought, and indeed also various hilarious moments, but, not
being a native English speaker ,in some cases I quite missed the point and the
subtle humor. In any case this has proved as a nice novella.
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