I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand—
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep—while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

Edgar Allan Poe

And we have a new camera – which means you can now experience Nellibobs in HD! (“Highly Distinguished”.)

This week, after a good meal, Mr Nellist shares his thoughts on Never Let Me Go (2005), the most recent novel of Kazuo Ishiguro, a British author born in Japan in 1954 and best known for his Booker Prize-winning and Damn Good Film-spawning The Remains of the Day (1989).

He also contemplates cosmetic surgery and explains why he is still banned from all bus-stops in the Tranmere area…

If you’ve read the novel, please leave a comment and tell us what you thought of it. If you know someone else who’s read it, pass the video on to them. If neither of these statements applies, leave a comment anyway! Lurk no longer. We’d love to hear from you.

(Disclaimer: The Reader Organisation in no way advocates or condones the dropping of chickens down chimneys. So stop it.)

Plus, inevitably, a short digression on the English and Flemish rabbit.

Hope you like it – and decide to read some Willa Cather! And if you already have, do please post a reply and tell us what you think. Who knows, a conversation may result…

But later, when twilight weaves her magic web, everything becomes a little … strange.

Taken over by powerful spirits?

Very possibly…

For those of you who don’t know, Brian Nellist writes the regular ‘Ask the Reader’ feature in The Reader magazine, and is a frequent contributor of fascinating essays and reviews. In the current issue, he considers the poetry of Tennyson. Details of individual back issues, and the treasure within, can be found here. And to whet your appetite, here’s Brian’s essay on Sir Walter Scott which appeared in the first ever issue: People Don’t Read Scott Any More. (“Improbable is what the past looks like to the present which sees it the wrong way round, shorn of the logic that justified it at the time.”)

Following Armando Iannucci’s brilliant documentary on John Milton (still available to watch here on iPlayer, but not for long), Mr Nellist explains why the next thing you do in life should be to read Paradise Lost.

It really isn’t so daunting a prospect. Treat it as something to be bathed in rather than waded through. Genuinely savouring a hundred lines a week is far more worthwhile and rewarding than skim-reading the whole thing in a couple of days – as is being proved by one of our Get Into Reading groups. Read their first progress report here.

Hope you like it, and in the words of Mr Hector, pass it on!

You say wrath.
I say wrath.

You say gooseberry.
I say gooseberry.

You say floccinaucinihilipilification.
I say you’re very silly indeed and should be ashamed of yourself.

Let’s call the whole thing Nellibobs’ Friday Night no. 11.

Answer: This week’s Nellibobs’ Friday Night, of course!

Mr Nellist proves that he can indeed kick it (the football, that is) and that he doesn’t want to kick it (the pipe-smoking, that is). If you get a kick out of it, please leave us positive feedback and, like a good team-player, pass it on…

Hope you enjoy it. (And if you do, pass it on!)