The Reader Online

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow—
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream…

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

Yes, he’s back. Sorry it’s been a few weeks: the technical team took a well-earned holiday. (Which poses a deep philosophical question: Does Mr Nellist still exist if there’s no one there to film him? Erm… yes, probably.)

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.

The Aga Saga – a bit like The Forsyte Saga, only with fewer characters and more carbon monoxide. In this episode, Mr Nellist gets all Sooty and requires a Sweep. All we need now is Syoo…

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

Mr Nellist shares his thoughts on the work of Willa Cather (1873 – 1947), an American author and Pulitzer Prize winner, known for her depictions of frontier life on the Great Plains (between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River) in novels such as O Pioneers! (1913) and My Ántonia (1918).

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…

During daylight hours, Mr Nellist and friends engage in civilised discussions about life and literature – in this case, Trollope and William Trevor (the novel is Death in Summer).

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

Taken over by powerful spirits?

Very possibly…

Mr Nellist recently celebrated his birthday – and like fine wine and great writing he’s only getting better with age. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of his Aga cooker. So instead of blowing out candles, he’s forced to blow the soot out of his nose. Unlucky for some…

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.”)

Yes, he’s back! We’re sorry about the unexplained hiatus. Number of reasons, misplaced camera not least amongst them. But normal service will be resumed this Friday, and to make amends, here’s a special Tuesday bonus…

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!

Journey into the Short Story
Six-week Summer Course with Brian Nellist

10.00am – 12.00noon
Starting Monday 1st June for six weeks
The Lauries Community Centre, 142 Claughton Road, Birkenhead, CH41 6EY
£40 (£25 concessions, £15 income support)

We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us. – Marcel ProustCome with The Reader Organisation on a journey into the heart of the short story. Over the course of six weeks we will explore six short stories, each concerned in different ways with travel, a journey, being abroad.

Which is ‘foreign’, the visitor or the country visited? Does travel open the mind or close it in? Or, to put it another way, does it isolate or connect?

We will share our journeys with writers including Kipling, Forster and Katherine Mansfield, in the company of our ever-reliable guide Brian Nellist (aka Nellibob). With almost fifty years experience teaching the reading of literature, Brian continues to bring serious wisdom, deep attention and an engaging manner to this perennially popular summer course.

Copies of the text will be provided. No preparatory reading necessary.

To book your place on this summer course please complete a booking form, which you can download here.

For more information, contact Casi Dylan (call 0151 794 2830 / 07870 106 745).

You say scone.
I say scone.

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.

Question: What links dogs, pipe-smoke, Louis MacNeice and a squashed orange football?

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…