Ben Rice

#39, 2006

This is an amazing story. Very short, it only took me about 45 minutes to read, but it was very powerful and incredibly moving. It's about a young girl who has two imaginary friends, and what happens when they turn up missing and the whole town gets involved in trying to find them again. It's a beautifully-written book, set in Australia, and one of the really lovely things about it is the PoV: it's told by Kellyanne's brother, and it's amazing to see how his perception changes, and show more also how much he loves his sister, and the great lengths to which he goes to help her when she needs him. The book had me by the first page, and I knew I was in trouble when I was in tears by page four.

SPOILER AHEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I want to write some things for the benefit of those who read this book before me, and I can't do this without discussing the ending. SO IF YOU INTEND TO READ THIS BOOK, PLEASE SKIP THE REST OF THIS ENTRY!!!!!!

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The ending of this book hit me like . . . well, like nothing has hit me in a very long while. I think it's possible that I haven't cried that hard since I experienced a real-life tragedy about five years ago. (Of course I didn't cry anywhere near as *long* as a result of reading the book, but my gut reaction to this story was one of pure anguish, as it was back then). I was crushed - WHY OH WHY OH WHY OH WHY?!?!?!?!?!?! Ashmol did this stuff to SAVE HER!!!!!!!!!! *sobs* And the amazing thing about it, is that I was brought to this point in such a short time. What a masterfully-written story to bring me so completely in to it in so few pages. (Ninety, altogether).

But, as tragic as the ending was, after I thought about it for a bit, I found that it's really more exquisite than I'd realized . . . perhaps the message here isn't the tragedy, but the beauty in thinking that Kellyanne is STILL THERE, even though they can't see her. A spiritual message reminding us that death really isn't the end, and that the ones we love are always with us. Or maybe I'm just reading that in because it's too tragic for me to think about any other way. I do wonder what life was like for the family afterwards, though. Ashmol didn't sound devastated or resentful that all his efforts weren't "successful" (in keeping her alive, which was obviously his goal). On the contrary, he sounded amazingly calm about the whole thing. And their mum was so optimistic at P&D's funeral, but how could she not have been crushed by what happened afterwards? Or was the reality of Kellyanne's spirit (and we know that, wherever she is, P & D are there with her), was that enough to sustain the family afterwards? *more tears* In the end, I can't decide whether I found it more crushing or more uplifting. Right now, I still feel drained and a bit numb, but in a good way (if that makes ANY sense whatsoever).

LJ Discussion show less

Ashmol is the brother of Kellyanne. She doesn't have any friends, other than her two imaginary friend pobby and dingan.
The story is told in Ashmol's voice. They live in an opal mining town in Australia.
Life is normal until pobby and dingan go to work with their dad in the mine and don't return.

The story is odd, but thought provoking which is why I liked it. It's interesting to see what brings people together.

This is a charming and heartbreaking story set in the opal fields of Lightning Ridge. The author uses words with skill. We feel the hot, dusty air in our lungs, we experience the ostracism and community of spirit of small town Australia and our hearts tear in two for the unhappy little girl who has lost her friends. This book may be short, but it is potent. I highly recommend it.

There is another short story included at the end of the book entitled Specks in the Sky. It is strange and show more confusing and worth skipping over. show less

'Everybody has an imaginary friend of some kind, even if you don't think they have', 7 May 2014

Verified Purchase(What is this?)
This review is from: Pobby and Dingan / Specks in the Sky (Paperback)
Two pleasant enough short stories of around 90 and 50 pages respectively.
Pobby & Dingan is set among the opal mines of Australia, where young Kellyanne Williamson escapes her - hinted at - unhappy life at school, to focus on her two eponymous imaginary friends. But when they fail to come home in show more the ute with Dad, Kellyanne takes sick. Narrated by her - at first scornful- older brother, Ashmol, we see the townsfolk rallying round to find them, and restore Kellyanne to health...

Specks in the Sky seemed to start off as a vastly more compelling tale, but all seemed to fall apart at the end (whereas the strongest part of Pobby & Dingan was the final page.) Here a lone mother and her two daughters, out on a run-down camel ranch in USA, look up one day to see fourteen parachutists, led by the Commander, landing in their backyard. But are these charming and helpful young men all they seem?...

Aimed at the teenage reader; perhaps they would have been better left as magazine stories (which is where they first appeared: in Granta and the New Yorker). But quite readable. show less