Pobby and Dingan

by Ben Rice

Book Overview

Pobby and Dingan live in Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, the opal capital of Australia. They are friends with Kellyanne Williamson, the daughter of an opal miner, but only Kellyanne can see them. Pobby and Dingan are imaginary. Ashmol Williamson, Kellyanne's brother, thinks his sister should grow up and stop being such a fruit loop. Until the day, that is, when Pobby and Dingan disappear--the same day that Ashmol and Kellyanne's father is accused...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375411275
• ISBN13: 9780375411274
• Release Date: September 2000
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.2" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Tu necesitas leerlo!

Este libro es uno de los libros mas interesante y facil leer para mi. Yo soy una persona quien esta aprendiendo espanol pero muchos otros libros para adultos en espanol son demasiado duro para mi. Este no es duro, pero es una historia muy imaginativa y bonita y los caractores son como personas real. Que bueno!

Sometimes you have to believe BEFORE you can see...

The tale of what happens to the town of Lightening Ridge, New South Wales when little Kellyanne Williamson's father loses his daughter's imaginary friends in Australia's opal mines is one of the most touching and humorous tales I've read in a long time. It's unfortunate that this book hasn't received more attention - Ben Rice has somehow managed to pack more life and emotion into the 94 pages of his debut novel than can be found in most of what's on current bestsellers lists. Pobby and Dingan may be imaginary but I'll never forget them.

A Little Treasure of a Book

Kellyanne Williamson has two very special friends, Pobby and Dingan. Pobby, the boy, likes to dance in lightning storms, has a limp and can walk through walls. Dingan is the pretty and smart one who likes to read books over your shoulder, play rigaragaroo, has an opal in her bellybutton and is a pacifist. They both like Kellyanne better than anyone else and they're both imaginary. One day while Kellyanne is at school, her dad takes Pobby and Dingan with him to work in the opal mines of Lightning Ridge, Australia. When he comes home that evening, Kellyanne asks innocently, where Pobby and Dingan are. How could he forget to bring them home? And though they rush back to the mines, calling and searching, Pobby and Dingan are gone. Kellyanne is convinced that they're dead and lost forever. By the next day, poor grief-stricken Kellyanne has fallen ill. She can't eat, is running a fever and over time begins to fade away. Ashmol, her older brother, now takes it upon himself to find Pobby and Dingan and enlists the help of the entire town, because he realizes that Kellyanne is dying of a broken heart and will never get well until they are found..... Ben Rice's first novel is a small, spare, very gentle story about the power of believing in the sometimes unbelievable. His eloquent, expressive writing and beautifully drawn characters bring this story to life, and you'll begin to see and believe in Pobby and Dingan yourself. A very charming, very poignant novel full of insight, humor, wisdom and the triumph of the human spirit, Pobby and Dingan is a book that shouldn't be missed.

Bizarre and Lovely

I picked this up even before it was published (at a trade show) and it was the loveliest thing I had come across in a long while. Shimmering prose, unexpected twists, and it makes your throat ache to read how real these imaginary friends are. Just picturing the opal in Pobby (or is it Dignan's?) belly button makes me smile. It is a strange length--but as the other reviewers have noted, it's the length it should be, perfect for itself. There SHOULD be "Save Pobby and Dignan" t-shirts, as the recent NY Times Book Review suggested. The other reviews tell you enough about the plot--so I'll just say that I've been telling everyone I know who likes books about this one. It's a rare find and I hope it takes off the way it deserves.

Absence really does make the heart grow fonder

Without doubt his is an astonishing debut novel that I strongly compel you to rush out and buy today. Its so refreshing to discover such brilliant creativity, written in a genre outside that of twenty something writers all too often pre-occupied with their own city dweller neuroses. Set far, far away, in the real life opal-mining town of Lightning Ridge, New South Wales in contemporary Australia, from the very first words the reader is engaged in a great adventure that is difficult to put down from beginning to end. Revolving around the Williamson family, the story is narrated through the convincingly colloquial voice of our hero Ashmol Williamson, the only son of a weather beaten, hard up (but ever hopeful), tinny swilling opal miner, and his rather `too good for this town' English wife. Pobby and Dingan are the imaginary friends of Ashmol's eight-year-old sister Kellyane -and they've just gone missing! As his sister begins to wither with worry, Ashmol realizes to put things right he must set out on a dual-purpose quest: To find the imaginary friends and therefore make his sister well again, and in doing so restore the good name of the Williamson family (which has taken a bit of a beating of late). To do this he must rally the whole town, and make them believe that the imaginary friends really do exist.If you are human, you will be seduced by the fairytale qualities of the narrative, and charmed by the endearing storyline. It is easy to allow all this to hypnotically wash over you, but in doing so you might come away with the impression that this is a kids' book. Far from it! On the surface this might appear to be the case, but dig a little deeper, and you will reveal what is actually a serious piece of literature that explores in many fascinating ways the theme of absence. Ordinarily, absence might be created by a deep sense of loss, and would be articulated with rather grey images and emotions of relentless mournful sorrow. What makes this book so special is that Ben Rice surpasses this predictable definition and shows us that absence touches many aspects of our lives, spiritually and physically. He does this by writing consistently good chapter after chapter of atmospheric scenes full of colour, humour, and some very eccentric local characters. A poet's discipline is at play, and it is true to say that not a single word is wasted on us.For this reason alone, dismiss spiteful criticism of this novella's length (less than 100 pages and only available in hardback) to say that it ought to be longer is absurd; as ridiculous as the idea of re-building Rachel Whiteread's Turner Prize winning House - The book is what it is, absorbing, moving, beautifully written and perfectly formed. I guarantee that if you buy it you will treasure it forever.