Through a Glass Marnie-ly

[steepholm]

I met her on a house party in Norfolk.
Very flat, Norfolk.
There's no need to be unpleasant.
That was no reflection on her, unless of course she made it flatter.

I took both Urn Burial and When Marnie Was There with me on my overnight trip to Norfolk this weekend - my first ever foray into that county. I turns out that they are set in pretty much the same place on the north Norfolk coast, and it was quite interesting to overlay Browne's 17th century meditations on death and memorialising with Joan G. Robinson's twentieth century ones. It was Marnie that was the main pull, though. Having recently both reread the book and rewatched the Ghibli film (albeit that's relocated to Hokkaido, where I also hope to go at some point) I realised I would have visit the spot, to shake hands with its genius loci and to take my own photographs at the minimum 300dpi required by the publisher.

Haruka came to keep me company, and the night before we stayed in King's Lynn, about 25 miles away (i.e. 90 minutes by bus). I had little idea what to expect of King's Lynn, but it was an interesting place in itself, with plenty of history from its time in the Hanseatic League and earlier, though also a degree of barely papered-over poverty. We took a ferry across the River Great Ouse and got this rather lovely view in exchange:



Perhaps the most striking things, though, were the great Seahenge inverted oak (now in the Lynn Museum next to the bus station) - which I'd entirely forgotten was there - and the illuminations at night, which seem to be in aid of nothing but fun. For example, the central tower of the old Greyfriars monastery church is a ruin by day, but by night becomes a retro video game than can be played via pedals in the adjoining park...



Yesterday morning we went to Burnham Overy Staithe, where we found the original of Marnie's Marsh House and windmill. I hope you'll agree that comparing them with the Marsh House and silo of the film is instructive:





Of course, the missing link between these pairs of pictures is Robinson's prose, which does at least some of the transformative work.

After, we walked to Burnham Overy Town and Burnham Market - nor did we by any means thereby exhaust the store of local Burnhams. There were many farms called Marsh Farm, too, and as many pubs devoted to the memory of Nelson, a local lad - all rather dizzying. Burnham Market I particularly recommend for a visit, if you're round those parts - it's really quite lovely. Nowhere, though, could we find anyone who had heard of Marnie - whether in the pub, or the second-hand bookshop, or any other shop, or in the taxi back to King's Lynn. The one exception was the man who lives in Marnie's house, but he definitely didn't want to talk about her. I feel somehow that this is as it should be, though.

Afterwards we went back to London and ate a bao bun in the spectacular Coal Drops Yard, which has mushroomed up since I was last in the King's Cross area.

Did I made Norfolk flatter? I hope not... but perhaps I flatter myself.

Comments

[tadorna]

How fascinating - I've never read either book, must investigate. Hope you enjoyed your first experience of my (adopted) county!

[steepholm]

Urn Burial is just one of the great pieces of English prose. (Skip to the final section, where he pulls out all the stops, if seventeenth-century antiquarianism doesn't float your boat.) But Marnie really stands up too!

Yes, I liked Norfolk a lot, and Will Return.

[tadorna]

I don't mind a bit of seventeenth-century antiquarianism! Wonderful, thanks - they'll both go on the List.

Yes, I liked Norfolk a lot, and Will Return.

Hooray! Do swing by Norwich at some point, it's got a lot to offer (even though the last year and a half has rendered me slightly sick of the sight of it).

[calimac]

Norfolk: one of the three traditional English counties I've never been in. The other two are Devon and Cornwall. Of course, then there's the ones in the east midlands I just passed through on the motorway ...

[steepholm]

Impressive! But you must make good those omissions. I'm a big Cornwall fan, in particular.

[cmcmck]

Other half has Norfolk ancestry which may seem odd for a Scot but for some reason his grandfather left Great Yarmouth in the late 19th century and walked to Scotland to join the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders.

We thought we'd found and answer in a breach of promise case which became quite famous in its time, and wondered if he'd been a bounder, but the person with his surname was a Miss,the plaintiff.

Shame, as it'd have been fun to have a bounder in the family! :o)

[steepholm]

He could still be a bounder, never give up hope!

[shewhomust]

I think the flatness of Norfolk gets exaggerated - Lincolnshire is the really flat one!

We spent a very happy day in King's Lynn at the end of our holiday in Norfolk, but I don't seem to have posted about it - too many photos to sort first, I suspect!

And I know Urn Burial mostly through - which Penelope Lively is it? The Treasures of Time, I think. Must reread!

[steepholm]

Yes, I think that 'treasures of time' is one of Browne's phrases.

[ethelmay]

When Marnie Was There is US$3.99 on Kobo - just bought.

[steepholm]

Excellent! Let me know what you think.

[ethelmay]

Really enjoyed it, and wish I had read it when I was a child.

[steepholm]

Delighted to hear it! I had the same feeling when I first read it, some time in the '90s.

[tree_and_leaf]

Kings Lynn is fascinating - though yes, very poor.