Marnie

MARNIE is a much grimmer story than the movie (despite its own grim tones) led me to believe. Although I'd always liked the movie, I like the book so much more. Winston Graham's Marnie has more depth than Hitchcock's Marnie, and Marnie's traumatic past and the effect it has upon her is not as easily resolved in the book as it is in the movie. As the book is written in the first person, we are privy to Marnie's thoughts and emotions (while the movie is told more from Mark's, Marnie's frozen-out husband's, POV). Graham was an expert at creating a woman with no conscience; someone who is always at one remove from life. Everything about her is false, including what she thinks she knows about her past. Then, when Marnie's careful tightrope of a life begins to slowly implode, she's slowly brought forward into becoming -- well, a human being. It's a masterful portrait of a woman on the brink brought back from the brink, and I'm a little surprised that Hitchcock didn't use more from the original story in his film version. Unfortunately, Hitchcock seems to have exclusively focused on Marnie's frigidity, which is only a small part of her personality and her problems. I'm very glad to have finally read the book, and to discover that the written Marnie was so much more interesting a creation than the film version.

A fan of Hitchcock's adaptation of "Marnie," I decided to get the book from the library, and I was very pleasantly surprised. George writes in the first person, and it is extremely insightful to be able to delve into the workings of Marnie's mind; her extreme emotional detachment, which has served to protect her from dealing with a long-buried, horrible memory and an imbalanced, mysterious mother; her ability to create different personalities to accompany her various aliases as a way of dealing with the moral dilemma engendered by her penchant for kleptomania; her deep-rooted, seemingly inexplicable fear of intimacy. Winston's writing style was quite clever: The story is gripping and tumultuous, yet presented in a cool and practical manner through Marnie's voice, just as Marnie, herself, seems cool and methodical but brims with overwhelming pain and confusion beneath the surface.Though there are some marked differences between the book and movie, they are quite similar in what I believe are the most important and interesting aspects of the story; namely, a woman rendered incapable (by suppression) of "natural" feelings due to a traumatic childhood event is able to meet and conquer her demons through the love of a patient and caring man. I do heartily recommend the book as well as the movie.

I really enjoyed this book - much more than the movie. It takes a look at a woman with a past, a tramatic childhood; and how she overcomes it, despite herself. Hitchcock showed Marnie's false reality very well in the movie, but the script and Tippi Headren couldn't do the character justice.

Although the film version did not follow the storyline, this story well-defines the "burial" of a childhood traum and warps the thinking and actions of an adult woman. Alfred Hitchcock was the director of the film version which starred Sean Connery and Tippi Hedron. With the help of her husband, Marnie is forced to revisit her mother and, in doing so, discovers what it is that has so terrified her. Again, with the help of her husband, she is able to adjust her life and live as a well-adjusted human being.. Graham's story has been out of publication for a number of years. After checking with many sources, including Buccaneer Books in New York, I have discovered that this book is out of print. They would have to check with the Graham estate to get permission to re-publish it. I am hoping that SOMEone may have a good copy (either paperback or hardcover) that they are not looking to gouge in pricing. Anyone out there who fits this description? I do not have an email address, however, you can contact me at 414-545-3933 or write to 9849 W. Beloit Road, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53227-4234. Thank you. Bev Bayliss Heipp