When Marnie Was There: The Studio Ghibli Inspired Children's Ghost Story of Mystery and Love

The level of connection I felt to the Ghibli adaptation of this book was on another level. And of course, after that, I decided to give the source a go. Suffice to say, this book is the only literary media that has ever managed to make me cry. With only words and my own feelings, at the end of this story, I found myself shedding tears of... what? Happiness? Satisfaction? It's hard to explain. I feel connected to Anna in a way I suspect a lot of people who didn't enjoy the story couldn't. Sure, I may not have her exact series of problems, but I can understood the core of her character, that of being 'On the outside'. It's always increidble to me how with such a small, simple story this book managed to carve its way into my heart with a beautiful small town, a marsh and two girls (with, arguably, some romantic subtext that may or may not take a kind of strange and weird twist when you get to the end). Anna's and Marnie's interactions are ever so enjoyable, and I was surprised with how much tact and accuracy this book handled its themes: Being an introvert, adopted, parent abandonment, abuse, among many other smaller things. What others may have seen as Anna being rude or plainly unlikable I saw as a completely logical response to a situation she found herself in. And maybe even more, I loved the answer the book gave to all of these problems. Some may not be simple, some may not really have an answer, but... Well, it's simply beautiful. Please, do yourself a favour and read it. It's short and easy to read. Perfect for kids, too! What are you waiting for?

After seeing the Studio Ghibli film, which I loved so much, I knew I had to read this book. It does not disappoint! It’s haunting, beautiful, and amazing. Both the movie and the book did a great job capturing what it’s like to be lonely and sad, but fortunately, it has a happy ending! Overall this is a 10/10 If you haven’t read or seen When Marnie Was There yet, you’re missing out! The movie is an underrated masterpiece, and the book is an instant classic Thanks for reading!

Great book! I watched the Studio Ghibli film several weeks ago and couldn't get the characters out of my head so I downloaded the book for my Kindle. I'm so glad I did! A lot of stuff in the book made more sense to me than in the movie (which is certainly to be expected). I think a lot of people can really relate to the character Anna. She feels like everyone else "in the circle" and she's alone on the outside. She figures there is something inherently different about her that makes her unable to make friends, and convinces herself she would rather not have them anyway. The blossoming friendship between Anna and Marnie is such a perfect representation of the relationship between little girls, and I adored watching Anna become comfortable with herself as a person and start to reach out to other people. If you've liked the Studio Ghibli movie, read this book. If you liked this book, go ahead and check out the Ghibli movie because they stayed true to the essence of the story.

I picked this up having seen the Studio Ghibli film. It's a slow book, with charming dialogue and characters - a slice of life from "the olden days". Even knowing Marnie's secrets having watched the film, I still teared up at the end. Joan G. Robinson has crafted a good story, and it's a great read for all ages, not just children. Our heroine Anna truly does grow up during her summer away at the beach - the part that's fascinating to me is whether the events Anna experienced truly happened, or were just stories she told herself when she was lonely. It's never resolved in the book, but is instead left up to the reader to decide.

I read this book in one sitting. I loved every bit of it and couldn't wait for the mystery to unfold, just like Anna, I was having a hard time telling what was real from what was made up. It's a great bit of fantasy woven into her reality. It's wonderful to watch the main character, Anna, evolve into the person she's always wanted to be and along the way often becoming her own antagonist and holding her self back. She feels she's an outsider and secretly envies the insiders as she puts on her "ordinary" face so no one can tell the way she feels. Nearly every character in the book is rooting for Anna and wants to help her grow and soon you are as well. She's quiet but adventurous and makes friends with an upbeat girl named Marnie that lives by the beach. Before long they're good friends and just when Anna has really gotten to know her new pal, Marnie disappears as quickly as she appeared. The characters are lovable and incredibly supporting and each person that comes across Anna has a different reaction to her. She learns to interact with the world all while learning about herself, her family and her secret past The book, the town and the characters all have a quaint, relatable feel and it's easy to see why Miyazaki and so many others fell so in love with this story

For some weird reason it is getting rarer and rarer to read, or watch or consume really any media with a deep emotional relationship between two people without having the need to drift into romance or explain away how it is not romantic. So much fiction tends to either make friendship always equate to romance, or carefully dodge that by explicitly stating how unromantic two people's connections are. When Marnie was There does not try to shy away from a deep emotional relationship while also not feeling the need to explain it away. Like many, I heard about the Studio Ghibli film first. A lot of people were suggesting it was Ghibli's answer to their utter lack of any pro-lgbt text in any of their works. I would argue that not only is that true of Ghibli, they also lack very many stories where the lead and supporting roles are same sex. There seems to be a hyper heteronormative romance in the stories they tell to the extent that even same sex friendships go too far for them. This has been always something of a disappointment for me, as I, like many, generally and otherwise love their work. As of this writing I have not seen the film, but I am told that the lgbt subtext is really not there and mostly reading too much into it. This may or may not be true for the film, but it absolutely is true for the book. The characters feelings do not stray in that realm, while whatever possibilities could have been is not explored it is also not important and I for one would argue that since the book wasn't afraid of portraying a close same sex friendship, in a way it also does not fall into the typical trap of modern het-norm stories. This book doesn't try to tell an lgbt story, but nor does it feel the need to avoid it by explicitly saying it isn't one, which is getting shockingly rare these days. Certainly Ghibli hasn't done anything of that nature before (with the film based on this book being perhaps the biggest exception). What makes this story so amazing is the emotion. This is a wild emotional ride from start to finish, a bitter sweet but ultimately uplifting story that is beautifully woven from start to finish. The first couple chapters maybe rather slow, but things start to pick up and don't fall off again at any point. Characters introduced rather late in the story manage to still have emotional impact and importance despite having been in the story for so short a time and often newly introduced characters become emotional callbacks to previous points in the book. Personally I would dare someone to try to read this and not feel their heart strings tugged. So if you've seen the Ghibli film or not, this book is still a timeless classic. It is suitable for any age and while it maybe a somewhat quick read, it will surely be one of the more emotional books you've probably read in a while. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Recommended for anyone who dreams of a life the could have and share with loved ones. Family is what you make it. Dreams come true.

The story was much enjoyed.

Synopsis: Anna ist eine Außenseiterin. Zu ihrer Adoptivmutter hat sie ein eher kühles Verhältnis. Und als sie wegen ihrer Astmaanfälle über den Sommer zu Verwanden aufs Land an die Küste von Norfolk geschickt wird, glaubt sie, auf diese Weise will man sie einige Zeit loswerden. In Norfolk erkundet Anna den Hafen, die Salzmarsch, die Dünen und den Nordseestrand ... allein. Ihre Verwandten, Mr. and Mrs. Pegg, geben ihr die Freiheit, wundern sich aber doch über Annas Introvertiertheit. Eines Tages entdeckt Anna auf der anderen Seite der Marsch ein Landhaus, dass ihr befremdlich bekannt vorkommt. Mehr noch, in einem der Fenster sieht sie ein junges Mädchen, dem die Haare gekämmt werden. Die beiden lernen sich kennen, unternehmen Tags und Nachts gemeinsame Ausflüge und begründen eine tiefe Freundschaft. Dabei lernen die beiden äußerlich so ungleichen Mädchen einander kennen und stellen fest: Sie haben einiges gemeinsam. Doch immer wieder gibt es Ungereimtheiten, die Anna an ihrem Verstand zweifeln lassen. Als sich der Sommer dem Ende neigt und eine neue Familie in das Haus an der Marsch einzieht, muss sich Anna fragen: Wer ist Marnie wirklich? Zum Buch: Ich habe die Geschichte von Joan G. Robinson über die (hervorragende und buchnahe) Verfilmung der Ghibi-Studios kennengelernt. Zwei Jahre später war dann endlich wieder das Taschenbuch verfügbar. Warum das "Film Tie-In"-Buch länger benötigt hat als Frau Robinson damals benötigte, um es zu schreiben, ist mir allerdings unverständlich. Außer einem Sticker und einer kurzen Erwähnung im Nachwort gibt es auch keine Verbindung zum Film. Na egal ... Das Taschenbuch enthält auch eine hübsche Tuschezeichnung vor jedem Kapitel. Ich habe das Buch mit großem Vergnügen gelesen. Natürlich, wenn man den Film kennt, ist ein bisschen die Spannung weg, aber trotzdem war es das wert. Wie meist gibt es doch kleine Unterschiede und Details, die im Film so nicht vorkommen. Insgesamt kann ich das Buch nicht nur Jugendlichen, sondern auch Erwachsenen ohne Einschränkungen empfehlen. Fortgeschrittene Englischkenntnisse sollte man haben, bei einer Handvoll exotischerer Wörter musste auch ich mal nachschlagen.

The movie had left me wanting for more, so I read the original book and was not disappointed. It's a beautiful story of love, forgiveness and accepting yourself.

Fast delivery and was as expected

So much better than film! When Marnie Was There was one of the few Ghibli films my family and I had not yet seen, and are so glad we got the book first. Definitely worth the read!

fast and good product. Good stuff :)