Where And When

Where and when we read a work is part of our experience of reading it even though it is not part of the reading experience as such. You and I read the same texts in different places or, alternatively, different texts in the same place. We discussed literary associations here.

I was reminded of this because:

yesterday, I reread parts of Poul Anderson's A Stone In Heaven in sight of Morecambe Bay as seen from Morecambe (see images) - probably no one else at the Vintage Festival was thinking about Dominic Flandry;

Tony, who runs the Old Pier Bookshop, reminded me that a girl in the George Lazenby James Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, claims to be from Morecambe Bay;

recently rereading that Bond novel, I found that the line about Morecambe Bay where the shrimps come from is in the text.

This line of thought has taken us from literary associations to literary geography as opposed to fictional geography - real places in fictional texts as opposed to fictional places.

Today, I will be back on the Bay, taking with me books by Poul Anderson and SM Stirling.