Just the right mixture of morbidity and the sublime that really gels with me, expansive horizons up and down our beautiful Isles are indicative of both death and the magnanimity of God. Pearce writes in that Christian, essentially English and patriotic mode that I love so much - he probably enjoys a good coronation chicken sandwich and a can of G&T from M&S, yet isn’t chanting colonial verses from Kipling or being an insufferable conservative arse (aside from lamenting the prevalence of materialism and the ugliness of modern English cities - but who could deny him that? He’s bloody spot-on, even if he does sometimes indulge in grumbling with the affectation of a jaded and cantankerous old man).

Anything that acknowledges the particularity of the English countryside, which manages to recognise its slight daemonic quality (in the same way that Socrates would describe his poetic bent as daemonic), is worth reading. Despite appearances, and even in spite of our national characteristic of bearing a stiff upper lip and of possessing a mediocre utilitarian/scientific temperament (just look at how scathing Nietzsche was when it came to the British), there’s a reason why folk-horror has such deep roots here and has borne such an abundance of fruit.

But of course everything in this book has an overbearing dimension of beauty as well, and to emphasise the bleakness, the wonderful bleakness of these vistas, their barren quality, would be to do Pearce a disservice. The Cathedrals he visits, the poets he quotes, the little spots he takes a break in during his long pilgrimage, they’re all perfectly lovely - and I say perfectly not in the sense of it just being sufficient, or to try to demean their significance in anyway whatsoever, they are all truly wonderful and provide a great comfort.

But the allusions to death are many, England is a land of ghosts, is animated and energised by these ghosts, which are more significant than those who wander blindly through the streets. And remember: always travel by foot! That is how one attains both revelations and madness, just ask Werner Herzog. (also my town was mentioned, big up the C-town massive, the largest crater and cesspit to ever be cobbled together on Blighty’s pictureseque shores, the true arsehole of the world).

Read this if you want a more Christian and human counterpart/companion to J.A. Baker’s The Peregrine.

“In between, vast and unavoidable, lies London. Its suburban outcrops creep, relentless and uninvited, to the very edge of Belloc’s beloved Sussex, crawling into Crawley and looming as an ever-present threat to the rural virginity of the weald.”

“Hedgerow, farmland, copse, and meadow, serenaded by robin, thrush, and blackbird, feast his eyes and ears. Wandering through villages with the delightful names of Good Easter and High Easter, his heart is resurrected. Here, at last, we see nature nurturing nativity and life itself defying the culture of death.” ( )

First off, in spite of the subtitle, this is not about about J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, or The Hobbit. But Pearce has written some other very good books on those subjects that you should totally check out, if that's what you're looking for.

What Merrie England is, is a rather oddly worded account of the author's travels around England written in the third person. Beginning in Norwich in the east, he journeys north and west and south before returning to Norfolk and ending at the Marian shrine of Walsingham. He visits a lot of cathedrals and churches, but also takes time to go out into nature and wonder at its vastness. Mostly though, he thinks of England and its Catholic past, and how much that past has been rent asunder. At times it's awkward going, but at times his prose is pure lyric beauty. I think my favorite part was York and St. Margaret Clitherow, but there are many other good parts, especially when Gerard Manley Hopkins and Hilaire Belloc get involved. That being said, this is definitely a book best appreciated by those who agree with Pearce philosophically, or who are fans of his other work. For those people, this book comes highly recommended. ( )