Books : 84 Charing Cross Road (Virago modern classics)
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 808
EAN: 9781860498503
ISBN: 1860498507
Label: Virago Press Ltd
Manufacturer: Virago Press Ltd
Number Of Pages: 224
Publication Date: October 03, 2002
Publisher: Virago Press Ltd
Sales Rank: 2290510
Studio: Virago Press Ltd
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
'This book is the very simple story of the love affair between Miss Helene Hanff of New York and Messrs Marks and Co, sellers of rare and secondhand books, at 84 Charing Cross Road, London'. DAILY TELEGRAPH Told in a series of letters in 84 CHARING CROSS ROAD and then in diary form in the second part THE DUCHESS OF BLOOMSBURY STREET, this true story has touched the hearts of thousands.
Amazon.com Review:
84, Charing Cross Road is a charming record of bibliophilia, cultural difference, and imaginative sympathy. For 20 years, an outspoken New York writer and a rather more restrained London bookseller carried on an increasingly touching correspondence. In her first letter to Marks & Co., Helene Hanff encloses a wish list, but warns, "The phrase 'antiquarian booksellers' scares me somewhat, as I equate 'antique' with expensive." Twenty days later, on October 25, 1949, a correspondent identified only as FPD let Hanff know that works by Hazlitt and Robert Louis Stevenson would be coming under separate cover. When they arrive, Hanff is ecstatic--but unsure she'll ever conquer "bilingual arithmetic." By early December 1949, Hanff is suddenly worried that the six-pound ham she's sent off to augment British rations will arrive in a kosher office. But only when FPD turns out to have an actual name, Frank Doel, does the real fun begin.
Two years later, Hanff is outraged that Marks & Co. has dared to send an abridged Pepys diary. "i enclose two limp singles, i will make do with this thing till you find me a real Pepys. THEN i will rip up this ersatz book, page by page, AND WRAP THINGS IN IT." Nonetheless, her postscript asks whether they want fresh or powdered eggs for Christmas. Soon they're sharing news of Frank's family and Hanff's career. No doubt their letters would have continued, but in 1969, the firm's secretary informed her that Frank Doel had died. In the collection's penultimate entry, Helene Hanff urges a tourist friend, "If you happen to pass by 84, Charing Cross Road, kiss it for me. I owe it so much."
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
The book was delightful. The copy was old which gave me the feeling that I was reading the book when it was written. I'll pass it on to another book-lover friend.
Rating:  -
This book is a collection of a series of letters exchanged by the author, Helene Hanff, a New York writer, and the employees, though primarily Frank Doel, of Marks & Co, a London-based antiquarian bookseller. These letters occurred over a period of twenty years from 1949 to 1969.
This book of letters is special because it captures so well the passion that both the author and the company had for rare and classic books, not to mention the friendships that were engendered because of that shared passion. The author demonstrates by far the most emotion as she both chides Frank for his failure to either obtain a book or his sending an inferior version and sings his praises for sending along an especially pristine version of a finely crafted classic. The author softens her sharp letters by shipping tins of meat and eggs during a period when such were being rationed in England.
The question arises as to whether all of this constitutes a love story. The author herself writes that Frank would likely not like her writing "love" letters to others at the firm and that furthermore only he understands her. Perhaps the question is irrelevant - obviously high regard existed. The author constantly made tentative, unrealized plans to visit England and the bookstore, but when her friends visited, they were practically mobbed by the employees as being representative of Helene.
The relative merit of the book is difficult to judge. Only scraps of information ... Read More
Rating:  -
84 Charing Cross Road is a great read! The premis simple, but the characters are full and rich. Worth reading again, even if you have seen the movie.
Rating: -
Given the amazing reputation this book has had for over thirty years I wanted to like it so much more than I did. Helene Hanff, a television screenwriter living in Manhattan after World War II, collected a series of letters she wrote to the workers at Marks & Co., a bookstore along London's famous Charing Cross Road, over the course of two decades, from her initial requests for certain books she had trouble acquiring in the United States through her later lasting friendship with the Marks & Co. staff. The book has often been advertised as being all about a common love of books, yet that's really not what comes through in the letters: the bond Hanff forged with the booksellers had much more to do with her over-the-top personality, which fortunately they found quite charming. While their letters to her are very restrained and respectful, hers are pretty zany, filled with all kinds of strange punctuations and with forceful declarations: of enthusiasm when her book orders live up to her expectations, and of mock outrage when they are not. As the letters make clear, she is also extraordinarily generous to the booksellers especially during the lean years in Britain between the War and the Coronation, and sends them all kinds of commodities and foodstuffs which were very hard to acquire during that time (like eggs, bacon, and nylons).
If this were an epistolary novel it might be a bit hard to take the incredible zestiness of Hanff's wild enthusiasms, and even the poignancy ... Read More
Rating: -
After seeing the wonderful film starring Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins, I was anxious to read the book. It did not disappoint. I enjoyed the book even more than the film. It was so nice to peek into
the friendship that developed between Helene and Frank through their
letters. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.
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