A dramatization of the American Helene Hanff's 20-year correspondence with a London antiquarian bookshop. Also on this cassette is a witty duologue between a elderly general and his wife, played by John Mills and Peggy Ashcroft.
--This text refers to the
Audio Cassette
edition.
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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."
Review
One of the subtlest, sharpest, most moving relationships ever formed between pen pals. I can't imagine [84 Charing Cross Road] without Stevenson and Nettles. Her warmth, his reticence, their shared love of old books made me weep. I miss books horribly, but audios as perfect as this make up for the loss. GUARDIAN A lovely new edition of this classic title Good Book Guide A must for anyone who reads - the correspondence between book lover Helen Hanff and Messers Marks & Cross of Charing Cross Road has been reissued. Daily Express Unmitigated delight from cover to cover DAILY TELEGRAPH
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Brockeim
Format:Paperback
In these days of e-books, and bland books constructed from franchised ideas and formulas, we are presented "84, Charing Cross Road," a story about a relationship begun because of a mutual love of old great books.
Frank Doel owns the English bookstore, and Helene Hanff mails him a request for a book. Correspondence and a relationship begins. Contently and confidently married, Doel responds as an older brother might, and the two grow to cherish each other despite the distance.
As they care for each other, and slowly, their local friends and family become aware, we see how love transcends the sea. Neither character has an agenda, and this left me feeling a little less cynical about the world around me.
Like Nick Bantock's "Griffin and Sabine," it carries a romantic mystery and intrigue. We read the correspondence and imagine.
Like so many of today's e-mail- and chatroom-only friendships, they learn to appreciate each other, though knowing only the other as they choose to describe themselves.
This isn't a story about books or bookstores, despite the honest representation of their demeanor and personality. Any booklover knows the search for a book, and the texture of a bookseller's knowledge and connection with his books.
This is a book about the depth, trust, and love of one unexpected relationship. Book lovers will enjoy the context, and good friends will smile knowingly.
The movie with Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroft is likewise worth viewing, carrying the letters into a emotional zone of charm and delight.
--Brockeim
Frank Doel owns the English bookstore, and Helene Hanff mails him a request for a book. Correspondence and a relationship begins. Contently and confidently married, Doel responds as an older brother might, and the two grow to cherish each other despite the distance.
As they care for each other, and slowly, their local friends and family become aware, we see how love transcends the sea. Neither character has an agenda, and this left me feeling a little less cynical about the world around me.
Like Nick Bantock's "Griffin and Sabine," it carries a romantic mystery and intrigue. We read the correspondence and imagine.
Like so many of today's e-mail- and chatroom-only friendships, they learn to appreciate each other, though knowing only the other as they choose to describe themselves.
This isn't a story about books or bookstores, despite the honest representation of their demeanor and personality. Any booklover knows the search for a book, and the texture of a bookseller's knowledge and connection with his books.
This is a book about the depth, trust, and love of one unexpected relationship. Book lovers will enjoy the context, and good friends will smile knowingly.
The movie with Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroft is likewise worth viewing, carrying the letters into a emotional zone of charm and delight.
--Brockeim
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Donna Raskin
Format:Paperback
This book is incredible. I laughed out loud and I felt her pain and sorrow. Helene Hanff is a fabulous writer. I went to England with her as she told her story. I received my copy of this book in a very ironic way. If I can become half the writer she is I will have succeeded!
A co-worker of mine went to see the play "84 Charing Cross Road" in London last week and someone had left a copy of the book on a shelf during interval on purpose. The label on the book said "On the run!! Help me readch new horizons! Look inside and check out www.Bookcrossing.com"
Oddly enough, I received this book that started in London in memory of Allistar with Bookcrossings.com and hundreds of copies are purchased and released in her name. I will be releasing the copy that I found soon and will purchase another copy on Amazon.com to release into the wild on her behalf.
If you are interested in buying a book and helping out Allistar with Bookcrossing.com just go there and join.
The book is that good; what can I say. Buy it and I promise it will become a part of your book collection that will be re-read over the years.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Though I somehow just went a week without finishing any of the books I've been reading (thank you upcoming store inventory, *grumble*), I must say this little gem got me through some of the worst of it! This book is just beautiful.
It is, put far too simply, a collection of letters between an American lady of fabulous wit and sarcasm and a few people of Marks & Co., a British bookstore on 84, Charing Cross Road. The letters suck you right in - what Helen says, one cannot help but read, and the wonderfully phrased return letters from (mostly) Frank Doel always made me chuckle in a "Gosh, I remember living in England," way. This is a correspondance that covers two decades, and though I often felt like some of the letters were missing (there are replies to questions you never see asked), it was a delight to read this.
It's rare I enjoy a nonfiction book that isn't on one of the narrow topics I enjoy, and biographical correspondance isn't normally something I pay attention to. Still, this is fabulous, and I suggest you go grab a copy, a cuppa, and just enjoy!
'Nathan
It is, put far too simply, a collection of letters between an American lady of fabulous wit and sarcasm and a few people of Marks & Co., a British bookstore on 84, Charing Cross Road. The letters suck you right in - what Helen says, one cannot help but read, and the wonderfully phrased return letters from (mostly) Frank Doel always made me chuckle in a "Gosh, I remember living in England," way. This is a correspondance that covers two decades, and though I often felt like some of the letters were missing (there are replies to questions you never see asked), it was a delight to read this.
It's rare I enjoy a nonfiction book that isn't on one of the narrow topics I enjoy, and biographical correspondance isn't normally something I pay attention to. Still, this is fabulous, and I suggest you go grab a copy, a cuppa, and just enjoy!
'Nathan
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4.6 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Still a favourite
Although the style is perhaps a little dated, this is still a charming exchange of letters between two vastly different writers from two continents.
Published 4 months ago by Diana Fowler LeBlanc
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better than reading someone's diary
Like many people, I saw a movie first. Naturally, due to media constraints, you expect certain amount of the book to be homogenized. Therefore, I wanted to read what was missing. Read more
Published 15 months ago by bernie
2.0 out of 5 stars
84 Charing Cross Road
I didn't really think it was worthy of the price of the book. It really didn't have alot of story to it.
Published on April 13 2011 by sandy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better than reading someone's diary
Like many people I saw a movie first. Naturally due to media constraints, you expect certain amount of the book to be homogenized. So I wanted to read what was missing. Read more
Published on Sep 26 2010 by bernie
5.0 out of 5 stars
one of my all times favorite books
This is one of my all times favorite books. I have re-read it too many times to keep track, and I have given many copies to friends. Read more
Published on Aug 23 2007 by R. Ramos
3.0 out of 5 stars
I'll go against the current, here...
Yes, this book is mostly charming, but somehow I was left with the feeling that by publishing those letters, the author was cashing in while patting herself in the back :... Read more
Published on Oct 9 2004 by Marie Gagnon
5.0 out of 5 stars
For Every Book Lover
On October 5, 1949, a woman in New York sent a letter to a London bookstore she had read about in the Saturday Review of Literature. Read more
Published on Nov 27 2003 by A. Wolverton
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Sentimental Story
84 Charing Cross Road is a sentimental and heartwarming story of a woman's love of literature and deep and lasting friendship she made with people across the Atlantic. Read more
Published on July 18 2003 by Carlton Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars
Delightful, heartwarming book
I just finished this book yesterday and have the heartfelt desire to establish a long distance correspondence, in the hopes of finding a kindred spirit. Read more
Published on May 5 2003 by C. DeMario
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Joy to Treasure
I waited too long to finally read 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff and I have no reasonable excuse for it. Read more
Published on April 22 2003 by Ricky Hunter
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