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84 Charing Cross Road (Paperback)

by Helene Hanff (Author)

4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (53 customer reviews)

List Price:	CDN$ 19.00
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Product Details

Paperback: 112 pages
Publisher: Penguin Paperbacks; Reissue edition (Sep 27 1990)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0140143505
ISBN-13: 978-0140143508
Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.7 x 1 cm
Shipping Weight: 91 g

Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (53 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #27,641 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category:
#1 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( H ) > Hanff, Helene

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Product Description

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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."

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Customer Reviews

53 Reviews

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.9 out of 5 stars (53 customer reviews)

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Most helpful customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars one of my all times favorite books, Aug 23 2007

By	R. Ramos (Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

I find it uplifting when I need something upbeat to read. It is also perfect when I have just a couple of hours to devote to a book. But its size - so short - is no indication of the richness in it. This collection of letters between strangers reveals so much about them and the lives that they led: dreams of travel, love of books, financial troubles, solidarity, friendship and, perhaps, love.

Yes, there must be letters missing in this collection, as it was pointed out by other reviewers, but I don't see this as a chronological romance, just a glimpse in the lives of real people, and how much of their dreams and aspirations is poured out in day-to-day missives. Are we all so transparent? Can we all see ourselves and others if only we pay more attention to the memos, email and text messages we send and receive constantly? I don't know, but I do wonder!

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5.0 out of 5 stars Friendship with Depth and Love, Oct 17 2006

By	Brockeim "These are the best of days." (Where the wind blows.) - See all my reviews

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

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3.0 out of 5 stars I'll go against the current, here..., Oct 9 2004

By	Marie Gagnon (Quebec, Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

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 : "Look how witty and generous I am/was..."

This is also a VERY slim book, with, obviously, many letters missing from the actual correspondance (we get answers to unseen requests and questions).

So, overall, I was left with the feeling that I was not getting my money's worth, with the Paperback - 128 pages Reissue edition (September 27, 1990) at 14.00$.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Serendipity...84 Charing Cross Road Strikes Again!
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. Read more

Published on April 11 2004 by Donna Raskin

4.0 out of 5 stars A delightful read!
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... Read more

Published on Feb 2 2004 by Jonathan Burgoine

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 Jul 19 2003 by Carlton Brown