84, Charing Cross Road [Mass Market Paperback]

Helene Hanff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1996

'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.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

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."

Review

' Unmitigated delight from cover to cover' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'A real-life love story . . . A timeless period piece. Do read it' WALL STREET JOURNAL 'A Charmer. Will beguile an hour of your time and put you in tune with mankind' NEW YORK TIMES --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (June 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140143505
• ISBN-13: 978-0140143508
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.2 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (106 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,113 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #82 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > United States

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, with a heart-rending and tragic moral, September 13, 2002

By 

Stan Vernooy (Henderson, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 84, Charing Cross Road (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the story of an American writer (the author of the book) who strikes up a friendship by mail with a bookseller in England. The entire book is a series of unedited and un-commented-on letters exchanged between Hanff and the Marks & Co. booksellers at 84 Charing Cross Road. Her primary pen pal is a man named Frank Doel, with whom she shares a love of old books. [Perhaps this is the point where I should say that I flatly disagree, without reservation, with the previous reviewers who believe there was a potential romantic attachment between the two of them.]

The correspondence runs from 1949 until 1969, during which time Helene and the people at 84 Charing Cross Road exchange Christmas gifts and news of their families, but never meet. At least in the early years of the correspondence, almost every year Ms. Hanff states her intention to come over to visit England, but something always comes up to prevent the trip.

In 1969, one of Hanff's letters to Frank Doel is answered by another member of the firm, informing her that Frank Doel has died.

This is a beautiful book, which can be read in 45 minutes. I suppose every reader will take his or her own lessons from the book, but here is mine: If there is something you really want to do in your life, then DO IT when the opportunity arises. Time is finite. If you keep saying, "Maybe next year," there will eventually come a time when there IS no next year. It is a painful tragedy that Helene Hanff never got to England to meet Frank Doer and the other people at Marks & Company, and that poignant sadness is what stayed with me after I had closed the book.

64 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Joy to Treasure, April 22, 2003

By 

Ricky Hunter (New York City, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 84, Charing Cross Road (Mass Market Paperback)

I waited too long to finally read 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff and I have no reasonable excuse for it. Someone had lent me a copy and it was the only book in my backpack on the commute to work one morning as I had forgotten to bring the book I was reading, so I started it and had one of the best journeys of my life. I immediately ran out and bought my own copy as I knew that I would read this book over and over again. It is very funny and, in the end, quite touching in ways that all readers will understand and appreciate. The best endorsement of this book is that it will get one to investigate all sorts of old classics and look at reading and writing in new and different ways. I personally will be letting used books fall open just to see what interested a reader from the past and what he or she is trying to tell me. I little trick gratefully picked up from the delightful Helene Hanff.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars letters make quick but powerful story of human relationships, March 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: 84, Charing Cross Road (Mass Market Paperback)

March 8, 1999

This is a true story--that's always a plus for me--about correspondence between a New York booklover/writer and the staff of a used and antiquarian book shop in London. These business correspondents evolve over the years into members of a kind of extended family.

The book is rather amazing because it is a quick read yet packs a powerful emotional wallop. To enjoy this book, you have to be open to books that explore compassion, emotions, and human relationships in a non-glossy, realistic manner.

Normally, I'm a one-read guy. I read a book and pass it on. Yet, I've read 84 Charing Cross Road three times -- so far -- in spite of seeing the movie version three times as well.

I'd place 84 Charing Cross Road among my top five favorite books.

Rodney