84, Charing Cross Road (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: Street New York, Miss Helene Hanff, Charing Cross Road (more...)

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.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (October 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140143505
• ISBN-13: 978-0140143508
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #18,865 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #1 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( H ) > Hanff, Helene
  #73 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > United States

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 49 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 (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

23 of 23 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)

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.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Sentimental Story, July 18, 2003

By	Carlton Brown (Greensburg, IN) - See all my reviews

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. It is a correspondence between the author Helene Hanff, and her favorite book store, Marks and Company, located in London, England.  Miss Hanff, who lived in New York, wrote letters to Marks and Company for a period of about twenty years, from 1949 to 1969. During this time she became a friend of the owner as well as the entire staff.  Helene always wanted to go to England to see the bookstore, and meet the staff, but she never made it.  It is an intriguing book because it shows us that prior to the invention of the internet and instant communication, people often had to communicate by letter which allowed for more personal contact, even over thousands of miles.  It was a rewarding relationship on both sides. We learn that it is possible to form  lasting and deep relationships with people that we have never physically met.  This book should inspire others to start writing. How many of us remember how exciting it was to receive letters in the mail, or how we felt knowing that one we had written was flying or sailing across the sea.   I remember how excited I got as a child when I relieved a letter in the mail.  Reading this book brought those memories back and made me want to start writing letters again.