Customer Reviews

84, Charing Cross Road

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Helene Hanff was a New York writer and Frank Doel was a London bookseller. This book chronicles the letters they wrote over a period of many years to one another. Although they never met, they became true friends bonded by their love of literature.

Having read this tiny little gem, I can tell you that I'm not even sure why I liked it so much. Maybe it was because I loved seeing a warm friendship develop between two total strangers. Maybe it was because I loved the dry wit of Helene and the staunch Britishness of Frank. Maybe it was because I liked hearing about the WWII years, how the people of Britain sacrificed, and how one caring American woman made a difference to this small group of Britishers.

One note: this is the only book I have ever read that is truly enhanced by the video. Read the book, then rent the movie. Anne Bancroft is the perfect Helene and Anthony Hopkins is brilliant as Frank.

84 Charing Cross Road is a small book of correspondence between Helene Hanff, the author and Frank Doel, a London book seller. These letters chronicle their lives over a twenty year period from 1949 to 1969. Though never meeting, they share a very special friendship, almost a chaste love affair, that extends to his co-workers and family. This is a charming and delightful book about two people you come to care for through their letters and wish you knew in person. A must for your home library. A book you'll read over and over again and share with friends.

Reading 84 Charing Cross Road, after a gap of 25 years was like having never read it before. I was totally absorbed from the first word. Helene conveyed the wonderful appreciation of her friends (the books) to anyone who read 84. This was the most uplifting read I have had in many a year. I would hope to meet a "Frank" just as she had, who was a warm caring man, with an appreciation of good literature and fine old books. Now I have to have this book in hardcover format so that it may withstand the passage of time and the many readings it will receive. Thank you Helene for the pleasure your story gave me and millions of other readers.

I love this book. You have to read it again and again, it never gets old. It is a book that will touch you and make you think. There is also a great film version of this book staring Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins that does great justice to this masterpiece! Well worth the read. You can finish it in one day.

If you've ever relished the glow of gilt-edged pages, joyously breathed the musty smell of an ancient tome, or savored each word of a favorite author like caviar, then you and Helene Hanff are certainly simpatico. This collection of letters between Ms. Hanff and a London book store conveys most eloquently the power of the written word. Through correspondence spanning nearly 20 years you are offered glimpses of post-war England, 1950s New York, and the life of a struggling writer whose main treat is drinking the sweet nectar of the English language. Humorous, entertaining, poignant...simply remarkable

An engaging work of non-fiction, Hanff relates her 20 year relationship with a London bookseller via the postal service, Starting in 1949, not long after the war when shortages in England were plentiful. Miss Hanff, a writer of TV scripts, writes her first letter to Marks & Company Booksellers in search of rare books. It is the beginning of a long relationship that encompasses not only the man in charge of her account, Frank Doel, but the many workers at the company who come to love her teasing and sometimes biting letters, always followed by packages of powdered eggs and tins of meat during a time when meat is a scarcity. Her sarcastic nature comes across pleasantly as they banter across the ocean, she in New York and he in London.

This was a sweet compilation from a period in time that is not to be forgotten, brought to you with the personal whimsical taste of a woman who shared the love of a good book. Kelsana 6/24/02

84, Charing Cross Road should be the most boring book in English literature. All it is is a small collection of short, simply written letters between a small group of ordinary people. Furthermore, most of the letters are just book orders or thank you notes. Everything seems to be insignificant. But nothing here is. 84, Charing Cross Road captures real life and real people. The letters are filled with all types of emotions. There is humor (both droll and outrageous). The people all show an intense love of literature. Primarily in the book, the people of 84, Charing Cross Road emit compassion for other people. 84, Charing Cross Road is all about how a small group of people (primarily Helen Hanff and Frank Doel) built strong friendships and really enriched each others lives. 84, Charing Cross Road is a total joy to read, and I am sure I will revisit the pages many more times. And yes, I will (if I ever go to England) visit the bookshop at 84 Charing Cross Road and make a fool of myself by kissing it.

well, that seems like a pretty stupid heading, since a book thats brilliant at one time will still be brilliant at another. but i guess thats what 84CCR proves in part.

i remember reading this for the first time in readers digest [!] where it was unabridged [!!] it has always remained one of my favorite ways to spend a lonely afternoon, and serves to remind again how deep love can exist between people who never even manage to meet in person: something that ought to be remembered by the fools who condemn internet relationships.

read this book if you want to be touched, amused, feel hugged. i will always treasure it.

Charming. Moving. Amazing. This is one of the best books I have read in years. Brought tears of joy to my eyes more than once as I read it (on the plane). Its a quick read, but captivating and fun. Humerous, lovable, interesting and a wonderful reflection on human nature, how different people see things differently, how different people 'connect' with different things and people....

Great book.

This delightful book was recommended to me by a friend. I was working in a library at the time and found it and read it only to want to read more by the author which I did. My daughter was living in London at the time I read it and I was so anxious for her to go and find the old bookstore which she never did.I can only imagine how wonderful it was for Frank and Helen to have one another to write to all those years-so very romantic. I highly recommend this to anyone who is a romantic!