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Perusing The Shelves

Author Topic: 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff  (Read 9836 times)

Offline Ophiuchus

84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
« on: January 20, 2016, 02:50 AM »
Name of the book: 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Genre: Biography
Book publish year: 1992
Rating (out of 5): 2
Brief intro: 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..

Review: This edition contains both 84 Charling Cross Road & The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street.
I blame everything to the epistolary style: looks like it's not for me. After strugling with the letters, the travel account felt just flat. Maybe I should watch the movie, and try to read it again...
 
The following users thanked this post: RonTab, clousseau

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Offline Kindle Chic

Re: 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
« Reply #1 on: April 25, 2017, 12:35 PM »
Not sure if it's just me but I see no book attached.

Well, I see it is a review thread is why but I can't figure out how to delete this  ^-^
“I love books. I like that the moment you open one and sink into it you can escape from the world, into a story that's way more interesting than yours will ever be.”
― Elizabeth Scott
 

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