by Helene Hanff
Paperback- $11.20
This charming classic love story, first published in 1970, brings together twenty years of correspondence between Helene Hanff, at the ...
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84 Charing Cross Road is an epistolary novel about a woman's correspondence with a bookseller that gets her rare, but second-hand books. It is definitely relatable for those who are book-lovers. A book-lover can identify with Hanff's excitement over getting each book that Marks & Co. sends her. My only problem with it is that the letters are so short and don't really give you a real sense of the characters. However, if you want to give a club a very easy read, this is the perfect book for you.
I thought this was a decent and fast read. It is a very small book and is told in letters. The only thing that can trip you up is not paying attention to the dates b/c I found my self a few times getting to a new letter and then half way through realized it was almost a year later. It was a very neat read in that we get a feel for what it was like during that period of time for people going through war rations and how they bought books as well (and how cheap haha).
A memoir via the written letter - what a "novel" idea. A NYC screen writer searching for hard to find books via correspondence with a used book seller in London. And the kicker is that these are the actual letters. Watch this relationship grow over 30 years of correspondence. An absolute gem that will take you about a hour to read... then you'll want to read it again.
I listened to 84, Charing Cross Road on audio. It was very well done and I believe added to the story because the voices were excellent and help flesh out the characters of this short book. Not every book has to be epic & life-changing. Fun is good. I enjoyed it immensely.
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