https://open.substack.com/pub/peteronfilm/p/loving-bookshops-reading-books-and?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=5zer1h

An essay about loving books and loving reading - New Yorker Helene Hanff's ingratiating memoir depicting her 20-year friendship with a book manager of a London bookshop, even though they never met in real life and Hanff never made it to London until she got her book published in the '70s.

#84charingcrossroad #helenehanff #booklover

A timeless cinematic treasure of literary devotion

“It’s certainly good to know that someone so many miles away can be so kind and generous to people they haven’t even seen”
― Helene Hanff, 84 Charing Cross Road

——-

Tuesday evening (Jan. 13) we had the opportunity to watch a marvelous motion picture called 84 Charing Cross Road. Released in 1987, the film stars three top-notch stars — Oscar winners Anne Bancroft, Sir Anthony Hopkins, and Dame Judy Dench.

Based on the 1970 memoir of the same name by scriptwriter Helene Hanff, this lovely tale tells the heartwarming story of two decades of correspondence (1949-1969) between Ms. Hanff and a small bookstore specializing in antiquarian British literature named Marks & Co. Ms. Bancroft portrays Ms. Hanff and Sir Anthony Hopkins plays the bookstore’s manager Frank Doel. Dame Judy Dench stars as Mr. Doel’s wife.

Without giving too much away, let’s just say that this cinematic treasure will melt your heart. It’s a film that will stay with you long after watching, in large measure due to the story, but also the performances, and in no small part due to the memories it will invoke.

Memories of a pleasant and genial era that has long since passed, where a business could mail a requested book clear across the Atlantic and expect to be subsequently paid; where connections and friendships were made through written/mailed correspondence; and where time seemed to pass at a more leisurely pace. One didn’t need or expect to have items they ordered delivered immediately. Instead, anticipation was an integral part of the joy of ordering something and then receiving it from the post office.

Rarely, have I seen a film, particularly from the 1980s, that does such a marvelous job of reflecting the vast differences between then and now and it does so without ever trying. Often, the film simply lets the images do the talking.

Perhaps, we should all just step back a bit and just take the time to actually appreciate the wonder of an exchange of goods between two parties rather than expect (even demand) hypersonic speeds for a transaction.

Peace…and take time to relish the moment!

#acting #art #books #bookstores #cinema #drama #film #HeleneHanff #history #letters #literature #MarksCo #movies #times #UK #writing

Another book I was curious about. The New Yorker Helene Hanff writes to a bookstore in the UK asking for some books and a friendship develops with the staff. It's a series of small letters, funny and poignant, about books, but also about their lives at the time.

This edition also has a second book, where Hanff finally visits the bookstore’s place, The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street.

For those who like classic crime fiction, Hanff wrote some scripts for the TV series The Adventures of Ellery Queen.

#BookHaul #Books #BooksAboutBooks #Readings #HeleneHanff #BookCovers