115-2008-07-18

Belated Book Review:
84 Charring Cross Road
By W. Owen Thornton

I just ‘experienced’ a book written in 1970 that oozed humanity and human kindness.  It’s called 84 Charring Cross Road and was written by Helene Hanff.  The true story evolves over 20 years in a series of letters between a woman in America buying books from a used book dealer in England.  This is a book written in a format I would have never read, unless my intelligent and loving wife hadn’t read it to me aloud.  I would have been a fool to have dismissed this book.  This is a light read you must discover.  And it’s easy going too at a total of 97 pages. 

What I found endearing about the book is that it is about kind, ordinary people living ordinary lives in an extraordinary way.  There’s something comforting about reading how two complete strangers develop a genuine fondness for one another through a series of letters ... connected by the exchange of money for rare books.  The story is hopeful and heart-warming.  I think sometimes I feel odd or different, even with the intellectual knowledge that Louis Armstrong might have been right when he sang,  “No matter, where you go, you’re gonna find, that people have the same things on their minds.”  This book is living proof that while we are all unique, we all have similar hopes and desires and fears.  So, next time you’re feeling alone, you can think of this book and know that you truly are not alone but just like millions of other people all over the planet.

The letters were written from 1949 to 1969.  The book offers an insight into post-war England that I never comprehended before: about the shortages of eggs and meat products.  There are other interesting tidbits too.  Like the fact that Frank Doel (rhymes with Noel), the manager of the bookstore, can send Helene her books via ‘book post’ whatever that is.  This notion harkens back to the romantic times of receiving snail mail at affordable prices.  Today, it feels as though you could shop for the same used books in your home town and save a bundle on shipping costs … but in those years … not so much.

I think a part of the power of this experience was listening to my wife’s sweet voice as she read the letters to me.  (She was reading them for the first time herself!)  Reading them aloud seemed to give the letter-writers voices in my head.  While the letters were the real correspondence between Helene, Frank, Frank’s wife and a few other folk from the bookstore, somehow hearing their words seemed to give them life and physical bodies.  And so, should you be able to buy the book used, (I think it’s out of print) or get it from your library system, I would encourage you to read it aloud to your spouse, loved one, aging parent, anyone.  The book will be a hit, I am sure.  I think we blitzed it in less than a week!

Tonight?  Tonight we’re going to watch the movie version of the same name.  But don’t short circuit this process by going directly to the movie.  Get the book.  Let the characters become alive for you.  Revel in the experience as Frank and the bookstore staff share in the wonderful food packages that Helene periodically sends them … food they cannot ordinarily buy because of the rationing or the shortages.  And Frank too, knows that he is providing a much-pleasing service for Helene as she writes him letters thanking him for the delicious books he sends her.  Go.  Now.  Go out and find this book and dig into the human experience of it all and appreciate the loving, caring human kindness that is exhibited towards one another throughout this little gem.

Cheers

Owen

PS: Don’t worry about seeing the movie. Compared to the book it is uninspired.  The visual of the movie acts only as a back-drop while the principle characters simply read the letters.  In a word, the movie is boring.  You will get the same experience reading them for yourself!