84 Charing Cross Road was on TV a couple of nights ago. I've seen a bit of it before but this time saw it nearly from the beginning. It is a film about a book shop. That's all it is for heaven's sake, and yet it so compelling and wonderful. It is a film that hugs and left me with tears rolling down my face!
London is portrayed as this enigmatic place with its refined style and genteelness. The filming, done in 1987, captures post war English fashion, and the decor in the homes of the various staff of the bookstore. Dark wood heirloom furniture, not a veneer or chipboard in sight, with old faded, once sumptuous fabrics. Not a pin out of place. Everything is in shades of brown or sepia and looks like a studied picture.
Despite appreciating the London being portrayed, I would not for one moment want to live then. The soot laden foggy air; scratchy woollen clothing; the musty houses with dark corners; the lack of central heating and most of all the rationing. The rationing figures in the film with the food parcels sent to the book shop by Helene Hanff who corresponded with the shop for over forty years from New York. She started off ordering books and it was all predictably formal until she became friends, via letter, with all the staff. I can imagine the wonderment and delight she had purchasing and receiving books that were over a hundred years old. There is one poignant point in the film where Helene shows an old book to one of her girlfriends and laments that the book should be in some stately English house with a library but her friend replies that she reckons that the book would prefer to be here in New York with Helene.
The bookstore itself is a treasure trove of ceiling high book cases, with knowledgeable staff, brown paper wrappings and string. A few of these book stores still exist in the UK but they are rapidly dwindling. There are a few in London, near the British Library and the university areas, and also I remember one particular bookstore in Richmond (south-west London) in the 1980's. That was an amazing place, with ladders to climb, aisles of high bookcases, nooks and crannies and piles of second-hand books. There was a light musty smell, nothing too heavy. It was heavenly. I don't know if it is still there or been bought out by one of the chain store book
shops. Actually, I take my hat off to the Waterstones chain of bookstores as they try to create a magic in their stores full of new books, have some good staff, but it is not the same as the second hand places.We went to Brighton once for a day out to see friends. Having espied a small second-hand bookstore tucked away I thought we could spend a few of our spare minutes in there. I unexpectedly ended up leaving with a package of my 6 volume Old & New London from Cassell & Company dated 1897 with its yellowed but otherwise perfect pages for the small sum of £36. It is a history of London including particular streets complete with engravings of where some of my ancestors happened to live for nearly a hundred years. Suffice to say they were heavy to carry on our day out but worth it.
Life has come an interesting full-circle. There was Helene Hanff buying books from England and here we are in the internet age of online second-hand book search facilities, and we buy particular old books from the US and other places round the world. Often these are books which began their lives in the UK and if they hadn't been bought and treasured by people overseas then maybe they might be lost and unavailable now!
Thinking of how we view life in England, I notice that Madonna tells of her love for England in this BBC news item about her photo shoot for Vogue.
This is a great website with photos about 84 Charing Cross Road: the real shop and its staff.
This is a selection of Helen Hanff Obituaries which say a bit about her life.
Original Comments:
There was a mad place when I was growing up in Belfast called Harry Hall's.
It was the clutterers equivalent of a book shop, not neat, tidy and chaotically organised.
An absolute magical place, really magical.
Red Mum - magical sums up wonderful bookstores.
John - I will readily confess I have never read the book, but I do agree that on the whole books are better than the films it does help if one sees the film without having first read the book. Then you have a chance to appreciate the film without judging it and a wonderful experience all over again to read the book.
One exception comes to mind. I read The Colour Purple first, which was truly wonderful in content and approach and was equalled, in my mind, by the movie.
Thank you for taking me there. It made me feel as if I could reach out and touch the magic stacks of books and smell that musty but lovely aroma of well loved and used books.
Next time you hit Brighton, stop off at Lewes, there are at least three good antiquarian bookshops there, packed to the hilt. I'll give you the guided tour!