Last night my husband was hunting around the Netflix instant watch and came across this charming movie, based on the true story written by Helene Haniff, and staring a very young Anthony Hopkins, Anne Bancroft and Judi Dench. About 15 minutes into the movie I looked at my husband and asked if he was sure he wanted me to watch it. You see, the storyline was about a young woman living in New York in the late 1940's who is looking for certain British second hand books. She contacts an antiquarian book seller at Marks & Co. with her request, and then begins a 20 year correspondence, and friendship, with everyone at the store. It's a beautiful story, and although I'm not one to collect rare or hard to find books, the movie almost had the quixotic part of me ready to give it a try. The bookshelves displayed in the store were beautiful and covered with old looking books, and I couldn't help but think how nice it would be to have a room full of books like that and how satisfying it would be to find just the right one. However, I also realize I can't begin to imagine the cost in today's world just to find one single antique novel. Alas, I will have to make do with enjoying what I do have and can get at local stores, but it is a fun thought. If you're interested, here are a couple of links - 84 Charing Cross Road on Imdb, 84 Charing Cross Road on Wikipedia
2 comments:
It's funny that though I know the story of 84 Charing Cross Road, I have neither seen the movie nor read the book. So I'm not altogether sure how it entered my consciousness.
It's very nice to have a library until you have to move...
Very true. I don't even want to think about that.
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