At the beginning of "84 Charing Cross Street", it is written like this sentence: "If you happen to pass through 84 Charing Cross Street, please wait for me to give me a kiss, I owe her a lot..." This book, which is known as the "Bible of Book Lovers", seems to carry a faint regret and a wordless and deep emotion at the beginning.
The entire book is composed of more than 100 letters, spanning 20 years and a distance of 6,000 kilometers. Seeing the words as the face, the words are affectionate, and the romance and beauty generated by reading are all put into a book by the author Helen Hanfu.
After reading the whole book, there is a faint regret in my heart, but more importantly, I am surrounded by warmth. In an era of faster and faster pace, reading can give people who want to escape a place to live, and the protagonist here, because of the book, also understands in the continuous loss that all loss will return in another way.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="5" > letters and letters 6,000 kilometers apart</h1>
Helene Humphre is a freelance writer living in New York, USA. Because of her freedom of nature, she does not want to be bound by work, so although life is not sloppy, it is not rich.
Desperate to buy the books she wanted, she did not hesitate to write to the bookstore to buy books after seeing an advertisement for "exclusive out-of-print books" at Max & Cohen Bookstore in London in the Saturday Literary Review.
The letter was received by the bookstore manager, Frank Del, who was responsible for finding and delivering books for Helen. At first, Helen and the bookstore were only the most ordinary business contacts, but in the gradual relationship, the spiritual exchange on the books defeated the unresponsive business exchanges, and the enthusiastic Helene gradually established a special connection with the bookstore staff.
When I first saw the book, I was moved by the correspondence in the book. At that time, Helene was more than 6,000 kilometers away from the bookstore, what kind of love was it that made Helian pluck up the courage to write a letter, and then establish a long-term and deep relationship with the bookstore?
In the past, we wrote mostly to give them to our loved ones, and in that era when letters were very slow, each letter went around, mixed with the pain and happiness of waiting. Every stroke of the pen is a formal and serious matter, and every word carries different emotions.
Today's rapid development of science and technology, people's communication is no longer as inconvenient as before, the Internet to build a network of contacts, even if people are thousands of miles apart can quickly talk. While it is convenient, few people are willing to write letters again, so that the letters carrying friendship can cross the mountains and slowly and firmly reach the hands of the other party.
In 1949, Helen bought her favorite treasure from a bookstore 6,000 kilometers away by letter after letter. When buying books, Helen stuffs the book bill into the envelope every time and sends it out, and Frank is basically responsive to the books that Helen asks for. Although this kind of simplicity that has never been met before, but mutual trust, is really touching.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="13" > word for true feelings, warming each other in the vast sea of people</h1>
Helene was a passionate Aries, when Britain had just experienced war, and the country was still in a situation of lack of materials and waste. To show her gratitude, although her life was not rich, she generously sent ham, eggs and sausages to the clerks of the bookstore.
The clerks received her gifts and did their best to express their gratitude, a heartfelt thank-you letter, a hand-woven tablecloth from Ireland... These gifts, which seemed not expensive and rare today, were all treasures of sincere friendship for Helian at that time.
Helene because of the book and the bookstore clerks acquaintance, her enthusiasm and liveliness touched these clerks, she regarded them as her friends and relatives, the clerks also regarded Helen as their own relatives. In the vast sea of people, these people who love books warm up to each other and tell each other their true feelings in the world built by books.
People who have just experienced war, in the midst of a ruin, are mostly shrouded in clouds, war brings blood and hatred, and people in pain will no longer choose to give true heart and trust in the face of reality.
However, Helen, who lives in New York, has become close to the bookstore clerks in London. The feelings between them have nothing to do with interests, nor are they deliberately flattering to lower their stature, but from the heart to thank and communicate intimately with each other before heart to heart.
Perhaps it is precisely because I have lived with disguise for too long, and when I see the communication of the protagonist in the book, an inexplicable feeling comes to my heart. Helen infects every employee in the bookstore with her warm humor, and everyone expresses their goodwill without hesitation, so that the letters that come to the story are full of beauty and warmth.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="40" > haven't met in 20 years, and more than 100 letters bear witness to time</h1>
Such a slow exchange of letters is out of control once it begins. The main person responsible for communicating with Helen is Frank, as a typical British gentleman, he is serious and gentle and upright, his personality is diametrically opposed to Helen, but the two have become each other's confidants in a long time.
In life, Helen is careless and clumsy, when buying books, she does not know how to exchange pounds sterling for dollars, and the patient Frank will help her convert them; in the face of books, Helen hates those books that cut corners and translate randomly, Frank collects some first editions of books for her, there is a book, Frank searched for Helen for 4 years to find.
In the exchange of letters, the two will talk about their views on books, recommend books to each other, occasionally chat about current politics, and do not forget to greet and care for each other. At this time, the two people are spiritually communicative, although they cannot meet, they can imagine each other's eyebrows and shapes, and they seem to feel each other's company in a few words.
Some people say that the relationship between Frank and Helen may be a hazy and hidden love. On Valentine's Day, Frank called Helene "Dear Helen" in his letter; on Helene's birthday, he sent Helene an "Selected Love Poems of the Elizabethan Period" in the name of the bookstore...
In the details, Frank, who knows how to measure inches, implicitly expresses his good feelings for Helene, but in my opinion, the feelings between the two are between confidants who hate each other and feel sorry for each other. As Helen puts it, Frank is "the only person in the world who understands her," and in the eyes of Frank's wife, the two share a common sense of humor.
The feelings between Helen and Frank are not necessarily related to love, and the correspondence between the two, in detail, is more of a concern and tacit understanding between old friends. Perhaps the two have also had ambiguous feelings, but the polite Frank and the somewhat dull Helene eventually turned this relationship into a friendship and affection that is stronger than love.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" Data-track="27" > all regrets lost, and finally turned into the beauty of life</h1>
Because of the bookstore and 20 years of correspondence, Helen is also full of yearning for Britain, and she has always hoped that she can come to Britain, personally enter the Max and Cohen bookstore, and smile at Frank.
However, the poor Heilian has not been able to scrape together enough money to travel to Britain. I had to wait for the opportunity to go to England, but because of my teeth, I had to stay in New York.
Life was thus lived tepidly, and the communication that had not been interrupted for 20 years had to come to an end because of Frank's death. One night in 1969, Helen inadvertently unwrapped a blue airmail in which she learned that Frank had died of peritonitis.
I think that when I first saw this letter, Helen should have regretted it, from the acquaintance of the letter to the death of Frank, in the past 20 years, although there is infinite yearning and expectation for Britain in her heart, Helen has never touched a piece of British soil.
The English poet Dorne once said: "All mankind is a book, and when a person dies, it is not a chapter that is torn out of the book, but translated into a better language." Frank's departure, for Helen, is a regret that has been in correspondence for 20 years but cannot be seen again, and it is also a sadness for losing her confidant and spiritual friend.
In the past 20 years, Helen has lost a lot, but also gained a lot. Whether it's precious books, her friendship with the bookstore clerks, or her acquaintance with Frank, these are the gifts that time has given to Helen after the loss.
As "Once Upon a Time Slow" said, once upon a time, the letters were very slow. Because of this, every exchange, every letter, behind the head, there are necks, two and two, every heavy feeling, are also compressed into the light and fluttering letter paper.
The years of letters in 20 years have provided Helene with so many good memories. About reading, about letters, about the most sincere emotions between people.
This time, she decided to record this adventure and use words to resist the erosion of time, so that she would not only not experience a similar loss again, but even make this beautiful and romantic experience eternal.
This bookstore, precisely because of Helene's "84 Charing Cross Street", has become a sacred place in the hearts of many book lovers. The bookstore has a wonderful aura because of Helene's books, and the book lovers come here with a sincere heart, and they also leave their thoughts, memorials or other feelings here, and together with the affectionate kiss that Helen asked for in the book.
Today, in the midst of the crowds, the bookstore at 84 Charing Cross Street has long since disappeared, replaced by bars, cafes, fast food restaurants, and only a bronze plaque at the entrance of the store proves that the bookstore once existed. However, the story of this bookstore is famous for Helen's books, and the romance and warmth of the bookstore have attracted many people.
Walking in the vast sea of people, we are always losing and at the same time constantly gaining. Every story is accompanied by regrets, but regrets will become the beauty of life with the passage of time, becoming the treasures that shine in that time. All the losses will eventually return in another way.