Chapter 3 Preface: Book Fate · Love Fate (3)

two The rice wine on the table has passed three rounds.Talking and laughing, talking speculatively, and the books and authors they love together make them feel very close for a while.However, while he was stroking the delicate copper jug ​​in his hand, he didn't dare to look at each other. He had already talked about marriage with another beautiful woman. Related things. However, romance has always been a difficult feeling for writers.There is Yan Ruyu in the book, and the red sleeves add fragrance to reading at night. Although this is almost a dream declaration of men, most of the good books since ancient times are works of passion. Articles and books without emotion are too dry and boring. No one wants to read it.Therefore, although the gentle Hua Diao only made a few lines of phrases that jumped back and forth on the keyboard several times, and there was no trace after pressing the erase key lightly, 84 Charing Cross Road was interpreted into an emotional story by kind-hearted people.

After crying, Hanfu felt as if his body had been hollowed out, and it was cold.What should be done, but what can be done?Thinking of the twenty years of correspondence and several times of moving, this small bundle of ribbons is still lying quietly at the bottom of the drawer.As if to fulfill a wish, Hanff combined them into one volume and sent them to the publisher. Maybe it was her luck, maybe it was the blessing of Del's dead soul. Once this book was published, it was very popular. Published in the UK The merchant also decided to launch the book in the UK, and invited Hanfu to the UK, where he stayed in an old hotel in Bloomsbury next to the British Museum.

Britain is the place where Hanfu has dreamed of. Since 1950, she has wanted to go there many times, but all failed because of lack of capital in Sichuan.Her last letter, written to a friend on holiday in London in April 1969, made many Brits feel sour: Dear Catherine: I clean up at home and organize the bookshelves.Sitting on the ground secretly, there are books scattered on the carpet on all sides.Hope you have a great time with Brian in London.He said to me on the phone: "If you have travel money, would you like to come with us?" I almost cried. I don't know, maybe it doesn't matter to me whether I go there or not.I've dreamed about it too many times.I often go to those British movies for the sake of the wide streets and narrow alleys.I remember a long time ago, someone told me that those who have been to England can find what they most want there.I told him that I wanted to go to England in search of English literature."There they are," he said.

Maybe there, maybe not.Looking at the scattered books on the carpet around me, I knew they must be here. The nice man who sold me all these books died a few months ago, and so did the owner of the bookstore, but the bookstore is still there.If you happen to pass 84 Charing Cross Road, can you kiss it for me?I owe it so much. (April 11, 1969) In fact, at this time, 84 Charing Cross Road was about to close down, and the descendants of the owner of the bookstore had no intention of dealing in old books, and the best-selling of Hanfu's books did not bring the bookstore back to life a year later.London at this time, after the baptism of the Cultural Revolution and rock music in the 1960s, is completely different from the 1950s.In the early 1970s, Britain was a time of radical avant-garde and punk was about to form a force, and there were too few people who cared about old books and old culture.Hanfu went to England in 1971, and she was obsessed with finding the feelings of the Victorian era. What she saw was not the England in her heart at all. At this time, this cautious old lady must have been extremely difficult for ordinary people to get close to, but the British Empire There is indeed a group of nostalgic people, who are outdated but still alive. The old girl on the other side of the ocean has an infinite love for the poor second-hand bookstores in England, an infatuation with old British culture, old literature and old traditions. For these nostalgic people, it is a warm and nourishing medicine, which makes them feel dizzy and comfortable. Moreover, it is a Chinese-style decoction. I have been reluctant to throw away the medicine dregs for several years, which is the reason why this book-like collection of letters has become a bestseller in the UK.

In 1975, all the shoe boxes in Hanfu's house were vacated to hold letters from book fans all over the UK, and the BBC decided to show it on the screen; six years later, the prestigious British theater circle decided to put it Adapted as a stage play, it ran for three months in the best theaters in London; six years later, the book was adapted into a film starring famous actors Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins, The introduction of the film states, "This film aims to reflect two kinds of love, one is Hanfu's passionate love for books, and the other is her spiritual love for Del", and finally draws a red line between book and love .