Chapter 34 Above the Sea of Clouds
When Robinie woke up from her sleep, the setting sun was shining brightly above the sea of clouds.
She stared at the sea of clouds for a while, then lazily took out her mobile phone in airplane mode and looked at the downloaded document. She flicked through it with her hands. To her surprise, she saw that this line of text was a book translated into Chinese. The translation between the lines The accent was familiar to her.
Is this an English book?
Robiny thought about it carefully and turned the text to the beginning, ""No. 84 Charing Cross Street"". Robyny didn't remember such a book. Could it be a new book that she hadn't bothered to read?
She has been busy with lawsuits during this period and has been neglecting her work. It is normal that she does not know about the new book. However, there is a lag in translation. Except for popular or academic works, there are almost no books translated into Chinese in a short period of time.
The editor asked her if she had any copyright issues—
Robiny thought it was probably a master of folk translation who translated this book into China.
She was very puzzled. This was an epistolary novel. She didn’t know what was so good about this book. When she woke up and had nothing to do, she simply read it and raked it down with her fingers. “It’s for my big devil.” It was baffling.
She continued to scroll down.
"Gentlemen: I saw your advertisement in the Saturday Literary Review. It said that you "specialize in out-of-print books." The other word "antiquarian bookseller" always scares me, because I always think: Since "Ancient" must also be "expensive". And I am just a poor writer with an "ancient" appetite for books..."
When Robinie saw this, she roughly understood that this was a book of letters between readers and booksellers.
The sender's humor made her raise her lips slightly. As someone who is half an editor, she is naturally interested in books, and is really curious about the bond between readers and booksellers.
Robenny felt warm when she saw that Frank, the bookstore manager, had found some corresponding books, sent the books and replied to the letter. It must be the trust between book lovers that made him unsuspecting of people thousands of miles apart and sent the book without receiving any money.
In that era of relying on letters and waiting slowly, such trust and waiting were precious. But now with mobile phones and the Internet, trust is decreasing. Her marriage eventually died due to the constant erosion of trust. of.
They are suspicious of each other, they are noisy, and they turn the secrets, taboos and rebelliousness that they once shared and knew most intimately into each other's chests with knives, and in the end they are all bruised.
Before taking the plane, Robinie kept asking, what is marriage-
She rubbed her head irritably and continued reading. The relationship between Helian and Frank was slowly getting closer. When she saw Helian complaining about the New Testament, she smiled knowingly. When she saw Helian sending letters to Frank and the others, After sending gifts, they wrote a special letter to worry about their customs. Unknowingly, the two of them have become friends who can joke around freely, so much so that Helen spurred Frank in the letter: "Frank! What are you doing? I I didn't receive anything! Are you fooling around?"
When seeing Hai Lian selecting a collection of love poems, Robin found that they had the same taste.
Miss Hailian is getting more and more naughty.
Robinie also gradually discovered that books served as a link that brought Frank and Helene closer together. They chatted about books, their covers, and sent photos to share their lives. Helene sent food to Frank's family who were short of supplies; she packaged books. They discussed each other’s content on the pages, shared recipes for Yorkshire pudding, and even prayed for the Brooklyn Dodgers.Coincidentally, Robinie also likes this team.
However, they are no longer in Brooklyn.
Hailian said in the letter: "I like old books with titles on the title page and full of notes on the margins; I love the kind of books that I read with my predecessors who have a close connection with each other, sometimes feeling sad, sometimes being reminded of their fate. Feel…"
In Robin's mind, she could even picture the smiles on their faces when they sent letters to each other, and the knowing smiles when they received the letters. Twenty years of life may have been gloomy or hopeless, but between the letters back and forth, life had changed. Color turns life into poetry.
Helen even regarded the bookstore as her own. When a friend had the opportunity to go to London and described the bookstore to her in a letter, Helen said: "I don't want you to think that I am sour grapes, but I really don't understand. What kind of virtue and ability are you? God allows you to browse "my bookstore"; and why do I have to squat in a shabby apartment on Ninety-fifth Street, immersed in writing this **** book "Ellery" ·The Adventures of Quinn" TV series script...:"
Robinie frowned slightly. She had never heard of "The Adventures of Ellery Queen". It seemed that the author of this book was at least very familiar with the era and background of the book. Otherwise, it would be difficult to interpret these things. The depiction is lifelike.
In the exchange of letters, gradually the clerk, Frank's wife, and neighbor Bolton all got in touch with Helen. But what contains the most content is Helian’s love and complaints about books. They call her dear Helian, who has evolved into a big slacker, and sign "Miss you, Frank". As Helian said in her letter, "No one in this world knows me." You are the only one left."
In the book, Helene never forgets "her bookstore", and the Frank family and the entire bookstore are also looking forward to Helene's arrival in London, saying that "there will be a room at 37 Oakfield Lane for you to stay indefinitely." "
However, just when Robinie thought they would finally meet, Frank died of illness.
In twenty years and twenty years of friendship, Helene had never met Frank. She watched many British movies to see the street scenes in London; she said she wanted to pursue British literature. However, the kind man who sold her the book... died.
"If you happen to pass by 84 Charing Cross Street, please give her a kiss for me. I owe her a lot..."
Robinie was standing outside the airport when she read this. She looked at the rising sun and the busy streets. She felt lost for a moment, as if she had experienced a beautiful dream and now woke up from it.
She was in a daze not knowing where to go, and all the strategies she had made before arriving were in vain.
She also wanted to step on the dusty pavements... walk through Berkeley Square, visit Wombard Street; be in St. Paul's Cathedral where John Donne preached; sit on the steps of the Tower of London where Elizabeth refused to be a prisoner. …
Now-
Robiny hailed a taxi, got in and told the driver, "Go to No. 84 Charing Cross Street."
She turned on her phone in the car and turned off the airplane mode. A message from the editor popped up on the chat software: "Is it a foreign work? Who is the author?"
In Chinese that Robini saw, the author was anonymous. She thought she didn't know the author, and the editor said she checked it.
(End of this chapter)