Q's Legacy

Just like [84, Charing Cross Road], Q's Legacy is an endearing memoir. This one is about how Helene Hanff learned to be a writer. "Q" is the Cambridge lecturer whose book she chooses one day at the library. She says: He spoke a language I could understand, and he had a sense of humour, which all by itself set him apart from the rest of the professors I'd been reading all morning. And he was Oxford-and-Cambridge. I decided I could study with him without necessarily agreeing with everything he said. Eventually, she acquired all his lectures.
She does a great job of showing how much work it really is to write a book, let alone one that will sell. I loved that she was self-taught - through reading lectures and the books that were referenced show more in the lectures. Her sense of humor shines throughout the book. A truly lovely read that makes me wonder why it sat on my shelves for so long.

If I live to be very old, all my memories of the glory days will grow vague and confused, till I won't be certain any of it really happened. But the books will be there, on my shelves and in my head - the one enduring reality I can be certain of till the day I die. show less

Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, MA. King Edward VII Professor of English Literature in the University of Cambridge, had a profound impact on Helene Hanff. Once she read his Art of Writing, she was hooked. In Q, she tells about “meeting” his books—never was a description more entertaining of how a reader reads books upon books thanks to one man’s influence! (TBH, Hanff could likely describe reading the phone book in hilarious ways!)

Muriel Brittain, the widow of Q’s biographer, offers to take Hanff to see Q’s rooms if she ever comes to London again. And so we read about Hanff’s last trip to London and her reception there from all her fans. As in her previous books, she’s SO American in prim and proper England and they just love show more her. And I can’t imagine anyone reading her books not loving her as well. So so glad I learned about her 84, Charing Cross and continued reading her stories. What a love affair with books! show less

I love Helene Hanff’s books. Despite being the most famous, [b:84, Charing Cross Road|368916|84, Charing Cross Road|Helene Hanff|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1287338794s/368916.jpg|938626] isn’t my favourite (although I enjoyed it). I adored [b:Underfoot in Show Business|125037|Underfoot in Show Business|Helene Hanff|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387747244s/125037.jpg|2484239] and this one, both of which are humorous memoirs based on anecdote rather than letters. Hanff is a wonderfully entertaining and sympathetic writer, as well as (unusually) someone I can really relate to. Like her, I aspire to live alone in a small but pretty flat with plenty of time to read in peace. If [b:Underfoot in Show Business|125037|Underfoot show more in Show Business|Helene Hanff|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387747244s/125037.jpg|2484239] dwells in hilarious fashion on Hanff’s twenties, ‘Q’s Legacy’ is about subsequent decades during and after she found sudden success with [b:84, Charing Cross Road|368916|84, Charing Cross Road|Helene Hanff|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1287338794s/368916.jpg|938626]. Thus this later book isn’t quite as light, as it deals with such adventures as cataract surgery. That leaves her physically unable to read for an entire month, which sounds absolutely terrifying. She recounts such things in an amusing yet moving fashion, a balance she has an especial knack for. When reading her books, it’s easy to see why she has so many enthusiastic fans. Her writing makes you wish to be her friend, and indeed speaks to you as if you already are. It has an undeniable and quite distinctive warmth. show less

I've read this right on the heels of 84, Charing Cross Road and am absolutely delighted with the both of them! What a sweet, endearing memoir full of hilarious anecdotes and witty life observances. I'd never heard of this author or her books before receiving these two this fall but I know I'll be recommending her now. I think the thing I love about Hanff the most is her desire to educate herself. She didn't need college professors to spoon feed her. She read to learn and to learn what to read. I, too, am a self-educated writer. Hanff couldn't afford to go to college. I, though I can afford it, choose not to. I find it very satisfying to explore the world on my own schedule and in my own way.

I loved reading about her time spent show more exploring England 45-55 years ago---imagining the places I've been without some of the things that are now there---and with things that are no longer there. For instance, she described Jane Austen's gravesite in great detail but was struck by the fact that it didn't mention her as a renowned authoress. There is now a gorgeous plaque on the wall near her gravestone that discusses her writing success and the lasting impact she's made on the world.

She also described Chawton Cottage with several details that are no longer there on display, as far as I know, such as the letter from Jane to Edward announcing their father's death, as well as a selection of period-correct dresses in Jane's room. The first time I visited Chawton Cottage, there was only the blue Anne Hathaway dress on display and last year there were none. They no longer, as far as I know, show off the "creaking door"---it's always propped open when I've come; and Jane's nephew, Jeremy Knight, greets visitors, rather than a caretaker. (Knight would have been up the road residing at Chawton Manor with his young family when Hanff visited. Now the Knights no longer inhabit the home and it, too, is open to the public.)

Another line regarding rock candy at Brighton struck me funny when she said, "it's as unique to Brighton as salt-water taffy is to Atlantic City." At the time, that statement was fact. Now it is a false analogy as rock candy sticks can be found in every candy store from York to Bath---just like salt-water taffy is so common I can grab a bag for $3 at any Walmart.

I loved these lines at the end---they remind me of the importance of recording my life in journals: "If I live to be very old, all my memories of the glory days will grow vague and confused, till I won't be certain any of it really happened. But the books will be there, on my shelves and in my head---the one enduring reality I can be certain of till the day I die."

This book, like 84 Charing Cross Road, is dear to me. Why can't these types be on the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die List?

I may hold on to this awhile---I may pass it on. Not sure yet. I sure do appreciate having the opportunity to read it! show less

This seems to be the least-loved of Hanff's books. Readers apparently expect another book full of dated entries, be they letters or diary entries, and are nonplussed by this fairly straightforward narrative.

I think Q rounds out her other books very well exactly because it's more conventional in structure. 84, Charing Cross Road is the book that makes readers fall in love with Hanff's voice. The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street makes those fans cheer, because (spoiler alert!) she finally gets to go to England. And Q's Legacy is the closest Hanff comes to fulfilling her fans' natural curiosity about her life and background.

Hanff keeps her cards pretty close to her vest, even when she finally tells us a bit about herself. There's nothing show more about her parents or her childhood here – the book starts when she's 18 – and the closest she comes to any mention of romance is admitting that she "hankered after" one of her teachers at the business school she attended after high school. As soon as her classmates learned of this crush,

they went to work devising ploys to get him for me. The best was Rita's. She got up in Business English class and suggested that after every Friday's English test, Mr. Smoter award a kiss to whoever got the best score. She made him stick to this award for the rest of the 90 days. Which was one reason why I had such a good time in that school I was almost sorry when the course ended.

Note that "almost." If you know anything about Helene Hanff, you'll know that business school and the sort of future it promised were a horrible fit for her. Instead of going on to be a secretary, Hanff became an autodidact: reading at night and picking up work she could do at home by day. (She considered office work as bad as prison, if not worse.) She also began writing "bad plays." "They specialized in plotless charm," she explains, and that's probably accurate – because if it didn't sound so mean, one could say that's a perfect description of the writing that made Hanff famous.

And yet we love it. Maybe you can get away with a minimum of plot, if you're charming enough.

Q's Legacy begins long before the events of 84, and closes long after Duchess. It stretches into Hanff's old age, including a terrifyingly funny encounter with cataract surgery. (Hint: If an eye surgeon says you won't be able to read for a month after the operation, he doesn't mean reading will give you a headache or tire you out. He means you won't be able to see printed letters. Or printed anything. Yikes. Hanff learned this when she tried to take the elevator and "confronted a double row of buttons which no longer had floor numbers on them." Only Helene Hanff could make a month of this sort of blindness funny and fun to read about.)

If you're looking for a weekend of pleasure, get your hands on all three of her books and read them in order of publication. Then cuss me out for making you think you'd need a whole weekend to read these slim, joyful works. You will if you take frequent breaks to make tea and fresh scones, which you'll be in the mood for after reading so much about England.

(Let me know if you need a recipe for scones, btw. I've been told mine rival any you can get in England, possibly because the English don't understand the magic of miniature chocolate chips.) show less

What a splendid book!

Growing up in the Depression, Hanff had to drop out of college due to lack of funds. But she didn't stop learning. She went to the public library to find a book on English literature, found Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch's On the Art of Writing, and never looked back. Each book he mentioned, or quoted from, she had to find and read before she could go on, a feeling I know too well! Most she checked out of the library, but when Q died, she decided to buy the books he had taught her to love. Thus began her connection with the firm of Marks & Co., which she wrote of in 84, Charing Cross Road.

Here, she tells the story of that book, of later books, of the television and stage play, but more importantly of the friends she made show more along the way. It's a fascinating account of how her encounter with one book shaped her life.

"If I live to be very old, all my memories of the glory days will grow vague and confused, till I won't be certain any of it really happened. But the books willl be there, on my shelves and in my head -- the one enduring reality I can be certain of till the day I die". show less

The third in a set of memoirs by Helene Hanff begins before the others, when she had to drop out of college during the Depression. Visiting the library, she found a set of books - the lectures of Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch - to teach herself about writing and English literature. With the success of her memoirs, _84 Charing Cross Road_ and _The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street_, Helene had no idea how far-reaching indeed his influence would turn out to be.

I love these books for Helene's sense of humor and quick wit. She has excellent timing for both comedy and poignancy. Her delightful descriptions of Q's lectures made me want to read them, too. Though _84 Charing Cross Road_ is forever my favorite of her three memoirs, _Q's Legacy_ is a show more lovely capstone of her memories of writing the first two books, and her tribute to the man who taught her to write through his published lectures. show less