Breakfast at Tiffanys

Book Description

Critics

• 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' by Truman Capote

  Perhaps, in some small way, I did not want to read the book for fear of spoiling the illusion. I needn't have worried. Breakfast at Tiffany's is a gorgeous light read (I was going to say frivolous, but I don't think there is really anything frivolous ... (read full critics)

  readingmatters published on Mon, 27 Sep 2010

11 Reviews

• 7 people find this helpful

  

  Glitter and gloom.

  Random notes I took shortly after reading the book.

  The Impossible Cool.
  http://bit.ly/bpeoSH Truman Capote
  http://bit.ly/qnAtHQ Audrey Hepburn, beyond adjectives

  Structure
  Capote has the best ear for dialogue since maybe Oscar Wilde, and a talent for the off-hand aphorism to matc ... (continue)

  Random notes I took shortly after reading the book.

  The Impossible Cool.
  http://bit.ly/bpeoSH Truman Capote
  http://bit.ly/qnAtHQ Audrey Hepburn, beyond adjectives

  Structure
  Capote has the best ear for dialogue since maybe Oscar Wilde, and a talent for the off-hand aphorism to match Andy Warhol’s. And please note the cleverness in picking my points of reference. Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a novella (just short of the hundred-page mark) taken up largely by dialogue, in size and structure looking almost as a play―and it’s no wonder that it should be made into a film. Some of the plot’s best ideas would, and as far as I can remember did, sound as effective in screenwriting.
  What at first looks like a superficial story about NY upper-class café society is in fact very worldly, including references to Texas farmers, Hollywood starlets and traffickers, Brazilian diplomats, German-speaking psychiatrists, Italo-American mobsters from Sicily and another century…

  Autobiography
  How much of the plot is autobigraphical, to some extent or other? Not just the character of Rusty Trawler http://bit.ly/uWouny but the whole Southern dimension of the story; plus the biographical elements of Lulamae/Holly, born and raised in the South and then transplanted in NY as a socialite. And then, how much did Capote wish to have the same irresistible effect on men as Holly’s? How much of Capote is there in the narrator? Who has no name throughout the story; except the multiple borrowed names Holly lends him―which collectively amount to nothing.

  Gatsby and Golightly
  If I hadn’t read Breakfast at Tiffany’s right after The Great Gatsby, perhaps I wouldn’t be writing the following words. But I did and I will.
  Both stories are told in the first person by a narrator who looks up to and admires the protagonist, to the point of constructing him/her as better characters than they really are; the narrator in turn presents himself as the anti-protagonist. Jay Gatsby and Holly Golightly are both very successful NY upper-class socialites, are in fact possibly the most talked-upon figures in their orbits, and both hide a childhood and youth lived in extremely poor environments.
  The respective historical periods (the Twenties and World War II) are very much present, if only as background to the endless stream of parties. Both stories are portraits of the society of their time, and of America at large, as well as commentaries on the American Dream; but while Gatsby’s social climb is doomed, Golightly always manages to stay afloat (she’s “top banana” not only “in the shock department”) even if by eloping with men that she openly, and repeatedly, defines as “rats”.
  The Great Gatsby is tragedy; Breakfast at Tiffany’s is comedy.

  There’s in both cases a particular focus on the season(s).

  The other short stories
  In this edition, Breakfast at Tiffany’s is published with three more short stories. The overall feeling is akin to that of certain music albums whose first side is taken up entirely by a single piece, while the second side offers some compositions as side dishes. These do not add anything to the final value of the product, if anything they fall short of the main piece in terms of scope, beauty, quality; yet they’ll entertain you for several minutes. One cannot help but feel they’re there only to fill up space (either pages or vinyl). Think of Alice’s Restaurant: in that case the main song gives the title to the whole collection, too.

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  míol mór said on Oct 9, 2011 about the Paperback edition | 7 feedbacks

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  Holly Golightly in a slightly different way

  I bought this book because of the movie, but the differences are significant. This book uses a first-person PoV to paint a portrait of Holly Golightly, and that's it. No particularly happy ending or really a very gripping story line or anything like that, just a portrait of a very complex character. ... (continue)

  I bought this book because of the movie, but the differences are significant. This book uses a first-person PoV to paint a portrait of Holly Golightly, and that's it. No particularly happy ending or really a very gripping story line or anything like that, just a portrait of a very complex character. It works, I'm sure, but reading it to somehow complement the movie is not a good idea - and without re-reading it with a completely different set of expectations, I can't even try to judge it on its own.

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  Hans said on Nov 13, 2007 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

• 

  it touched the bottom of my heart

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  Vicky said on Nov 1, 2011 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

• 

  "Our understanding of each other had reached that sweet depth where two people communicate more often in silence than in words..."

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  Special One said on Oct 3, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

• _breakfast at tiffany's_ and three stories

  - _breakfast at tiffany's_
  - _house of flowers_
  - _a diamond guitar_
  - _a christmas memory_

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  rabbit said on Mar 9, 2011 about the Others edition | Add your feedback

• 

  This is a story about a girl that lives in a pension, and dreams on becoming a famous actress. I liked it a little, because I didn't like the very simple language in wich it is written. But within time, I'm beginning to appreciate the simple things on life and in language. I think it would be easy t ... (continue)

  This is a story about a girl that lives in a pension, and dreams on becoming a famous actress. I liked it a little, because I didn't like the very simple language in wich it is written. But within time, I'm beginning to appreciate the simple things on life and in language. I think it would be easy to read and entertaining. One thing I'll never forget is the image of the heroine taking little trips out of her house. Each day she goes more and more far: 1 mile, two miles, three miles... and one day she didn't go back home. That is so romantic!

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  ariadna73 said on May 10, 2010 about the Others edition | Add your feedback

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Book Details

• Rating:
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• English Books
• Audio Cassette
• Edition: Unabridged
• ISBN-10: 0898453992
• ISBN-13: 9780898453997
• Publisher: Caedmon Audio Cassette
• Pub date: Aug 01, 1985
• Also available as: Mass Market Paperback, Paperback, Hardcover and Others
• In other languages: other languages Livres Français, Deutsche Bücher, Libros en Español, llibres en català, Libri Italiani, Česká kniha, Slovenske knjige

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