Wednesday 3 June 2009

Breakfast For One

Finished Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote in just one day.

What an enchanting little slip of a novel. A bit darker than the movie version (which, of course, has its Hollywood ending), the novel focuses on the narrator's point of view. Holly is an enigma to him, and thus completely fascinating, with her nocturnal comings and goings, her bizarre acquaintances, her ability to appear immaculate despite chaotic surroundings.

Capote's novel is a bit of a love letter to New York in the early 1940s...interesting to see a description of a town almost completely untouched by the world war raging around it. These characters are focused on their immediate surroundings, and Holly's escapist tendencies are regarded as enviable in difficult times.

And I HAVE been to Tiffany's, and can understand completely what Holly means when she describes it as a place to escape to; to feel calm and right with the world. It's a wonderful place.

I definitely want to read more Capote now...and read more about him. The Black and White Ball? Fabulous, darling.

Up next: A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.

1 comment:

  1. Capote was a wicked gossip who did in all the Swans and eventually JKO's sis, Lee Radziwill. So I'm not surprised he can write women so well (I've read BAT too). What I am curious about is WHY does Hollywood always sweeten everything up? This is one example of many novels that they twist around to fit a 'nicer' example.

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