Breakfast at Tiffany's: A Short Novel and Three Stories (Modern Library)
by Truman Capote
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Book Summary Information
Author: Truman CapoteEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1994-01-13
ISBN: 067960085X
Number of pages: 176
Publisher: Modern Library
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780679600855
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Book Reviews of Breakfast at Tiffany's: A Short Novel and Three Stories (Modern Library)
Book Review: Meeting Capote's Golightly.
Summary: 4 Stars
"Breakfast at Tiffany's" was introduced to me initially via Audrey Hepburn - ie. the backwards way. Once I proceeded to fall in love with the character, I decided I needed to meet Truman Capote's Holly Golightly.
A novella and three short stories later, I'm so glad I did. This was my first foray into Capote's writing, and it hooked me from the moment the narrator began speaking of brownstones and Joe Bell. The characters somehow leap off the page to the point where I began to feel like I was in the middle of all the action. It's rare to find a story that so completely submerges one into its world that it was a pleasure to come across one that was so innately familiar to me, and yet so bewilderingly foreign.
Capote manages to hint at Holly's profession without ever outright declaring it. Likewise, his characters rightfully call Holly naive and a phony, as she has this extreme tendency to avoid responsibility at any cost, even in the most humorous of ways. Her use of French phrases serve only to disguise her rural upbringing, which finds itself out midway through the story when her husband comes calling. In short, everything she does somehow contradicts herself, and yet she makes it work.
What struck me as so intriguing is though the entire story revolves around Holly, I found myself drawn to the narrator. Of course, there was the humor and shock that Holly's character brings, but the narrator (or Fred, as Holly chooses to name him) manages to bring a sense of "Well...I suppose this really could happen," even when the acts are so incredulous, one can't help but laugh. He also infuses the entire novella with a much needed dose of reality.
At the end of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" however, I couldn't stop thinking about Holly's pronounced declarations of "Everyone's a rat and a phony." In one way, I leave feeling as though she's the biggest phony of them all - putting on airs and living a life that she fashioned in a way by using other people to her benefit. Yet at the same time, her shrewd observations of secondary characters make it clear just how much she understands people and what motivates them, even if it's to her own detriment.
Of course, Capote's writing deserves credit, as he has this incredible ability to lay out a scene with few words. The way he is able to create characters that transcend the page speaks to his talent and encourages me to read more of his longer works - "In Cold Blood" is on my list of books to read. My immediate response to finishing "Breakfast at Tiffany's" was to wish I had had the opportunity to take a literature course focusing on only Capote's work, because they seem rich for discussion.
Between the dark moments, the comedy, the hints of scandal, and the pure outrageousness of Holly Golightly, I was completely enamored with "Breakfast at Tiffany's." It is most certainly a novella I will return to time and time again.
Note: Five stars for Breakfast at Tiffany's, but I was disappointed with the three short stories in the collection.
More Breakfast at Tiffany's: A Short Novel and Three Stories (Modern Library) reviews:
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Summary of Breakfast at Tiffany's: A Short Novel and Three Stories (Modern Library)
Contains:Breakfast at Tiffany's
House of Flowers
A Diamond Guitar
A Christmas Memory
Capote, Truman Books
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