Emotionally charged, cleverly insightful

The story begins by our anonymous narrator who is a writer, introducing us to his neighbor, the eighteen year old Holly Golightly.

Holly is a society girl. An it girl if you will. Everybody who is anybody knows her.
You can call her a gold digger. She prefers the company of rich older men after all.
You can call her flighty, eccentric and erratic; impulsive, unpredictable and superficial.
You like her, you hate her. You dismiss her and pity her.
She is one complex character. And as the story unfolds we get to know the real her.

Don't wanna sleep,
Don't wanna die,
Just wanna go a-travelin'
through the pastures of the sky.

But one thing is for certain. She is endearing and detestable at the same time.

Fred, our story's narrator, has been called by Joe Bell the proprietor of Hamburg Heaven because he has heard about Holly. So begins Truman Capote's classic Breakfast at Tiffany's, the tale of New York society girl Holly Golightly. As soon as Fred hears about Holly, the story flashes back to 1943 and we begin our story of Holly.

Growing up I knew Aubrey Hepburn as Eliza Dolittle and Tiffany's as a diamond store, so I envisioned Breakfast at Tiffany's to be a tale of the upper crust of New York society dining at the Plaza Hotel. How wrong was in these thoughts. Our protagonists live in a brownstone apartment, not the Plaza. "Fred" named in honor of Holly's brother is a festering writer who seems to be Capote himself and his upstairs neighbor is a mysterious girl named Holly Golightly who adds traveling to her business cards. Until the two have any interactions, Holly remains an enigma, adding to her mystique.

Throughout the book, Holly still remains an enigma even after she and "Fred" build on their friendly, platonic relationship. Who is Holly? Is she a Hollywood starlet or Arkansas hillbilly? A New York society girl or prostitute or a member of the mafia? Because the novella is only 100 pages in length, Capote tackles all of these ideas while really building up Holly's character. Even though I prefer epic novels, I also enjoy a shorter story that flushes out a character's personality and has me captivated from the first pages. Capote's novella does this and then some, allowing me to quickly read to the conclusion.

Tiffany's does make an appearance in the novella although not the way I had thought it would. Holly in spite of all the glitz in her life, wants to be remembered the same when she has the money to eat breakfast at Tiffany's. Does this mean she will be down to earth or a multi-layered character? Will she keep the same company or dine with movie stars? Capote hints that Holly would prefer the former but never tells us, allowing for the reader to draw their own conclusions. Again, this device enabled me to read the novella in one sitting so I could find out whether or not Holly ever ate breakfast at Tiffany's.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the three other stories included in this novella. All of them bring out Capote's prose and show us why he is highly regarded as a classic American writer. The collection ends on a high note with A Christmas Memory, allowing is some insight into Capote's family life growing up. I look forward to seeing Breakfast at Tiffany's on screen to compare the movie to the book and also reading his masterpiece In Cold Blood. A 5-star classic.

A charming little anecdote about some ruby-rare bright young thing & ensuing crew--delightly-ful! To be read in a complete sitting in some secret well-lit garden with a basket of tea and crumpets. Necessary as stress relief and sweet as a caramel. Another plus for the already egotistical NYC, Holly Golightly is heavily embossed onto the overall structure, asphalt jungle, itself.

I haven't seen the movie adaptation of Breakfast at Tiffany's, so I had zero expectations going into the book. However I have always been intrigued by Audrey Hepburn's iconic Holiday Golightly and by Truman Capote in general, so I just had to read this.

Breakfast at Tiffany's is about our unnamed narrator's slightly tragic friend-zoned relationship with the vivacious starlet/playgirl Holly Golightly.

"I don't want to own anything until I know I've found the place where me and things belong together."

Holly is a fascinating character made of opposites. She's worldly and vulnerable, classy and crass, a girl obviously playing a vixen but is infinitely broken and oblivious to the things she really needs. Come to think of it Holly Golightly might very well be one of the prototypes of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl.

Reading Breakfast at Tiffany's was like looking at a lit firecracker waiting to go boom, because at every turn of the novel and every decision that Holly made, felt like a step closer to ruin.Her characterization is the best part of the novel.

Given that this was published in 1958, I imagine the humor and the dialogue in his book were pretty much risqué at that the time. Truman Capote's writing was fantastic, but this was just 3.5 stars read for me. The boom I was expecting turned out to be nothing but a pop.

The charm, the wit, the insouciance, what a lovely book. And what is with all these books with the unrequited man as narrator? It's such a popular narrative choice. It makes it seem like there is this legion of men who prefer to be on the outside, looking in on people who have the spark they do not.

Perché il mondo intero sembra innamorato o propenso ad innamorarsi di Holly Golightly? Per la sua bellezza? Per la sua eccentricità? Non credo. Più probabile che, conoscendola, rimanga ammaliato dalla sua assoluta libertà, da una vita condotta senza regole apparenti (o non certo secondo quelle imperanti), che oltre la sua apparente frivolezza sa nascondere profondità e tanta fragilità. Per chi conduce la propria vita lungo binari prefissati e ogni singolo giorno sente il peso del giogo che si è posto da solo sulle spalle, un simile richiamo, le prospettive che sembra schiudere non possono che essere irresistibili. Holly ha trovato la chiave per la felicità? No, perché oltre la sua travolgente energia, spesso trapelano insoddisfazione e smarrimento. Si può amare Holly sino a farla propria? Non più di quanto si potrebbe racchiuder il vento tra le proprie mani. Non più di quanto si potrebbe imbrigliare la tempesta. Come lei stessa disse: ci si può fare male ad innamorarsi di un animale selvatico.

I wish I'd been warned off of this novel any time in my life up until yesterday. Alas. In case other readers, like me, don't know anything about Breakfast at Tiffany's other than, (a) it's short; (b) there is an Audrey Hepburn movie adaptation of it, and (c) it has nothing to do with either a meal or a luxury retail brand: more than once its main character utters the n-word for no purpose that advances the plot, and a dozen + times, uses the term, dyke, derisively. If I recall correctly, retard is thrown in for good measure and there are at least 2 instances in which nameless Black boys and Mexican men are included in the plot solely to have them demonstrate stereotypically negative characteristics. So there's that.

Nonetheless, having determined to stick with it to the bitter end in case there was some countervailing redeeming quality to it, I assure you, there is not. From time to time, Capote's writing moves past serviceable to elegant, but that's an insufficient inducement to spend 2 - 3 hours of your time in the mind of one of those empty, shallow, mid-century young, white, male easily-besotted-by-any-hot-mess-self-absorbed-blonde-slender-woman-he-meets narrators of which the American literary canon offers several dozen interchangeable denizens. See novels by Fitzgerald for more exemplars. If you insist on experiencing Breakfast at Tiffany's, the audible version is narrated by Michael C. Hall ("Dexter") and makes as much of the material as can be made.

p.s. how a character treats her pets is as valid a barometer for their value as it is in real life.

I don’t write reviews.

She tells the cat, “Beat it. I said fuck off!” He says “You are... you ARE a bitch.” Then she changes her mind. And that’s Holly. I think the reader should remember that.

Holly is not a good person. Audrey played her like a good person in the film. That’s okay, but like I said, Holly isn’t good inside, isn’t reliable, isn’t trustworthy. To make it even worse, she doesn’t learn from her mistakes. Each time is a rush into a confused decision she immediately regrets. That’s why we like her. That’s one reason we like her.

We can see aspects of ourselves in Holly: parts we think, parts we do, parts we wish we had the guts to do. Yet all the while we’re saying “Stop it already! Get it together woman!” However she’s not a woman, but a child who plays at womanhood. She’s only 19 (later 20) and my god I am nothing and everything that I was at that age, almost 20 years since.

What am I saying? I’m rambling. I guess I’m saying we’re all phonies in our own ways. What affectations we put on when it suits us! We’re all raw, honest people too. The masks we wear are as much of our true personalities as the things we think we really are. Capote understood this.

When I started reading this book, because I haven't seen the movie, I thought Audrey Hepburn's name was Tiffany. Through college I saw so many posters with her face and "Breakfast at Tiffany's" somewhere on the image and that is what stuck in my head and I still have a tough time thinking anything different. When I found out the real reason the title is what it is, I was disappointed that this book was an early version of product placement, but even with all of that said - Breakfast at Tiffany's is a great book. I believe it is a take on the great American novel that focuses on feminine personality. I'll probably read it again, and I'm going to watch the movie as soon as possible.

Holiday Golightly. She’s quirky, comical, and glamorous. She’s fashionable, in-the-know, and in-the-now. She’s lonely, lost, and waiting to be rescued. You couldn’t resist her charm if you tried, and you can’t help but fall in love with her.

Well, at least in the Hollywood film version. Capote’s original novella paints a darker portrait of Miss Golightly. Unlike Audrey Hepburn’s adorable Holly, who needs a knight in slightly-rusted armor to save her, Capote’s girl is a “wild thing” who cannot be caged, trained, or rescued.

I can’t deny that the film is a classic and is one of my favorites. Audrey Hepburn may be the epitome of glamour and beauty, and Hollywood’s Holly can’t help but absorb Audrey’s charm. By the end of the film you find yourself rooting for “Fred” to save her from the nonsense of high society, reunite her with the cat, and wipe away her case of “the mean reds” forever. That is Hollywood, after all, and we would expect nothing less.

But the real Holly, Capote’s Holly, can never be caged by convention. It would be hard to imagine her ever settling down and being content with Fred (regardless of the fact that he is an implied homosexual in the book. Hollywood seemed to have “overlooked” that).

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that the book’s Holly is a Bad Person; she’s just more layered and real. Think about it – how many people have you come across who create a new persona for themselves, based on what they perceive others to desire? People who feign interest in the popular styles/entertainment/notable people of the day, just to seem like a Very Important Person and garner adoration, fame, and possibly fortune. I could name a few.

But we get to go deeper than Holly’s exterior and see the scared and lonely girl at the core. She is terrified of being a caged animal, but also tired of being alone. She wants to seem as though she’s making a holiday out of life, but struggles with the need for stability and the desire for freedom.

The book I read also included three of Capote’s most famous stories, and I’d be remiss not to mention them as well: House of Flowers, A Diamond Guitar, and A Christmas Memory. The three short stories are amazingly intimate and touching, illuminating different sides of human emotion. I have not read Capote’s magnum opus, In Cold Blood, but after witnessing his detailed descriptions and haunting perceptions of human nature in these shorter forms, I have added his novel to my “to-read” list.

Холи Голайтли е хамелеон. А Труман Капоти много умело композира музика за хамелеони.

Холи не се привързва. Тя не дава имена на краткотрайните присъствия в живота си, защото това би означавало да принадлежи и да ѝ принадлежат. Тя обаче не понася клетки, били те и от думи. Холи не разопакова багаж. Тя е пътничка. Пътничка през живота и през сърцата на хората, у които оставя дълбоки разкървавени бразди. За себе си, за това, което е можело да бъде, и затова, че вече я няма.

Когато нашият безименен разказвач среща Холи, тя вече има разнебитващо душата минало, а той е скромен писател с мечти в бъдеще време. Оскар Уайлд ненапразно казва, че най-много се интересува от жените с минало и мъжете с бъдеще. Тя е бляскава, фриволна и по холивудски фатална, а той знае достатъчно, за да е наясно, че тази разкошна фасада крие пусти стаи и прашасали раковини, от които морето жално вие своето „Ехо!“. Холи е вълна от меланхолия, бурно миеща незнайните брегове на неуловимо щастие.

Холи е и ексцентрична или поне така изглежда. Но нищо не е такова, каквото изглежда. Светските партита, които дава, заобиколена от обещаващи мъже, са опит да запълни огромната празнина, зейнала между „сега“ и „искам“. А всъщност Луламе Барнс е наивно уплашено малко момиче, идещо от провинциално градче, говорещо като малкото диваче на 14, което краде пуйчи яйца с брат си и ребрата му се четат. За нея няма друга реалност, освен тази, че трябва да дадеш, за да получиш и тя дава на обществото това, което то неистово иска – леконравна кокетка без задръжки и угризения. Всъщност единствената ѝ връзка със себе си такава, каквато е, остава именно брат ѝ – който не е искал нищо в замяна, за да ѝ даде себе си. Може би и затова тя нарича най-верния си слушател и приятел Фред, като брат си, без да пита за истинското му име – защото ѝ се ще поне веднъж да получи безкористна топлина.

Всъщност „Закуска в Тифани“ е само отчасти тъжна история. Отчасти, защото Холи така и не спира да бъде малкото момиче, което мечтае. А „Тифани“ е просто начинът, по който Холи е нарекла своята мечта („Не че давам пет пари за скъпоценности“). Там „лошите чернилки“ се разсейват. Там всички са любезни, „нищо ужасно лошо не може да ти се случи там, разбира се, че не може“ и не си детето булка, което трябва да е майка на други пет деца. Струва ми се всички (трябва да) имаме своята въображаема „Тифани“ и да не спираме да я търсим наяве.

Холи така и не знаеше къде принадлежи. Като диво животно разчиташе на усета си, че един ден ще разбере. Надявам се да е намерила дома си и да не се бои да бъде себе си там. Защото ми се струва, че тя е млада жена, която има и бъдеще.

But it's Sunday, Mr. Bell. Clocks are slow on Sundays.
Breakfast at Tiffany's and Three Stories ~~ Truman Capote



I first read Breakfast at Tiffany's and Three Stories at the age of 12. It was the first adult novel I had read. I found it in a box of books my mom had packed away. I felt so mature reading Capote. I viewed him as an exotic in bland Wisconsin.

Imagine the shock to my 12 year old system. I was expecting Audrey Hepburn. Instead, I got an education.

There is something wistful for me in revisiting Capote's universe. It's a place I’ve been to before ~~ actually this reread brought me back to two different places ~~ Capote's Cafe Society and that universe the 12 year old me inhabited. Breakfast at Tiffany's reminds me of a time when parties happened at all hours, when people came and went, where the normal rules of life were thrown out the window and where intense relationships happen and then quickly disappear leaving that memory of whatever happened to …, knowing that that person irrevocably changed your own life, making it seem much darker, so much less, without them.



The real Holly ~~ or is it Marguerite Littman or Oona O'Neill or Gloria Vanderbilt or Suzy Parker or Marilyn Monroe or ... ~~ Truman Capote’s Holly is in fact much darker, a much more layered person then she's become in pop culture. When Holly and her brother are orphaned at a young age and she marries at 14 she runs away from this life and the person she is. She is a young, beautiful girl who reinvents herself as a highly sought after social escort who lives life as if each moment were a holiday. Holiday Golightly ~~ Traveling is what’s written on her business cards.

The story is told from the point of view of Fred ~~ Capote's alter ego ~~ a struggling young writer, who gets to know Holly when he moves into an apartment in an old brownstone in New York during the Second World War. He first meets her when she appears on his fire escape but long before that, he heard the music, the parties and the voices of an endless stream of middle-aged men who came and went from her flat.

Over the course of the year and half that he knows her, Fred ~~ a name that she gives him because he reminds her of her brother ~~ is pulled into the world of Holly Golightly, who entertains Hollywood directors, wealthy gentleman she dines with nightly and who dreams of marrying rich. Her solace is at Tiffany’s which offers an almost realized form of the life she longs for.



Holly's invented self is so large that the distance between it and reality is far enough that you fear that she’ll never find that center that everyone needs to understand where they belong. It could go on forever. Not knowing what’s yours until you’ve thrown it away. There are only a few moments in the book where the rawness and vulnerability of her true self is momentarily revealed and it breaks your heart in the same way as when you see a wounded animal.

I had wanted to revisit Breakfast at Tiffany's to see how my feelings about this book that means so much to me have stood the test of time. I remember Breakfast at Tiffany's as a light, breezy jaunt thru long gone New York. On this go around I found the story of Holly to be a darker look at the human experience and I quite liked my new take on a this beloved book.

Perhaps, Norman Mailer summed it up best. He called Capote the most perfect writer of my generation; I would not have changed two words in Breakfast at Tiffany's