Wonderful read!

It took me a long time to get through the audio version of The Grass Harp, including A Tree of Night and other stories but through no fault of Capote or the narrator, Cody Roberts. I just prefer a hard copy most of the time.

Cody Roberts is the perfect voice of the south and I absolutely loved The Grass Harp which I imagine is considered a novella. I remember seeing Truman Capote on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson decades ago and I didn't much like him but, man, can he write Southern literature! The Grass Harp is a beautiful story of two enchanting, unconventional women and an orphan boy who, for reasons you'll have to find out for yourself, leave home to live in a treehouse. It alone is worth the price of admission. It is definitely a 5* read for me. The other stories, although clever and interesting, hovered around 3.5 to 4. They were good; they were fine but after The Grass Harp I wanted amazing! I also read the hardcover edition and I am glad I listened to the audio first. The voice of Cody Roberts was in my head and that heightened my enjoyment considerably.

Fans of Southern literature will enjoy this one.

Some of the stories in this collection I rate four stars, including the novella The Grass Harp. Some others are not so strong which I rate three stars. The short story "Jug of Silver" was a particular favorite. Capote was an excellent writer and I have previously enjoyed his "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "In Cold Blood".

I just love the soft, laid-back writing style of this story. It would get 3.5 stars from me.

The Grass Harp first published in 1951, is a Novella about a young boy and his two elderly Aunts. Its funny and tender, just a lovely story very much in the same vein as A Christmas Memory only this time they find themselves up a tree. Capote had an innate ability to capture the essence of character and the sense of place brilliantly, combined with beautiful prose, he is one of my most favorite writers.

My edition contains eight other short stories that seamless jump from the deep south to New York City, all gorgeously written, some seemingly autobiographical, some poignant, some chilling. Just a wonderful collection of stories, highly recommend.

Just an additional note; this collection was written and published in and about the late 1940s and early 1950s, there is some offensive language in the stories. I don't think the language used in context to the stories is unnecessarily superfluous but some may find it offensive.

Reminiscent of Capote's childhood in Alabama, Collin Fenwick is an orphan taken in by two old maid relatives, Dolly and Verina Talbo. Verina has the money and runs the household. Dolly is the simpler of the two, but wise in other ways. Dolly makes a little money on the side by collecting berries and plants and concocting a dropsy medicine which she bottles and sells. When Verina gets wind of how much money Dolly is making, she decides to buy a rundown factory and mass produce the medicine. Dolly is adamantly against the idea and decides to run away from home. She takes 16-year-old Collin and family maid Catherine Creek to a secret tree house. Their plans to stay hidden are thwarted and soon the sheriff and others come after them. A nostalgic story of the blessings and the curses of a small town in the early 20th century.

The novella The Grass Harp is a pleasant and quite sweet ode to a forgotten time in the rural south of Capote's youth. It also shows a very different side of Capote, if you are only familiar with In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany's.

4 1/2 stars.

Teach me to write like Truman Capote.

He writes about the South in such a sleepy, dream like way and his characters are always so interesting - neither sinners nor saints - just complex, flawed human beings.

I loved every story, bar one. Quite a few of them were surprisingly creepy too.

The Grass Harp was beautiful.

This may actually be my favourite Capote I've read so far.

I felt like I gorged on Capote's writing by the end of this collection. The collection doesn't fit together in the most flattering way because the first and largest story is sweet, nostalgic, and sentimental, while the subsequent stories in this collection are uncanny, gothic, and fabulously creepy. By the end of the collection, I felt I had too much Southern gothic; everything was the devil!!! Ooooooh (creepy spirit fingers); therefore, I highly recommend reading this anthology with breaks in between for a higher and more positive impact. This is not to say, I could not appreciate the genius of Capote; I absolutely did! Master Misery, Miriam, and A Tree of Night were among some of my favorite stories; they are haunting in the best way possible. I particularly liked the vignettes of people's lives (in NY and in the South) that were so beautifully sewn through. Capote can create compelling characters in a matter of sentences. Definitely, an assortment of stories I will re-read (particularly in the autumn when I am craving spooky).

Capote's Southerness shines in this lovely little book.
I adore Truman Capote's work. In Cold Blood has to be one of my favorite books of all time. So it was interesting to read a book that was still so blatantly Capote but emotionally so far removed from the other. Then again, I guess it's not. The Grass Harp has the same sad wistfulness as all of Capote's books but introduces the warm, lazy, drama of a Southern picturesque.
I loved this book. The comparisons to To Kill a Mockingbird are easy to make. You do get the feeling that the two books take place in mirror images of the same town, with distant relatives making up the townsfolk. But both have distinct stories to share, and I wouldn't dare discount one by comparing it to the other. It does make it easy to wonder about long summers shared by Truman and Nell though.
Highly recommended.

Also, if you enjoy the whole Capote/Lee connection as much as I do, check out Capote in Kansas. A lovely ghost story starring Truman Capote and Harper Lee, by Kim Powers.

Bueno, yo tengo la versión en castellano, pero no importa. O si, porque nunca sabes si la traducción es fiel o no al original.
Me gustó y me sorprendió esta novela porque no tiene nada que ver con "A sangre fría" y, en cambio, si tiene muchas reminiscencias del tipo Tom Sawyer. Tampoco es exactamente al estilo de "Desayuno en Tiffany's" (la famosa "Desayuno con diamantes") que quizá es una novela más madura.La historia, contada en primera persona por uno de sus protagonistas, un chaval, no deja de ser simple pero efectiva, simpática y costumbrista, con personajes definidos que, aunque no consiguieron hacer que me identificara con ellos, si los acabé encontrando próximos. La poca extensión del libro hace que su lectura sea rápida, y la forma en que está escrita, ágil. Cuando escribió esta novela tenia 21 años, pero fue un escritor bastante precoz.

Sobre o conto "A Harpa de Ervas":

n  "… Dolly disse assim: Estás a ouvir? É a harpa de ervas, sempre a contar histórias – conhece as de todas as pessoas que ali estão na colina, de todas as pessoas que alguma vez viveram, e que, quando nós morrermos, também vai contar a nossa."n Pág. 14

Deparei-me com uma escrita encantadora, apelativa.

Dei por mim a ler com um sorriso nos lábios.

Uma narrativa onde se aglutinam uma infinidade de sensações, de sons e ritmos, de cores, de peculiaridades, de cheiros dispersos a saturar o ar, de pequenos nadas que tudo são.

Personagens singulares, uns quantos desajustados, que gravitam à volta dos seus ascendentes, submetendo-se permanentemente à vontade alheia, até uma quebra de confiança tamanha que provoca um autêntico cataclismo, originando finalmente, uma posição de força.

"Ela fugia em passinhos leves e apressados mal me ouvia chegar, ou, quando não havia maneira de evitar-me, fechava-se como as folhas de uma tímida sensitiva. Era uma daquelas pessoas que conseguem fazer-se passar por um objecto inanimado numa sala, uma sombra num canto, e cuja presença, quando revelada, constitui uma agradável surpresa." Pág. 16

Divertido e comovente ao mesmo tempo. Espíritos livres, genuínos e simples que engrandecem as vidas de quem os rodeia sem se fazerem notar.

Maravilhoso!

Sobre os outros contos:

Acresce novamente histórias invulgares sobre pessoas singulares; dramas onde palpitam, muitas das vezes, o medo, a solidão e o abandono.

O valor da escrita é inegável.