Capote's Unique Literary Gifts on Display in the Original Story of Holly Golightly and Three Other Tales

books:


	• Breakfast at Tiffany's: A Short Novel and Three Stories (Modern Library) Truman Capote Modern Library, 1994 - 176 pages average customer review:based on 102 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Pure Genius

Arguably the greatest writer of the 20th century, the only misfortune of Capote's work is that there is not more of it. In this somewhat peculiar collection of stories, Capote demonstrates his command of the written word. While one tale gives the book its title, another story shines even brighter in this collection.

"Breakfast at Tiffany's" is a legendary work in the cinema, though fewer Americans every year realize it is based on a novel. While certainly more crude at times, the written version adds another intended dimension to the tale. In reality, Audrey Hepburn's potrayal was far too sanitized. "House of Flowers" is an odd story of a wife that never had the approval of her mother-in-law. "A Diamond Guitar" is a tale of prison friendship in which one character almost seems to be the adolescent male version of Holly Golightly.

"A Christmas Memory" is a story that some may find too sweet for their taste much like a Christmas fruitcake. But even better than the other tales in the collection, it symbolizes a friendship that ends far too premature for the characters. The youthful recollection is engaging enough to make readers recall elders, that have left this world before them, in yearning gaze.

Though this collection is tied together with a loose theme, it is a sample of Capote's command over language. With vivid details and command of plot, the knowledgeable reader will not be disappointed in Capote.

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Breakfast At Tiffany's

Almost everyone has seen or at least heard of the movie, Breakfast at Tiffany's, but how many have read the original story? This book is a classic almost fairytale type story of a girl who is struggling with her past and trying to make herself, as well as accept, an identity. Truman Capote's Breakfast At Tiffany's is an enchanting story, but is much darker than the movie version that the beautiful Audrey Hepburn graces the television screen in. Much of the slightly disturbing details were left out of the movie, keeping it light and airy and masking Holly's true role, whereas the novel holds a deeper interest, giving specific ups and downs in the life of the fairly subtley depicted call-girl, Holly Golightly. Happiness, pain, and a final finding herself ties the story together in a beautiful way. Also, at the end of the book, there is a sweet suprise, with three short stories also written by Truman Capote. Such a good read that I couldn't put it down, and finished all four stories within 24 hours.

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Fantastic Summer Reading

Having never read anything by Capote, I decided to remedy that fault this summer. I read Breakfast at Tiffany's after In Cold Blood, and I was equally impressed with both. Unfortunately, I saw the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's before I read the book. While I liked both, they were quite different, and I preferred Capote's version. Holly Golightly is much more likable when portrayed by Capote because she's a deeper character.

Perhaps my favorite part of this book, however, was the short story "A Christmas Memory". Though some could consider it sappy, I loved the way Capote wrote it. He reveals so much about the characters and the setting in subtle ways. He has beautifully captured the way friendship affects people's lives, even if that friendship is cut short.

This collection is well worth the short amount of time it will take to read it. You won't be disappointed!

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Capote's Unique Literary Gifts on Display in the Original Story of Holly Golightly and Three Other Tales

Those who know Truman Capote's alternately poignant and comic 1958 novella only through the memorable 1961 Audrey Hepburn film directed by Blake Edwards may be surprised to find that Holly Golightly, in her original incarnation, is recalled in a flashback as a nineteen-year old Manhattan "party girl" during WWII. The still provocative story is really a memory piece fifteen years later by the narrator, a struggling writer with no name except the one given to him by Holly - "Fred" - after her beloved brother. The rest of the elements will be familiar to anyone who has seen the movie, though Capote is more forthright in describing Holly's hedonistic behavior than film censors could allow in the early sixties. Revealed gradually is her background as Lulumae Barnes, a hillbilly child-bride to Doc Golightly, written with more comedy than pathos here, as well as her erratic, amoral journey to Hollywood as a starlet and then as a "companion" to wealthy men in New York who give her cash for the powder room.

Eccentric characters fill in the corners like Mr. Yunioshi, the Japanese fashion photographer who lives upstairs, and Sally Tomato, the gangster who passes messages to Holly while serving time in Sing Sing. Capote has less affinity for the romantic conventions found in the movie as he more comfortably explores the tale of two emotionally stunted people who find momentary support from one another. The melancholy ending is testament to that, and as such, the book is well worth reading for Capote's gift for illustrative prose. Three very brief stories from Capote are also included with the book, all with their charms - "The House of Flowers", the fanciful tale of two warring bordellos in the West Indies; "A Diamond Guitar", a tender story of a prison inmate who attempts to use his glass-diamonded guitar as a means to escape; and "A Christmas Memory", a childhood remembrance of his distant cousin embodied by the elderly Sook.

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Breakfast At Tiffanys

Breakfast At Tiffany's by Truman Capote ***

Breakfast At Tiffany's is an American literary classic, which spawned not only a hit movie, but a horrible number one hit song as well in the early 1990's. Tiffany's is a story of love, a story of loss, and a story of finding yourself, as well as staying true to yourself. We follow a man who is in love with the woman would is ultimately his best friend, though he does not realize that he is in fact in love with her until almost the end of the story, though to the reader it will become quite clear almost instantly, as the main character seems to be completely obsessed and infatuated with this women, but will not admit this to his self. That is basically the jest of the story. The girl can not find a place where she is happy living, and really is only happy in Tiffany's department store, where she believes that no one and nothing bad can happen to you there. Along the way criminals and drug charges are thrown in, but these just delay her search for happiness which she will not compromise for anyone.

In the end the plot seems to run thin and is in my opinion very, very long winded. Even for such a short story as this is I feel it could have been shorter. Capotes writing style is fantastic and it is clear why he went on to become such a legend, but honestly I do not understand the hype behind Breakfast At Tiffany's, I think Capote had plenty of better material.

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