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Breakfast at Tiffany's

3.88 of 5 stars 3.88 · rating details · 63,171 ratings · 3,072 reviews

It's New York in the 1940s, where the martinis flow from cocktail hour till breakfast at Tiffany's. And nice girls don't, except, of course, Holly Golightly. Pursued by Mafia gangsters and playboy millionaires, Holly is a fragile eyeful of tawny hair and turned-up nose, a heart-breaker, a perplexer, a traveller, a tease. She is irrepressibly 'top banana in the shock depart...more

Paperback, Penguin Classics , 157 pages

Published April 27th 2000 by Penguin Books, UK (first published 1958)

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Jun 28, 2012 Mike rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 20th-century, 1940s, love, romance, sexuality, southern-literature, truman-capote, world-war-two, youth, 2012, new-york-new-york

Breakfast at Tiffany's: Truman Capote's Novella of Love or Something Like It

"If she was in this city I'd have seen her. You take a man that likes to walk, a man like me, a man's been walking in the streets going on ten or twelve years, and all those years he's got his eye out for one person, and nobody's ever her, don't it stand to reason she's not there? I see pieces of her all the time, a flat litle bottom, any skinny girl that walks fast and straight--...

It's just that I didn't know you'd be

...more

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May 29, 2007 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2007

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...more 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.(less)

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Aug 22, 2012 K.D. Oliveros rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to K.D. by: 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (2006-2010)

Shelves: 1001-core, drama, funny, short-stories, memoirs, historical-fiction

This book is composed of Truman Capote's second novel, Breakfast at Tiffany's and 3 short stories. My rating of 4 stars (I really liked it!) is for the whole book.

Breakfast at Tiffany's: 5 STARS

I saw the movie adaptation starring Audrey Hepburn maybe a decade ago. Prior to that, the song Moonriver by Matt Monro was one of my father's favorite Monro so I grew up hearing that song being hummed by him whenever he was drunk. I liked the song. I liked the movie and I thought I already knew the plot...more

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Apr 07, 2008 Beckie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I wanted to read 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' to understand how the man who wrote 'In Cold Blood' could have authored the basis for the Audrey Hepburn movie.

Here's the short answer: the novella is nothing like the film. There are certain plot points in common, and the character of Holly Golightly, and even a few strands of dialogue. But the relationship between 'Breakfast at Tiffany's', the story, and 'Breakfast at Tiffany's,' the movie is roughly that between 'The Little Mermaid,' the Hans Christia...more

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Feb 13, 2008 Josh rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

I'll admit the truth that this is the first "classic" I have read, and right now the only. I'm truly not a person that can read anything, so the fact that I finished this novella proves it is something worth reading. The actual story of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" I read from beginning to end in one sitting, sipping on my bottomless cup of coffee. This is not an amazing feat due to it's skimpy 103 page-span, but the way the story captured me amazes me still since as i mentioned, most cannot. As soo...more

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Sep 03, 2007 Kristin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I liked this book quite a bit better the second time around. Holly Golightly got on my nerves before because of her easy existence, the way she depended on others, particularly unattractive older men, for money, etc. But, this time, I think I understood her more. She reminds me, in personality, not actions, of a friend of mine and I finally get it, get her. I guess I'm also bothered by men being attracted to this type of flighty, possibly bright but wholly uneducated woman. If you're smart, keep...more

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Dec 21, 2012 Ginny rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dal-film-al-libro, romanzi, riletti

Meno noto al grande pubblico rispetto alla deliziosa commedia che ne è stata tratta per il cinema, questo romanzo potrebbe deludere chi cercasse di ritrovarvi le atmosfere eleganti e ovattate del film.
Vi si ritrova però intatto il fascino seducente della protagonista che, se non ha le sembianze dell’incantevole Audrey Hepburn, richiama alla memoria (come pare fosse nelle intenzioni dello stesso Capote) un altro mito hollywoodiano, cioè Marilyn Monroe.

E nel cambio mi pare che non ci si perda.
H...more

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Apr 11, 2012 Gloria Mundi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books, broken-doll-stories

Let me first make a confession. I am one of the very very few people in the western world who has never seen the film. I am, of course, aware of the film, and even have an Audrey Hepburn box set which includes it but have, for some reason or other, never got around to watching it. My excuse is that I grew up in soviet Russia where western cinematography was hard to come by until I was a teenager.

The outcome is that I went into the book with pretty much no expectations, other than an iconic image...more Let me first make a confession. I am one of the very very few people in the western world who has never seen the film. I am, of course, aware of the film, and even have an Audrey Hepburn box set which includes it but have, for some reason or other, never got around to watching it. My excuse is that I grew up in soviet Russia where western cinematography was hard to come by until I was a teenager.

The outcome is that I went into the book with pretty much no expectations, other than an iconic image of Audrey Hepburn in a black shift and pearls with her wide bambi eyes and that elusive joie de vivre which comes across even in a photograph at the back of my mind and some vague idea that this might be something along the lines of the Audrey Hepburn films I have seen, which are Sabrina and Roman Holiday. Well, for all I know the movie may well be, but the book certainly was not that.

The first shocker was that Holly Golightly is, in fact, blond. She is a blond glamorous foul mouthed vacuous slutty emotionally damaged 18 year old setting the social scene in WWII New York on fire. A quintessential manic pixie dream girl, "that bubbly, shallow cinematic creature that exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures" (as defined by film critic Nathan Rabin, according to wiki).

It was, perhaps thanks to the very limited length of this novella that Holly manages to stay just on the right side of fascinating without tipping over into irritating too much. She is exactly the kind of character that I would normally despise but there is just enough broken doll air to her to keep her on the darker side of the MPDG spectrum and keep me interested.

To add to the fun, the narrator is a total creep who doesn't think twice about rifling through the garbage of a woman he barely knows and generally stalking her about the place and there is this disturbing backdrop of paedo-eroticism with all these old-er men constantly perving after Holly.(less)

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Mar 25, 2012 Mike Lester rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book always makes me think of a very specific time in my life. Living alone in my one bedroom apartment, nights wandering the streets, looking for something, anything to take away the echoes of the past. From the opening paragraphs to the last line, Capote hits on just the right balance between sentimentality and fatalism; a struggle that I have been dealing with for many years (and perhaps for the rest of my life). A damn near perfect book (and a very good film too). I think every man has...more

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Sep 20, 2011 Patrizia O rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporanei, storie-di-donne

Signorina Holiday Golightly, in transito. Questa è la definizione che la protagonista di “Colazione da Tiffany” usa per i suoi bigliettini da visita e che riassume chiaramente le sue vicissitudini. Nulla le appartiene, neanche il gatto che divide con lei l’appartamento e al quale non dà neanche un nome:

“Ci siamo incontrati un giorno per caso vicino al fiume. Indipendenti l’una e l’altro. Non ci siamo mai scambiati promesse”.

Holly, in apparenza spensierata e allegra, passa attraverso la vita se...more

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May 23, 2012 Kua rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, classics, b-1-2, gdl

In questo romanzo la cosa che più mi ha colpito è stata la poca somiglianza della protagonista del libro con la Holly del film, quella a cui io ho sempre fatto riferimento quando pensavo a Holly Golightly.
Nella versione cinematografica Holly è una ragazza svampita, pazzerellona, costantemente in fuga da legami e responsabilità, presa in una girandola di feste, serate e tentativi di accalappiarsi il riccone di turno. Una creatura apparentemente fragile, che affascina gli uomini e li usa per il pr...more

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Feb 14, 2010 Jason rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Men who like women who act French

Recommended to Jason by: The Classics Book Club

SUMMARIES to follow: PARAGRAPH, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, HAIKU, MORSE CODE.

THE PARAGRAPH SUMMARY.
I didn't like Holly Golightly. A 1940s woman that comported the way she did and was magnanimized by a sizzling contemporary author must have hit 'brass tacks' in early 1950's literature. From that perspective Breakfast at Tiffany's was something special. But, I didn't like Holly Golightly. She was mercurial, condescending, phony, a prick-tease; she was a vagabond that leached on others. Sure, a confident...more SUMMARIES to follow: PARAGRAPH, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, HAIKU, MORSE CODE.

THE PARAGRAPH SUMMARY.
I didn't like Holly Golightly. A 1940s woman that comported the way she did and was magnanimized by a sizzling contemporary author must have hit 'brass tacks' in early 1950's literature. From that perspective Breakfast at Tiffany's was something special. But, I didn't like Holly Golightly. She was mercurial, condescending, phony, a prick-tease; she was a vagabond that leached on others. Sure, a confident woman with quasi-sexual links to millionaires, imprisoned maffia kingpins, a swarthy Brazilian manly-man, and a provocative escape story from her youth makes for compelling storytelling. But, I didn't like Holly Golightly. She steamed through life, inconsequentially, letting others foam in her wake. It's a novella, and in less than 100 pages, 5x7 and 13 point font, Truman Capote entreats you to like or dislike Holly Golightly. I didn't. I think that Capote manuevered the story merely to present a few ringing, timeless, profound thoughts about life. The best, deliverd by Holly, and metaphorically about her escape from her husband was this: "Never love a wild thing, Mr. Bell," Holly advised him. "That was Doc's mistake. He was always lugging home wild things. A hawk with a hurt wing. One time it was a full-grown bobcat with a broken leg. But you can't give your heart to a wild thing: the more you do, the stronger they get. Until they're strong enough to run into the woods. Or fly into a tree. Then a taller tree. Then the sky. That's how you'll end up, Mr. Bell. If you let yourself love a wild thing. You'll end up looking at the sky." Flying=flighty. That's it. That's why I didn't like Holly Golightly.

THE FACEBOOK SUMMARY.
Holly Golightly is a wannabe inamorata. A flirt, a nuisance, much maintenance required. You know my taste in women--she's not my type, so I find her disagreeable. However, Capote has a simple, compelling style of writing, an economy of words. Audrey Hepburn absolutely crushed Holly Golightly. Rent the movie over the book; it's 4 stars to 3.

THE TWITTER SUMMARY.
Capote is in love with Holly Golightly. I've got a problem with her, but the writing is good.

THE HAIKU SUMMARY.
Woman on cruise,
Skittering across class
Not for me.

THE MORSE CODE SUMMARY.
.- / ...- / . / .-. / .- / --. / .
(less)

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Aug 05, 2008 Madeline rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: the-list, the-movie-is-better

This is getting shelved under "The Movie is Better" but honestly, I can't decide which version I prefer. Because I am indecisive, let's make lists.

Reasons The Movie Is Better:
-Audrey Hepburn plays a considerably less racist and foul-mouthed Holly, which is nice. But let's be honest: Holly could spend the entire movie snorting crack off a sidewalk and Audrey Hepburn would make it the most elegant and classy crack-snorting anyone had ever seen.
-Holly actually sets foot inside Tiffany's, instead o...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Suzanne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novella

Breakfast at Tiffany's Oh, my gosh, how did Truman do that? What perfection this is. Characters that just about bounce off the page, gorgeous language, and a page-turning story. Everything a novella should aspire to be.

A few other stories in this volume still to read, but it's already earned its 5 stars.

*************************************************************

The other 3 shorter stories are really good too, especially -- ESPECIALLY-- "A Christmas Memory." Truman Capote's writing knocks my...more

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Feb 15, 2009 Lavinia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009, fiction, in-en

I've seen the film (which is excellent, if you ask me) quite many times so I wasn't exactly blown by the book. But I loved it anyway.

***
The instant she saw the letter she squinted her eyes and bent her lips in a tough tiny smile that advanced her age immeasurably. "Darling," she instructed me, "would you reach in the drawer there and give me my purse. A girl doesn't read this sort of thing without her lipstick."

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Oct 16, 2012 Erma rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I love the cadences of Truman Capote’s words. Each word is carefully chosen and perfect for the character, the sentence, the thought--but the whole seems effortless and natural, encompassing the wider themes of this novella. Consider Holly’s advice to Joe: “Never love a wild thing, Mr. Bell … That was Doc’s mistake. He was always lugging home wild things. A hawk with a hurt wing. One time it was a full-grown bobcat with a broken leg. But you can’t give your heart to a wild thing: the more you do...more

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Jul 16, 2012 Leajk rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As someone who saw the movie first, but quite frankly had forgot it by the time I read the novel last week, this story blew me away completly! To linger in the magic world create by Capote I watched the movie again and was truely dissapointed. No wonder I didn't remember this movie! It was just another 60's romance.

There is already a fantastic review of this book currently at the top of the page dealing with background of the book (e.g. Truman playing on his mother's change of names with Holly),...more

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Oct 21, 2012 Piperitapitta rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: autori-usa, dal-romanzo-al-film, letteratura-usa, letti-e-riletti, romanzo

Anche senza avere le paturnie.

[24/06/2010]
Ieri sera in tv trasmettevano il film e non sono riuscita a resistere all'impulso di rileggere questo piccolo capolavoro.

Si possono amare sia il film che il romanzo pur essendo così profondamente diversi?
I film possono rubare i colori, le parole, a volte anche riuscire a cogliere lo spirito di una storia; quello che però non riusciranno mai a rubargli è l'anima: neanche con gli occhi celesti come il cielo di George Peppard, il sorriso dolcissimo e sbaraz...more

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May 29, 2009 Katie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, new-york

As much as I was enamored with Capote's words and style of writing, I was put off by Breakfast at Tiffany's a bit. I really just couldn't stand the Holly Golightly character--she's just the sort of New York wannabe I try to avoid in this city. And yeah, I know she's lost, she's a searcher, she's afraid despite her facade of wit and charm, but I just didn't find her appealing. Now, I don't think you have to find her appealing to like the book--she's supposed to be flawed--but it was just a bit gr...more

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May 23, 2008 snackywombat (v.m.) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to snackywombat by: Fans of Capote's short stories

Aw, I loved this book. Of course I've seen the movie and it's one of my favorites, but the book is so much more layered and darker. This is really Capote at his endearingly detailed and socially sardonic best. He excels at creating fully-fleshed and idiosynchratic characters-- he's a portrait artist, really. The narration of Holly Golightly's story through the lens Paul (or "Fred" as Holly calls him), a struggling writer perhaps less like a Capote than a John Cheever, sets Holly's character a bi...more

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Nov 12, 2007 Peter added it · review of another edition

Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a natural partner text for The Great Gatsby; it is full of wealthy, careless people, and at least one character is a country bumpkin transplanted into the bright lights of New York City.

Really, the novella is a character sketch. It’s a character sketch the same way One Hour Photo, the film with Robin Williams, is a character sketch. There are slippery little mysteries that unfold in both, but the mysteries are just excuses to talk about the central character—in this cas...more

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Oct 28, 2007 Alison rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: manhattanites, writers, searchers

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. "No fooling the fat woman almost had me. She was yakking up a storm....The mockery of it! But it's all that's ahead for us, my friend: this comedienne waiting to give you the old razz. Now do you see why I went crazy and broke everything?"

I read this novella probably fifteen years after watching the movie. The film version is important because it allowed Audrey Hepburn to become Holly Golightly--a lost, free-wheeling young Manhattan socialite with a mysterious past. She got to be charming, quirk...more

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Aug 14, 2007 Alison rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am an avid (obsessive?) devotee of Breakfast at Tiffany's, the movie. I love Audrey, I love Mancini, I love orange cats and New York and parties and little black dresses. So I was a little apprehensive about reading the book, as I knew it was considerably different than the film, and I was afraid it might retroactively taint it somehow. But then someone gave me a copy, and I just couldn't resist. Before going in, though, I resolved to treat the book and film as two different but related entiti...more

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Feb 14, 2009 skein rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2-star

Review of Breakfast at Tiffany's, not the 'three stories'.
Two stars, rather than one, because I think Capote occasionally reached up to strike at something more - interesting - than the pretension of worldliness and world-weariness he explores here. And pretension is the main theme: I don't believe a single character for a moment. If only the 'phonies' weren't so damn dull.

And, oh! the misogyny! the casual racism! Capote created a story that can't exist out of its time frame, forgetting tempus f...more

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Jun 27, 2009 Jacob rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2008-2009, short-fiction, penguin-classics

June 2009

A fascinating character-based story about a wild tease and the man who is perplexed by her. It has to be a character study, of course; Holly Golightly is the kind of girl who emasculates plotlines at parties and leaves with someone else. She’s not going to be tamed so easily; she’s bold and memorable and oddly charming. Not as charming or memorable as Audrey Hepburn, of course, but then again, who is?

Also includes three other stories: “House of Flowers,” “A Diamond Guitar,” and “A Chris...more

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Feb 26, 2013 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction, new-york-city, 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you

This novella showcases Capote’s gifts in characterization and dialog. It made a pleasant excursion for me to Manhattan as a field of dreams. Where a young unnamed writer (who becomes "you") gets his imagination engaged over an unforgettable character residing upstairs in a Midtown brownstone in 1943. Holly Golightly is barely a woman, lovely, brash and witty. She a bit of gold-digger and a bit of tramp, but there is some level of innocence and integrity that draws our protagonist to her like a m...more This novella showcases Capote’s gifts in characterization and dialog. It made a pleasant excursion for me to Manhattan as a field of dreams. Where a young unnamed writer (who becomes "you") gets his imagination engaged over an unforgettable character residing upstairs in a Midtown brownstone in 1943. Holly Golightly is barely a woman, lovely, brash and witty. She a bit of gold-digger and a bit of tramp, but there is some level of innocence and integrity that draws our protagonist to her like a moth to a flame.

When she is not noisily entertaining men at all hours, she may be heard on the balcony some days singing a song with her guitar that makes her seem old before her time:
Don’t wanna sleep, don’t wanna die, just wanna go a-travelin’ through the pastures of the sky.

As you get to know her, you get surprised by her sudden acts of generosity, like buying you a coveted, expensive antique birdcage for your birthday, when you don’t even have a bird. Other times, her self-centeredness drives you away:
She was I decided a “crude exhibitionist”, “a time waster”, “an utter fake”: someone never to be spoken to again.

Your affections for her are hopeless as she has her sights set on a sugar daddy you know is not good for her. Yet some people who hang around her remain loyal to her despite the frustrations. An agent friend from California pegs her this way:

She is a phony. But on the other hand, you are right. She isn’t a phony because she’s a real phony. She believes all this crap she believes. You can’t talk her out of it. I’ve tried with tears running down my cheeks

I like the kid. Everybody does, but there’s lots that don’t. I do. I sincerely like the kid. I’m sensitive, that’s why. You’ve got to be sensitive to appreciate her: a streak of the poet. But I’ll tell you the truth. You can beat your brains out for her, and she’ll hand you horseshit on a platter.

Like so many, Holly has come to New York from a troubled past infected with a version of the American Dream. She may aspire to the elegance of high society, but she has an odd sort of integrity that keeps her from fooling herself too soon:
I don’t want to own anything until I found the place where me and things belong together. I’m not sure where that is yet. But I know what it’s like. … It’s like Tiffany’s.

My motivation to read this came from a disappointing experience with The Rules of Civility, Amor Towles atmospheric slice of life novel about social climbers in New York City in the late 30’s. I thing it does a better job in capturing the timeless essence of people intersecting in this world's city at a point in time without a lot of empty plotting.
(less)

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Mar 22, 2010 Hilda rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, classic-never-die, owned

Oh, everyone has seen the movie or read this book, so why do I have to bother myself to write a review?

Because, truly, I just read the book this week, and have never seen the movie completely. Shame for me, because I declare my self as Audrey Hepburn fans. And I didn’t know that the book has different ending until I read it yesterday! Silly me.

Okay, as you may already know, this book is a story about a beauty, carefree girl Holly Golightly. I’d rather call her ‘girl’ because she is only nineteen...more

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Mar 23, 2009 Endah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Biasanya, “peraturan”-ku adalah: baca bukunya dulu baru kemudian menonton filmnya, karena jika sebaliknya, maka imajinasiku jadi terbatas. Aku akan terkungkung oleh ingatan kepada filmnya selama membaca bukunya. Dan itu sebuah situasi yang sangat tidak nikmat dalam membaca buku.

Namun, sayangnya aku tidak selalu bisa mematuhi peraturanku sendiri itu. Banyak faktor yang menyebabkannya. Salah satunya misalnya lantaran buku terjemahannya terbit lama setelah filmnya dibuat. Ya, sebenarnya itu karena...more Biasanya, “peraturan”-ku adalah: baca bukunya dulu baru kemudian menonton filmnya, karena jika sebaliknya, maka imajinasiku jadi terbatas. Aku akan terkungkung oleh ingatan kepada filmnya selama membaca bukunya. Dan itu sebuah situasi yang sangat tidak nikmat dalam membaca buku.

Namun, sayangnya aku tidak selalu bisa mematuhi peraturanku sendiri itu. Banyak faktor yang menyebabkannya. Salah satunya misalnya lantaran buku terjemahannya terbit lama setelah filmnya dibuat. Ya, sebenarnya itu karena aku yang malas baca buku versi Inggrisnya. Habis mahal dan belum tentu ada di Indonesia (Alasan saja, padahal sebab utamanya adalah kemampuan bahasa Inggrisku yang minus :D)

Maka, ketika suatu hari aku memperoleh kesempatan nonton film Breakfast at Tiffany’s yang legendaris itu, tak kusia-siakan, walaupun aku belum membaca novelnya. Novel Truman Capote yang terbit pertama kali pada 1958 ini, edisi bahasa Indonesianya baru terbit awal 2009. Filmnya dibuat tahun 1961 dengan bintang utamanya si jelita Audrey Hepburn. Malalui film ini, Audrey Hepburn telah sukses menjadi salah satu ikon Hollywood. Ia akan selalu dikenang lewat perannya sebagai Holly Golightly ini. Beruntunglah ia, sebab awalnya Capote ingin lakon tersebut dimainkan oleh Marilyn Monroe.

Maka, karena aku telah melanggar peraturan, terjadilah hal yang telah kusebutkan di atas. Imajinasiku terpenjara oleh filmnya. Sepanjang membaca bukunya, mau tak mau aku membayangkan sosok Holly Golightly seperti Audrey Hepburn itu. Celakanya lagi, cerita di buku tidak sama dengan yang di film. Banyak banget bedanya. Dan apa boleh buat, aku harus mengatakan, aku lebih bisa menikmati filmnya.

Plot di film lebih disederhanakan. Karakter-karakternya juga tidak serumit dan sebanyak di buku. Pendek kata, banyak terjadi penyimpangan di filmnya yang konon telah membuat Capote kecewa berat.

Lalu, mana yang lebih bagus? Hmm…dua-duanya bagus. Namun, karena keduanya merupakan media yang berbeda, tentu saja masing-masing memiliki kelemahan dan kelebihan. Pada novel, peluang untuk menyajikan detail lebih terbuka. Juga kesempatan untuk menggali karakter tokoh-tokohnya lebih memungkinkan. Sementara film memiliki kelebihan untuk bisa menghadirkan cerita dan tokoh-tokohnya menjadi hidup dalam gambar yang bergerak. Apalagi jika ditingkahi oleh ilustrasi musik dan efek visual yang bagus, maka akan terjadi apa yang disebut: menghidupkan buku.Bukan mustahil akan lebih keren dari bukunya. Contohnya, The Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson).

Karakter utama kisah ini adalah Holly Golightly. Seorang wanita muda yang memiliki masa lalu suram di sebuah desa kecil di Texas. Suatu hari ia kabur dari rumahnya dan bertualang sebagai wanita penghibur di New York. Bermodalkan parasnya nan rupawan, dengan mudah Holly memperoleh uang untuk mengongkosi gaya hidupnya sebagai wanita kelas atas. Kecantikannya memungkinkan ia segera diterima oleh kalangan atas New York. Ia mengencani banyak pria dari berbagai kalangan. Mulai dari selebriti Hollywood, pengusaha, hingga politisi. Konon, Holly merupakan karakter fiktif favorit penulisnya. Bisa dimengerti, sebab kekuatan buku ini memang ada pada pengkarakteran Holly yang istimewa. Kompleks. Jika kita harus mengingat novel atau filmnya, maka yang pertama kita sebutkan adalah Holly Golightly.

Seting cerita adalah New York tahun 40-an, masa berkecamuknya Perang Dunia II. Kisahnya disampaikan melalui penuturan tokoh aku yang dipanggil Fred, nama kakak lelaki Holly (di film bernama Paul Varjak), seorang pria penulis yang jatuh cinta pada Holly. Sepertinya, novel ini merupakan gambaran masyarakat elit New York tahun 1940-an yang hidup serba-glamour, setiap malam berpesta, minum-minum, makan enak di restoran mewah, berbusana mahal dari rumah mode terkenal lengkap dengan perhiasannya. Sebuah kehidupan yang dilakoni oleh Truman Capote selaku pesohor Hollywood. Karena itulah ia mampu menggambarkannya dengan baik.

Jika aku boleh menyarankan, lebih baik baca novelnya dulu sebelum menonton filmnya.***
(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 21, 2012 Maria Ella rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, most-loved, romance, something-weird, 2012-reading-challenge

It is hard to read Capote's style of writing when it comes to the matronic-reads. Comparing it to his Crime Story, his style is almost the same - descriptive and somehow lacking action words.

But I shall entertain this novel since in the first place, it is a matronic-read. And all the while, I may learn about how Capote writes his stories. :)

The writing style, set in before war-times, doesn't have the transition of chapters. The character is vast with little description. Though the usage of adje...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 19, 2013 Florence MacIntosh rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fan's of "Rules Of Civility" - have a taste & compare

Recommended to Florence by: Michael Edwards

Shelves: shorts-novellas, lit-usa, 2013, reviewed

It’s a brilliant character sketch, 150 pages you can polish off in a day. The story of a fascinating, seriously flawed young woman who moves to New York in the 40’s leaving Hicksville (view spoiler) behind and reinvents herself as Holly Golightly, in the process losing all sense of who she is. A complex character, shifting between generosity and self-absorption, kindness & cruelty. Capote can write… you almost hear the clicking of ma...more It’s a brilliant character sketch, 150 pages you can polish off in a day. The story of a fascinating, seriously flawed young woman who moves to New York in the 40’s leaving Hicksville (view spoiler) behind and reinvents herself as Holly Golightly, in the process losing all sense of who she is. A complex character, shifting between generosity and self-absorption, kindness & cruelty. Capote can write… you almost hear the clicking of martini glasses and smell her perfume wafting from the pages. Agree with Norman Mailer who said he "would not have changed two words in Breakfast at Tiffany's"

I’ve been thinking about Capote lately. Read To Kill a Mockingbird ,heard about the huge snit he was in over Harper Lee winning the Pulitzer; how despite all her help when he was struggling to write In Cold Blood he still ended a lifetime friendship over it. Then I read Rules of Civility and thought Amor, you sly devil - you've been watching “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” haven't you...I saw the film years ago, vaguely remembered so I thought I'd read the book. Surprise... It’s entirely different from the movie and FAR better. Audrey Hepburn the classic example of miscasting. Don’t get me wrong, I adore Audrey, her pearls, her little black dress – along with Grace Kelly she’s an icon of sophistication – what she is not is Holly Golightly. I've now discovered that Capote and I are in perfect agreement. 'The movie became a mawkish valentine to New York City,’ he said, 'and as a result was thin and pretty, whereas it should have been rich and ugly.’ Poor Truman, seems he couldn’t catch a break…
Cons: To short, I wanted more. I usually pass on novellas for this reason. The other characters could have been more developed, Holly’s story felt unfinished. Agree with Mailer - he shouldn’t have changed 2 words, just think he needed to add a couple of thousand more. 3 ½ stars rounded to 4

“The answer is good things only happen to you if you're good. Good? Honest is more what I mean... Be anything but a coward, a pretender, an emotional crook, a whore: I'd rather have cancer than a dishonest heart.”(less)

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Was she a prostitute?	33	394	Apr 17, 2013 05:41am
What is it that made this a classic?	6	43	Apr 15, 2013 12:20pm
Vintage Book Group: Breakfast at Tiffany's	6	10	Apr 15, 2013 03:49am
Holly + narrator's relationship: Why CAN'T it be sexual/romantic?	11	206	Apr 07, 2013 07:04am
The Male Gaze: Holly & Upbringings	9	10	Mar 04, 2013 09:19pm
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About Truman Capote

Truman Capote was an American writer whose non-fiction, stories, novels and plays are recognised literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958) and In Cold Blood (1965), which he labeled a "non-fiction novel." At least 20 films and TV dramas have been produced from Capote novels, stories and screenplays.

He was born as Truman Streckfus Persons to a salesman Archulus Persons...more

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The Grass Harp, Including A Tree of Night and Other Stories

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Quotes from Breakfast at Tiffany's

“Never love a wild thing, Mr. Bell,' Holly advised him. 'That was Doc's mistake. He was always lugging home wild things. A hawk with a hurt wing. One time it was a full-grown bobcat with a broken leg. But you can't give your heart to a wild thing: the more you do, the stronger they get. Until they're strong enough to run into the woods. Or fly into a tree. Then a taller tree. Then the sky. That's how you'll end up, Mr. Bell. If you let yourself love a wild thing. You'll end up looking at the sky."
"She's drunk," Joe Bell informed me.
"Moderately," Holly confessed....Holly lifted her martini. "Let's wish the Doc luck, too," she said, touching her glass against mine. "Good luck: and believe me, dearest Doc -- it's better to look at the sky than live there. Such an empty place; so vague. Just a country where the thunder goes and things disappear.” — 627 people liked it

“It may be normal, darling; but I'd rather be natural.” — 352 people liked it

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