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Breakfast at Tiffany's

Truman Capote

3.89 · Rating details · 190,402 ratings · 9,008 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

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Paperback, 142 pages

Published 1993 by Vintage Books (first published 1958)

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May 29, 2007 Jessica rated it it was amazing

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 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. ...more

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Jul 08, 2016 Jennifer Masterson rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, classics

3 delicious hours of audio read by Mr. Michael C. Hall aka Dexter!!! What a wonderful performance of Truman Capote's novella! I saw the movie years ago but I've never read the book! I'm so happy to have listened to this edition of the audio!

5+++++Stars for the narrator!

5 Stars for the story!

Highly highly recommended!!!

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Jan 01, 2010 Lawyer rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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

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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Mar 26, 2017 Michael Finocchiaro rated it it was amazing

Shelves: american-20th-c, classics, made-into-movie, novellas, fiction

Capote has a mesmerizing way with words. His description of the aptly named Holly Golightly is splendid and the character herself is a sort of blend of Daisy Buchanon and Madame Bovary. The friendship of the narrator Paul/"Fred" with Holly is beautifully and painfully described as are the parties and lovers that she entertains. I must see the film now...(see below)
The atmosphere of the book is a sort of bohemian yet preppy post-Beat decadence but with a tragic sexism that poisons Holly's relatio Capote has a mesmerizing way with words. His description of the aptly named Holly Golightly is splendid and the character herself is a sort of blend of Daisy Buchanon and Madame Bovary. The friendship of the narrator Paul/"Fred" with Holly is beautifully and painfully described as are the parties and lovers that she entertains. I must see the film now...(see below)
The atmosphere of the book is a sort of bohemian yet preppy post-Beat decadence but with a tragic sexism that poisons Holly's relationships with everyone except the narrator. She is both an actor and a victim of her status as a sex object - this is what transports this story from something banal to something more complex and enduring.

The Diamond Guitar is a tender story of unrequited love as well, albeit homosexual love and longing and disappearance.

House of Flowers is a vivid depiction of a Haitian whorehouse, the Champs-Elysées and the sadomasochistic love of Ollite for Royal that leads her to an indifferent fate at the House of Flowers.

A Christmas Memory is a heartbreaking tale of camaraderie between a young boy and an older woman and their dreams of surpassing their humble existence.

Each of these stories of love, loss, and hope against hope that avoid sentimentalism in their cold rendering of events. It is more the external elements (the weather in New York, the changing seasons at the farm, the bee prophecy and the wind respectively) that color the psychology of the characters and their ambiguous fates.
I loved these stories and will read more of Truman Capote's work.

I started watching the movie with the amazing Audrey Hepburn as Golightly and George Peppard as "Fred" and find it captures the essence of the relationship between these two characters. However, why did they have Mickey Rooney do that ridiculous (and perhaps racist) imitation of Yunioshi, why not just have a Japanese actor. The other annoying thing about the movie is the comic spin that it puts to the book which while at times somewhat humorous was for the most part darker and more layered than depicted by Blake Edwards.

...more

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Aug 05, 2008 Madeline rated it liked it

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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Jun 05, 2014 Fabian rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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.

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May 10, 2018 Michael rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2018, favorites

The most famous of Capote's novels, Breakfast at Tiffany’s charms the reader with wit and a lively storyline. Its subject is the short-lived friendship between a straight woman and a gay man living in New York during the early '40s, its theme the yearning for deep connection and a sense of belonging. In spite of Capote's ethereal prose and dazzling imagery, an excruciating sadness suffuses the novella: none of the self-destructive characters find what they long for by the end, and it seems unlik ...more

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Jun 14, 2015 Paul Bryant rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: novels

I’m struggling to figure out what makes this quite so great, it could be Truman’s beautiful limpid style which winds its sentences through your inner ear so that you might think that language itself had been melted and turned into vanilla frosting or it could be that this is the sweet sad little tale of a guy who met this creature and got stuck permanently in the friend zone, and kind of almost didn’t really mind because at least the friend zone was something and not nothing, that’s how entrance ...more

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Jul 07, 2016 Brina rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, short-stories

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 s 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. ...more

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Jun 11, 2016 Matthew rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016, kindle, own, classic

As someone who grew up in the 90s, this was in my head the whole time I read this:

I have never seen the movie, so the only idea I had in my mind is this iconic image of Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly:

But, what I actually got was this:

Holly is crass and obnoxious with really no redeeming qualities. She is rude to her enemies, and even worse to her friends. She smokes to excess, drinks to excess, is promiscuous to excess - she is just wild, crazy, and destructive.

Reading this was like watching ...more

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Sep 15, 2016 Lyn rated it really liked it

Delicious.

Upon finishing Truman Capote’s 1958 brilliant short novel Breakfast at Tiffany’s my first thought was that Capote had been influenced heavily by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 Jazz Age masterpiece The Great Gatsby. I was intrigued further to find that several other reviewers had noticed the same similarities. Both involve and are centrally concerned with a charismatic and alluring socialite with humble beginnings and sketchy personal details and with a subtle naiveté hidden under a mask of ...more

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Jun 06, 2010 Cecily rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: canada-and-usa, miscellaneous-fiction

The theme that unites Breakfast at Tiffany's with the three much shorter stories in this volume is the powerful bond of friendship between unexpected people or in unusual circumstances.

The title story is a male fantasy - so I wrote in 2010. Except that Capote was gay, so it's probably his idea of a typical straight man's fantasy. As Carmen says in a comment, she's what we'd now call a Manic Pixie Dream Girl.

Holly
The story is of course about Holly Golightly, a charming but utterly self-absorbed, ...more

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Oct 03, 2016 Melissa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016, audible, classics

“If you let yourself love a wild thing. You'll end up looking at the sky.”

Told in a reflective and almost lyrical tone, this is the story of a writer, referred to as 'Fred', who reminisces about the neighbor he fell for back in 1943. The thing is, I’m not sure if we ever get a glimpse of the real Holly Golightly.

An enigma of sorts; Holly’s not one to get attached or share much of anything about her past. She avoids the truth by putting a fun and often ridiculous spin on things and she’s full o “If you let yourself love a wild thing. You'll end up looking at the sky.”

Told in a reflective and almost lyrical tone, this is the story of a writer, referred to as 'Fred', who reminisces about the neighbor he fell for back in 1943. The thing is, I’m not sure if we ever get a glimpse of the real Holly Golightly.

An enigma of sorts; Holly’s not one to get attached or share much of anything about her past. She avoids the truth by putting a fun and often ridiculous spin on things and she’s full of biting comments. It’s hard to say who she really is under that facetious facade. From all outward appearances, she’s a nineteen-year-old woman who enjoys the company of many men and pretty things. A woman making her way, amidst the excitement and wonder of New York City.

The few things she openly admits - the soft spot she has for her brother (the actual Fred) and her cure for the mean reds. She claims being surrounded by the quiet of Tiffany’s, although we don’t actually see any of that in the book, is enough to calm her soul. You can’t think of the movie, read this book, or in my case listen to the audio without picturing Audrey Hepburn as Holly. She’s become synonymous with Breakfast at Tiffany’s. So my question is - what happened to the trips to Tiffany’s and the ring? Having seen the movie several times before listening to the audio, it felt to me like a piece of the story was missing. With a very different ending, the book didn’t come across as the great love story the movie did. It almost makes me cringe to say this, but I actually enjoyed the movie a tad bit more than the book.

The crazy cat lady in me has to mention how heartbroken I was that Holly left her “cat” behind, too. How could she? At least, he ended up with a home, I guess. And maybe even a name.

If you’re a Dexter fan, like me, you’ll love this audio. Michael C. Hall is the narrator and his voice is pretty unique. There were a few times his voice for Holly made me laugh, but for the most part, his narration was heavenly. At just under three hours, I found this to be a quick but wholly enjoyable listen. ...more

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Nov 30, 2015 Perry rated it it was amazing

Shelves: stela-eða-láni

"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"

[I'd forgotten how absolutely gorgeous Audrey Hepburn was]

Until a few years ago, I'd only seen the trailer for the film version. The phrase "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is iconic for that era. I'd not read the novel despite Truman Capote coming from the 2 states in which I've lived nearly all my life: Alabama and Mississippi, both of which have indisputably earned their places as regular punching bags of all outside the South, especially the cognoscenti and other snobbish bastards who would rather point fingers in a direction than look at all the bigotry around them.

I might be a little differently affected by this short novel than many others, especially those who grew up in a large metropolis. Before I explain what I mean, I'll say that I found Capote's short novel to masterfully display this young lady's complexities of character underlying the shallow facade of wealth. Capote shows how some of us are willing to do nearly anything to achieve a dream, no matter how grandiose or superficial others may find it. Holly Golightly was a dreamer extraordinaire or as Capote put it, a "lopsided romantic" whose trait of personality would never change.

A poignant line which I think best captures a major theme of the novel is Holly's observation late in the novel that:

"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."

Though I've lived all my life in the American South, I'm not a redneck. I recall the first time I went to New York City. I was in awe, which is more of a small town thing than Southern. I've been many times since and the sheer size of it never fails to amaze me.

City people, particularly those in NYC, are disgusted by such provincialism--a contempt they cannot hide. Even though I'm straight, I think I can imagine how it must have been for an outcast sissy-boy from Monroeville, AL and Meridian, MS, trying to make his dreams come true in the Big Apple. Certainly, he would have been very sensitive and keenly observant of his environment in New York City, having grown up ostracized by his classmates. The fact that he was a gay man from down South up in the big city (suffering prejudices in NYC against not only his sexuality but much moreso against his Southern upbringing and drawl) probably served to further enhance his remarkable attention to detail in that society, at that time.

These difficulties formed an integral part of the artist who so vividly painted one of the best ever outsiders looking in with longing. ...more

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Jan 08, 2016 Michelle rated it it was amazing

"Breakfast at Tiffany's", was a delightful film. I consider it a classic! As for the novel, well... I didn't know there was a novel! A novel by Truman Capote, whom I am not familiar with until Philip Seymour Hoffman won an Oscar for playing him. I was fortunate enough to discover this book in the library.

"Breakfast at Tiffany's" is a little deceptive since it seems like a pretty easy read. It can be a bit funny, but I realized it has a more somber tone than the the film and there are some prett "Breakfast at Tiffany's", was a delightful film. I consider it a classic! As for the novel, well... I didn't know there was a novel! A novel by Truman Capote, whom I am not familiar with until Philip Seymour Hoffman won an Oscar for playing him. I was fortunate enough to discover this book in the library.

"Breakfast at Tiffany's" is a little deceptive since it seems like a pretty easy read. It can be a bit funny, but I realized it has a more somber tone than the the film and there are some pretty serious issues throughout the course of the story. It also presents a heroine who you might not like very much (or at all), which presents another challenge.

Capote's attitude toward Holly can be different than your reaction to her, and I think this is part of his talent. He actually presents a lot of reasons to dislike Holly, but he is also careful to temper that with some information that probably elicits a sympathetic reaction to other parts of her life.The story doesn't gloss over her negative qualities, but it does present details that complicate these downfalls. This gives a better idea of why she does whatever she must to survive.

The tone is very different from the film, and there is no fairy-tale love in this story. Instead, you get a more realistic picture of love: complicated, messy, and sometimes extremely painful. The central theme seems to be more about looking forward to the future, and about the dreams, hopes, and plans we make for ourselves. In many ways these dreams sustain the characters, as they are propelled by the promise of something better than what the present can provide. But when these same hopes, and plans are shattered, it has devastating effects on the dreamers. Suddenly, they have to revise what they've been looking forward to, and this throws some characters into a tailspin as they're suddenly forced to reevaluate their lives. It was quite a different experience from the film and it's very thought provoking.

After reading the story, I actually appreciated the title and find it more relevant. Although Holly actually mentions Tiffany's (and having breakfast there) just a few times, I think her reference to it tells you a lot about her character. It's true that Tiffany's is expensive and that the things in it are out of her reach, but it's the idea of Tiffany's and the perfection that she associates with the store that makes her feel better when she's scared, sad, or angry. It's the belief that only good things happen there that makes Tiffany's so appealing to her. The title means so much, and all the while seems pretty insignificant. The novel is a masterpiece in its own right. ...more

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Jun 10, 2018 Steven Godin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: america, fiction

Attempted to read in my teens, didn't do anything for me. Twenty-five years later, and now more literary adept, gave it another go. With much better results. Boy oh boy, could he write!.

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, Attempted to read in my teens, didn't do anything for me. Twenty-five years later, and now more literary adept, gave it another go. With much better results. Boy oh boy, could he write!.

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 department', and one of the shining flowers of American fiction.

Holly is a petite little bundle of scandal in World War II New York society. She works her way through various characters, and any other men who can pay her tab. The narrator, an aspiring Capote-like writer, is her neighbor in their trendy-ish NYC apartment building. He is witness to her parade of gentlemen callers, and as he befriends her and falls in and out of love with her, bears witness to her dramas and the slowly revealed facets of her character and history.

The dialog in Breakfast at Tiffany's is snappy and moves along nicely, very much of the era, but it still sounds almost contemporary in tone if not in verbiage. Holly loves easily and leaves easily. She is easily angered and quick to forgive. She buys expensive gifts on a whim, expects to be treated to expensive things regularly. Eventually we find out where she's really from and how she became Manhattan's Girl About Town. Then she gets in some legal trouble and goes on the lam, leaving the narrator to pine wistfully over her postcards from Brazil or wherever she's fled to.

It's a cute, almost whimsical novel, and was probably much more scandalous when it was written. Neither the author nor the narrator ever come out and say that Holly is a lady of the night, but it's heavily implied. At best, she lives a sugar daddy lifestyle. Today her behavior would barely raise an eyebrow in Manhattan, but in the 40s, when it was written, such a female protagonist was more shocking.

Capote clearly wrote of his central characters with a big heart, of which there is also an echoing bittersweet sadness. It took little time at all to get into the story, which is sizewise of the short novel/lengthy novella mold. Doable in one or two sittings. A worthy read for sure. 4/5 ...more

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Dec 18, 2016 Sidharth Vardhan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: usa, list-1001, list-guardian-1000

"Anyway, home is where you feel at home. I'm still looking."

Ok, I no longer believe in 'never Judge a book by its cover'. I read this one mainly because of it's cover. Have you ever feared being trapped by love and similar demons? It is basically about that fear.

"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."

There are some people who, in their easy going and w ...more

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Oct 15, 2015 Jonathan Ashleigh rated it it was amazing

Shelves: recent

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 ...more

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Feb 18, 2017 Rebecca McNutt rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, fiction, short-story-collections

A magnificent, elegant and historic classic, Breakfast at Tiffany's is a short but unforgettable book featuring a mysterious woman and the misadventures of her daily life in the 1940's.

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Aug 15, 2013 Lynda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: author-usa, classics, z-read-2014, 4-stars, 1001-books

Marilyn or Audrey? Who do you think?

When Audrey was cast, Truman Capote remarked:

“Paramount double-crossed me in every way and cast Audrey.”

In one of the most iconic scenes in film history, it would be impossible to think of anybody other than Audrey Hepburn wearing the “Little Black Dress” while looking into the window of Tiffany’s. Well, if it had been up to the author of the book on which the movie is based, Truman Capote, it would have been Marilyn Monroe. In fact, he wrote the book with h ...more

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Jun 02, 2018 Vit Babenco rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Some persons live their life as if they’re just playing a game. And such is Holly Golightly – she doesn’t live, she’s travelling light… Exactly like her name may suggest.

Her bedroom was consistent with her parlor: it perpetuated the same camping-out atmosphere; crates and suitcases, everything packed and ready to go, like the belongings of a criminal who feels the law not far behind.

She doesn’t want to exist in reality, she doesn’t want to grow up, and her life goes on as though she lives in a d ...more

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Aug 06, 2013 Brian Yahn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

How does one review something so good? Are there even words to do it? Here's my attempt:

Holly Golightly is an interesting enough character to fill ten libraries. She crept into my thoughts regularly for months after reading the book, and I still think about her quite often to this day, like a long-lost lover, but more fondly.

I've never quite enjoyed prose like this either. I mean, every single sentence I liked. There wasn't one in the whole book where I thought, "you know, this one's the bad one ...more

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Nov 01, 2013 Duane rated it it was amazing

Shelves: rated-books, reviewed-books, guardian-1000, 5-star-books, american-classics

Holly Golightly, the heroine of Capote's 1958 novel, is one of the iconic characters in American literature. And Audrey Hepburn's portrayal in the movie three years later helped to assure Holly's immortality.

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Feb 19, 2017 Margitte rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017-releases, american-author, american-novel, fiction, reviewed, golden-oldies-classics, literary-novel

Well, what can one say about Holly Golightly. She was beautiful, she was mean, she was independent, sometimes cruel, sometimes caring. Holly was as free as a bird, but shackled by her birth. She was temptress and torturer. She was glue and glamorous. Holly was light and darkness. She conquered and crashed. She loved and loathed.

Holly:"... good things only happen to you if you're good. Good? Honest is more what I mean. Not law-type honest -- I'd rob a grave, I'd steal two-bits off a dead man's e

Holly:"... good things only happen to you if you're good. Good? Honest is more what I mean. Not law-type honest -- I'd rob a grave, I'd steal two-bits off a dead man's eyes if I thought it would contribute to the day's enjoyment -- but unto-thyself-type honest. Be anything but a coward, a pretender, an emotional crook, a whore: I'd rather have cancer than a dishonest heart. Which isn't being pious. Just practical. Cancer may cool you, but the other's sure to. Oh, screw it, cookie -- hand me my guitar, and I'll sing you a fada in the most perfect Portuguese."

Her story is narrated by her upstairs neighbor, an aspiring writer, who befriended her, despite a downstairs neighbor, Madame Sapphia Spanella's outspoken wrath against Holly: "A crude exhibitionist, a time waster, an utter fake, somebody never to be spoken to again". But Holly was also 'pampered, calmly immaculate, as though she'd been attended by Cleopatra's maids'.

Nineteen year old Holly was from Tulip, Texas, before she landed up in New York. Since the age of fourteen she was on her own, taking care of her brother Fred, who was in the army. He loved peanut butter, which she bought for him anywhere she could find it during the war times.

"Fred's a soldier," said Holly. "But I doubt if he'll ever be a statue. Could be. They say the more stupid you are the braver. He's pretty stupid."

"Fred's that boy upstairs? I didn't realize he was a soldier. But he does look stupid."

"Yearning. Not stupid. He wants awfully to be on the inside staring out: anybody with their nose pressed against a glass is liable to look stupid. Anyhow, he's a different Fred. Fred's my brother."

"You call your own f-f-flesh and b-b-blood stupid?"

"If he is he is."

This is a short novella, about a female character who deserved her place as one of the most outstanding literary characters of all times. What captured me the most is the way this young woman was presented to the world. Someone who could be loved; a young woman who could become a friend. She had heart and soul. She was warm and wonderful. But just as cold and calculating, since she did not quite trust the people's intentions towards her and therefore never really allowed herself to bond with anyone.

"I like a man who sees the humor; most of them, they're all pant and puff."

Her actions prevented people to come too near, even her friends stood aside. A tragic figure. A statistic for the cognoscenti, the people who despised the likes of her.

The film adaptation of this novella was very different from the book. I suspect nobody wanted to play the lead role of Holly, since it was unacceptable for their careers. And to get Audrey Hepburn to be the star, the script had to be changed considerably. The most important difference was to portray Holly as an innocent young woman who did not prostitute herself in the movie. The male lead, played by George Peppard, became a romantic character instead of the gay writer who became her friend in the book(he fell in love with his childhood postman). In the movie he also became a toy-boy himself to a wealthy women (not part of the book).

Although I enjoyed the movie, I loved the book much more.

Truman Capote created a complex character in his iconic writing style. Nobody can forget Holly Golightly. The social realism of the 1940s-New York embraced this girl next door, and made her something very different than the normal portrayal of these social climbers. She became a person with a heart and soul. Someone to empathize with.

A wonderful, soul-touching story. A classic must-read. ...more

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Jan 05, 2017 Alex rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017-reads, classics

My version of the classic novel included three other short stories written by Mr. Capote. I will give only a full review of Breakfast at Tiffany's though, because that story was my only interest. I almost didn't read the other short stories, because I simply didn't want to read them. But I read them, and I wasn't disappointed. I will give a brief summary of all three. The three other stories were called The House of Flowers, A Diamond Guitar, and A Christmas memory. They were all realistic stori My version of the classic novel included three other short stories written by Mr. Capote. I will give only a full review of Breakfast at Tiffany's though, because that story was my only interest. I almost didn't read the other short stories, because I simply didn't want to read them. But I read them, and I wasn't disappointed. I will give a brief summary of all three. The three other stories were called The House of Flowers, A Diamond Guitar, and A Christmas memory. They were all realistic stories, about a relationship, either a friendship, a family bond, or marriage. Nothing really caught my eye, or had a message, but all seemed to be floating in reality. They were there, and they were gone.

So, let’s get back to the main review. Breakfast at Tiffany’s is about a beautiful, young woman, Holly Golightly, living her life to the fullest no matter the cost. The story was narrated by her apartment neighbor and eventually "best friend" who Holly referred to as Fred.

One: I never watched Audrey Hepburn’s 1961 film, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, or I might have watched bits of it because I know the ending. I can’t sit still watching movies. I am really a terrible movie goer. I LOVE Audrey Hepburn, and I am ashamed that I never watched this classic film. I wish it was on Netflix. She is a GORGEOUS, and I idolize her. Audrey is really the prettiest woman I have ever saw in my entire life. One time I was looking up pictures of her and decided to cut my bangs to her style. It was a horrible, horrible idea, because I don't cut hair. I blamed it on my husband for not stopping me.
Two: Do you guys remember that 90s song called Breakfast at Tiffany's? It was sung by Deep Blue Something. Well that song kept replaying in my head while reading. I found it funny, but utterly annoying. I would be in the middle of a sentence and my brain would turn up it's speakers during the chorus. "And I said what about Breakfast at Tiffany's? She said I think I remember the film And as I recall I think, we both kind o' liked it" dodoododoodoooodoodooo. Needless to say the song will be stuck in my head for a few days.

There are two things I really liked about the novel. I am giving it a 4 star because of Audrey, being a classic novel, Holly, and the symbolism.

Holly Golightly in simple terms is a bitch. Even "Fred" said that at the end. She is the type of woman you despise, because she will lie, cheat, and steal from you. She lives to gain momentum, and she will do anything to get her way. She is callous, well she has one care, but she lives on her own terms. She want her freedom. Her head is in the clouds, which I can understand. It isn't a bad thing to live in the clouds. Her personality is horrible. Still I despise her, but I was entranced by her. Holly has that intoxicating feel, and you cannot just see her only one time. No, you have to watch, and see what will happen to her next. It was like watching a train wreck. Will she fall madly in love with any of her many suitors, and become caged? Will she finally be caught by the police? Will she love "Fred"? Read and find out.

I really liked the symbolism. A few examples: An expensive cage was given to "Fred" by Holly for Christmas. She asked never to cage anything in her life. The cage is imprisonment, of course. A wild animal, like Holly (another symbolism), should never be caged. Taming a wild beast will never make that animal happy. Just like the Orcas at Seaworld, with their curved dorsal fins. This is how Holly felt about life. Of course the cat was the representation of herself, and they both loved each other at the end. Finally, when all Holly's belongings fell into the gutter, I thought it represented the end of Holly.

I think I will try harder to find the movie. I know the endings are different, but I will see how well they match against each other. I will wait a bit before watching though. If I watch too soon I might get angry at the differences. Happy reading everyone! I might add more to my blog later. I had to speed this one through. I remember having more thoughts. Visit my blog here http://dancingbetweenthecovers.com/re.... It is brand new! ...more

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Jan 22, 2018 J.L. Sutton rated it really liked it

I didn't know what to expect from Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's, but I thoroughly enjoyed how Capote told his story. This backwards (at times almost nostalgic) glance at a life which had all but vanished from anything but memory (the whimsically kind and cruel and slightly tragic Holly Golightly) reminded me more of Willa Cather's My Antonia than Capote's other seminal work, In Cold Blood. Of course, Antonia and Holly Golightly have virtually nothing in common except in how they occupy ...more

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May 15, 2018 Lucy Langford rated it really liked it · review of another edition

4.0**
had to bump this up to 4 stars after rereading. It's a delightful read and Holiday Golightly easily absorbs you into her life.

"You can't give your heart to a wild thing: the more you do, the stronger they get.... if you let yourself love a wild thing. You'll end up looking at the sky." (Holiday Golightly).

Holiday "Holly" Golightly is pursued by mafia gangsters and playboy millionaires. She is a heart-breaker, a traveller, a perplexer and a tease. She is mean and she is kind, she is naive y 4.0**
had to bump this up to 4 stars after rereading. It's a delightful read and Holiday Golightly easily absorbs you into her life.

"You can't give your heart to a wild thing: the more you do, the stronger they get.... if you let yourself love a wild thing. You'll end up looking at the sky." (Holiday Golightly).

Holiday "Holly" Golightly is pursued by mafia gangsters and playboy millionaires. She is a heart-breaker, a traveller, a perplexer and a tease. She is mean and she is kind, she is naive yet knowledgable, her character is contradictory. She lives in a dream and never settles into one place, ready to take flight. She's unique and she is an enigma, and this is what draws the narrator, "Fred" , in.

This story is told from "Fred's" POV. He is looking at Holly's social circle from the outside in, trying to make way into the circle where martini parties, gramophone music and socialising take place. It follows how he thinks and feels about Holly, her turbulent lifestyle and how him and Holly meet and interact during their time spent together. Largely it faces how he is intrigued by her, and through this curiosity and wonder, he forms a love for her.

Through their interactions together, "Fred" also meets a number of interesting characters intertwined with Holly's life. Truman Capote does a brilliant job of writing and describing these characters and their settings, that it is easy to imagine the scenes of the book.

Through these interactions and the revealing and unravelling of characters, you begin to understand that Holly's life has had some very dark moments, despite her usual put-together appearances and fun lifestyle.

Holly's character is definitely a tease and her life-style sounds so interesting. There's constant socialising, propositions and scandal- she never has a dull moment. Her life is especially interesting to imagine through the time period of 1940s New York. Her character is definitely the opposite to most people and this is what draws you in to her. She is an enigma and she is fascinating.

This book also contained 3 short stories: "House of Flowers", "A diamond guitar" and "A Christmas Memory." All were very well written and lyrical in their prose. My favourite was "A Christmas Memory" which examines an important friendship between a young boy and his older cousin. It explores loneliness and friendship and you develop empathy for these characters. It was a short story and gripped me from the start.

Overall a rather good modern classic and a very easy read ! ☺️ ...more

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May 30, 2018 Esil rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook

I listened to Breakfast at Tiffany's as an audio, which is a perfect way to absorb this one. I'd never seen the movie and I've never read the book, but the characters and story felt very familiar. This is probably because the dance between the naive adoring narrator and the elusive Holly Golightly has become somewhat iconic. I love Capote's language. With very few words, he conveys very clearly what is going on between the characters. And the audio is lovely.

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Apr 05, 2018 Carmen rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: People Who Are Curious

Recommended to Carmen by: Pantsless

Shelves: american-author, fiction, he-says, published1958, read-around-the-world-2018, traditionally-published, classics

Those final weeks, spanning end of summer and the beginning of another autumn, are blurred in memory, perhaps because our understanding of each other had reached that sweet depth where two people communicate more often in silence than in words: an affectionate quietness replaces the tensions, the unrelaxed chatter and chasing about that produce a friendship's more showy, more, in the surface sense, dramatic moments.

So. This is going to be a hard one to review.

For one thing, the MC is not in love ...more

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Feb 28, 2013 Florence (Lefty) MacIntosh rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Fan's of "Rules Of Civility" - have a taste & compare

Recommended to Florence (Lefty) by: Michael Edwards

Shelves: shorts-novellas, lit-usa, 2013, reviewed, classics-modern, wacko-realistic-fiction

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 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.” ...more

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About Truman Capote

Truman Capote

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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

Books by Truman Capote

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

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Trivia About Breakfast at Tiff...

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Quotes from Breakfast at Tiff...

“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.” — 1330 likes

“You call yourself a free spirit, a "wild thing," and you're terrified somebody's gonna stick you in a cage. Well baby, you're already in that cage. You built it yourself. And it's not bounded in the west by Tulip, Texas, or in the east by Somali-land. It's wherever you go. Because no matter where you run, you just end up running into yourself.” — 909 likes

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