Valentine's Day Reading '10: Breakfast at Tiffany's

[Scheherazade]

This year we are reading Breakfast at Tiffany's by Capote:
With her tousled blond hair and upturned nose, dark glasses and chic black dresses, Holly Golightly is top notch in style and a sensation wherever she goes. Her brownstone apartment vibrates with martini-soaked parties as she plays hostess to millionaires and gangsters alike. Yet Holly never loses sight of her ultimate goal - to find a real life place like Tiffany's that makes her feel at home. Immortalized in a film starring Audrey Hepburn, Truman Capote's BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S is full of sharp wit and in its exuberant cast of characters vividly captures the restless, slightly madcap era of early 1940s New York. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Breakfast-at-Tiffanys-Truman-Capote/dp/0140274111

Please post your comments and questions in this thread.

[papayahed]

Whoo Hooo, I picked up the book yesterday.

[papayahed]

I'm digging it, Isn't it weird that a book can seem fast-paced? I mean when I'm reading I can feel the energy level of Holly.

[Scheherazade]

I have started reading it today as well (read less than 10 pages so far). Love the writing style.

What do you think of her her name? Holly Golightly?

And how different it is (at least the beginning) from the movie. And probably the ending is too by the sound of things at the beginning of the story.

[Janine]

Scher, I read it a few years ago. It's suppose to be quite different than the movie version. The film-makers took a lot of liberties. I just watched the commentary on the film a few weeks ago and they admitted that.

I was thinking about her name, as well. I think breaking the two words appart one can see quite clearly what her attitude in life is. She is very much a free spirit or so she thinks.

[optimisticnad]

I've not read this, seen the movie and it was sad and made me cry ;( so why are we reading this for Valentines?! ;)

edit: just read above few posts...so the book is different???! wooweeee must read - wait, will it make me cry?

2nd edit: which 23 year old still uses words like 'woweee'?

[bouquin]

Is Holly Golightly your kind of gal?

[JuniperWoolf]

It was alright. I liked how at the beginning, she seemed pretty boring (like a hybrid of the stalk femme-fatal and the "free-spirit" sort) then as the story advanced she became more complicated and interesting. I also like that they left the narrator so bland, it helped the reader to put themselves into him and judge events without the slant that the character's personality gives them.

Holliday Golightly... suitable name, for obvious reasons.


2nd edit: which 23 year old still uses words like 'woweee'?

I'm 21, but I do. I also use "neat" and "wicked" a lot.

[papayahed]

I also like that they left the narrator so bland, it helped the reader to put themselves into him and judge events without the slant that the character's personality gives them.


Do we even know his name?

[bouquin]

It was alright. I liked how at the beginning, she seemed pretty boring (like a hybrid of the stalk femme-fatal and the "free-spirit" sort) then as the story advanced she became more complicated and interesting. I also like that they left the narrator so bland, it helped the reader to put themselves into him and judge events without the slant that the character's personality gives them.

Holliday Golightly... suitable name, for obvious reasons.



I'm 21, but I do. I also use "neat" and "wicked" a lot.



In the book Holly is shy two months of her nineteenth birthday. She is 2 years older towards the end of the story.
Is her age mentioned in the movie adaptation?

[Scheherazade]

Even though I like the story, I am very disappointed. I wanted it to be like the movie :-/

And I just love Capote's writing style.


Is Holly Golightly your kind of gal? I think she would be someone I would like to observe from a distance but not befriend.

[Jazz_]

Even though I like the story, I am very disappointed. I wanted it to be like the movie :-/


Exactly how I felt when I first read it... still enjoyed it though :)

[hellsapoppin]

I read Breakfast ... a few years ago. Most folks I know preferred the movie over the book. As good as the movie was, I liked the book better. Holly may be my favorite female character.

[bouquin]

My copy has 3 other stories in it; I liked them better than Breakfast at Tiffany's.

[Bastable]

I remember loving Breakfast at Tiffany's when I read it, and this thread inspired me to want to read it, until i remembered that i had leant it to a friend who went overseas :frown5:

On another note i like both the book and the movie, but for very different reasons.

[Stendhal]

I read this book last year, and loved it. I loved all the sweet and funny details that Capote worked in, such as the running gag with Holly losing her key and buzzing the Japanese guy to let her in. I love the movie too, because it allows me to enjoy a different ending than the book.

[Bastable]

I read this book last year, and loved it. I loved all the sweet and funny details that Capote worked in, such as the running gag with Holly losing her key and buzzing the Japanese guy to let her in. I love the movie too, because it allows me to enjoy a different ending than the book.

Yes, although i remember hating the obvious racism in the movie...