Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958) is one of the books that has been on my shelves the longest, I think. I bought it in a library sale in 2004, and it has hidden on my shelves ever since – and I haven’t even seen the film. Basically all my knowledge about it comes from the famous image of Audrey Hepburn with the cigarette holder and the song ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ by Deep Blue Something. Which is a great song.
About ten years ago, I read In Cold Blood by Capote, and I wasn’t super keen to read more by him. Yes, it was very good – but it was so deeply unpleasant that it left rather a bad taste in my mouth. Of course, it’s stupid to dismiss an author based on one book, particularly when Breakfast at Tiffany’s is so very different – and, indeed, I was totally beguiled by it.
Our narrator opens by saying that he hasn’t seen Holly Golightly (full name Holiday Golightly! I did not know that before) for years, but used to live in the same building as her – and first encountered her properly when she kept ringing his doorbell whenever she got home at 2am or 3am. I’d somehow picked up somewhere that Holly was a prostitute, but she is not. She is a ‘cafe society girl’, whatever that means. And it chiefly seems to mean living a bohemian life with a stream of men, but guarding her independence and only giving as much as she chooses.
Holly is a wonderful creation. Any number of authors want to make a spirited, lively female character, but she is no manic pixie dream girl. She is vibrant on her own terms – initiating conversations (by, say, knocking at the narrator’s fire escape in the early hours), chopping and changing what is on her mind in a dizzying way. She is always finding new ways to express her thoughts, and refusing to bow to expectations. And there is an underlying dignity, despite any undignified place she might find herself. I think Capote achieves all of this through the dialogue he gives her. It’s a tour de force, and I’m wondering how the film lives up to it.
Your knowledge of this book is exactly the extent of mine – hence why I have put this on my 20booksofsummer list. Your reaction has made me want to get to it quickly but first I have to virtual travel to other parts of the world ….
Short answer: The film doesn’t get it at all, much less live up to the singular appeal of the book (novella?) yet it is a great and charming film in its own right. As happens sometimes. Audrey at her best was a powerhouse of style and charm that mightily influenced generations (certainly mine), but she got it from herself, nothing to do with Truman Capote’s Holly Golightly. Today I think the movie has diminished into a moue of distaste for Mickey Rooney’s racist foul portrayal of a minor Japanese character who I don’t think was even in the book. An interesting study of changing attitudes in popular culture, for sure.
I love this book, it’s some years since I read it, though I first fell in love with the film in my teens. Holly Golightly is a wonderful creation.
There is a famous Seinfeld episode in which George cheats on his book group by watching the movie because too lazy to read the (very short) book.
Oh Simon, you absolutely must watch the film! It’s lovely!
Yes, agreed 100%. I found In Cold Blood repellent too, but I was enchanted by Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
I’ve seen the film and I loved it (well, most of it), but I really should read this story.
I agree with Diana, really. I’ve read the book and seen the film and loved them both, but they’re different and I wouldn’t say that Hepburn’s Holly has anything to do with the book. In a way, she’s a sanitised version, but Hepburn is excellent anyway. So do them both, but treat them as separate things! :D
Good advice! Often that’s the way with the best adaptations, oddly.
Having read In Cold Blood recently and liking the prose, though having some issues with the way he manipulated the facts, I’ve been toying with reading this one, so I’m glad to hear you found it so good. I also haven’t seen the film, and like you I thought Holly Golightly was a prostitute. I wonder if she is in the film?
That might well be it!
I agree with Diana and Kaggsy that the movie is worth watching and good in its own way when it veers away from the novella. But, yes, the portrayal of the Japanese neighbor strikes a jarring note.
Also, George Peppard is lovely in the film as well.
I would say Holly is a prostitute. A courtesan might be a prettier way to say it but she takes money from men in exchange for sex in order to pay her rent. That was my take-away from the book anyway (and the film too, they are just even more vague).
If I read it correctly, the novella goes out of its way to say she isn’t a prostitute, and doesn’t sleep with (all) the men- but I might have misunderstood!
I think she had more autonomy than a sex worker on the street had and she could turn down a man she wasn’t interested in sleeping with. But it was clear to me that the men she dated were her sole source of income (other than Sally Tomato) and she did more than just have dinner with them in order to earn that money regularly. But that may be just me reading between the lines! :D
Gahhhh! See, this is one of the very few books I’ve sworn I’ll never read. The film is possibly my favourite of all time (yes, it’s problematic in a number of ways, but it just fills me with joy every time I watch it and I can’t help myself), and I’m terrified that – in a weird reversal of the usual circumstances – the book will ruin it for me by being even better. I’ve been tempted many times – I love Capote, and your review makes it sound like JUST MY THING… Never say never, of course, but I think I’d only pick it up if I was completely certain that my adoration for Hepburn’s Holly Golightly could remain forever untarnished.
The film does not live up to it, apart from her singing Moon River, as usual the book is much better.
Noted!