Breakfast at Tiffany's (novella)
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| Breakfast at Tiffany's | |
 Cover art for paperback edition. |
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| Author | Truman Capote |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novella |
| Publisher | Penguin Group |
| Publication date | 1958 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) & e-book, audio-CD |
| Pages | 192 pp (Paperback edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-679-74565-3 (Paperback edition) |
Breakfast at Tiffany's is a novella by Truman Capote published in 1958.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The story portrays the life of Holly Golightly, a young woman transplanted to Manhattan with an unknown past. She is trying to find her place in the world when she meets her neighbor, an unnamed, unemployed writer. The novella is set in Manhattan's Upper East Side during the 1940's. It follows the young writer's affections for the charming but strange Holly.
[edit] Film
In 1961, the novella was adapted into a major film by the same name starring Audrey Hepburn and directed by Blake Edwards. The movie is set in contemporary times (i.e., in the year it was made) and not in the 1940s. The movie is based on the novella but significant changes were introduced, to the point that each may be said to include themes, nuances and even characters unique to itself. The novella and the movie, both parts of popular American culture, are best handled as separate entities: fans of the film who read the novella encounter a different Holly Golightly from the one famously portrayed by Audrey Hepburn.[citation needed] Capote did not approve of the changes, which he said were largely made to remove controversial elements and appeal to a broader audience. Capote also didn't like whom the studio cast as Holly Golightly: he said he preferred Marilyn Monroe to Audrey Hepburn.
The film differs from the novella in many ways; the two largest differences are the extent of Holly's sexual liberation and the ending of the story. In 1961, the movie studio couldn't reveal that Holly slept with and lived with several men at various points in the novella, although they could say that Paul, or Fred as Holly calls him, is "kept" by a married woman (a character created entirely for the movie). The book discreetly mentions Holly being pregnant as a result of her relationship with Jose, the aforementioned Brazilian diplomat, but the movie leaves this out altogether - preferring not to allude to any kind of sexual relationship having taken place. At the movie's conclusion, after Holly learns in the taxi that her Brazilian fiance has jilted her, she forces her cat out of the cab and says that she is still going to Brazil. Paul leaves her in the taxi. She ultimately runs out into the rain and finds her cat with Paul and they kiss. In the novella, although the unnamed narrator (i.e., the film's Paul) claims to be in love with Holly, it appears to be a largely platonic and unrequited love, and he has no choice but to let her go to Brazil. Holly lets the cat go, goes to Brazil, and is never seen again. Months later, however, a common friend comes back from Africa, where he says he had seen a native sculptor who had a sculpture of Holly. The sculptor had told the common friend that some whites visited his village a few months ago, and that he had a casual affair with a beautiful woman, whose statuette he later sculpted. The friend attempted to purchase the statuette; however, the sculptor refused, even after a very generous offer. In a bittersweet ending, Paul muses that he hopes that Holly will find her happiness, even if it means sharing a hut in the savanah.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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