Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote

 

Title:  Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Author:  Truman Capote

Narrated by:  Michael C. Hall

Publisher: Audible Studios

Length: Approximately 2 hours and 50 minutes

Source: Purchased from Audible

What is your favorite breakfast?  I love omelets, but oatmeal is the breakfast I eat the most.

 Young writer is trying to get his start in New York City when he meets his eccentric neighbor, Holly Golightly.  Holly is a young woman in her late teens who “socializes” with older rich men to make her living.  As the author gets to know her more, he finds surprising depth.  Who is she and what will she become? 

My thoughts on this book:

·       Michael C. Hall was a great narrator of the audiobook.

·       I read this in September for the What the Dickens Book Club on Facebook.  I hadn’t read this for over 20 years ago for a classics book club I was in while I lived in Milwaukee.  It was great to read it again.  Unfortunately, the What the Dickens Book Club was paused, and we did not discuss this book.

·       This was a novella and a short read.

·       I was not sure if I liked Holly Golightly.  Is she a prostitute?  She seemed like a manic pixy girl to me.  She was very unique and different which drew men to her.

·       There was some rough language in this novella about those of different ethnicities and sexuality.

·       This story was set in the WWII era.  Holly’s brother Fred serves overseas.

·       Holly was a child bride after her parents died and she and her brother Fred were put with abusive relatives.  They ran away and made their own way in the world.

·       The story was sanitized for the 1960s movie starting Audrey Hepburn.  I need to rewatch it – it’s been a while since I’ve seen it!

·       I couldn’t hardly stand it when Holly throws her cat out and kicks it to make it run away before she leaves the country.  The cat in a way seemed to symbolize Holly.  She was “kicked” in life, but always lands on her feet.

·       The story was well written and had true observations on life.

·       I can understand Holly’s yearning for a better life.

·       This was first published in 1958.

Overall, Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote is a unique story and a great snapshot in time of New York City in the 1940s.

The Penguin Book of Christmas Stories: From Hans Christian Andersen to Angela Carter edited by Jessica Harrison

 

What is your favorite holiday short story?  I love holiday short stories.  One of my favorites is “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry.  That story is not included in this collection, but another O. Henry story is “A Chaparral Christmas Gift.” 

This is a collection of classic Christmas stories that is perfect for the lover of classic literature.  If you are looking for Hallmark type Christmas stories, this is not the book for you.  The stories take place at Christmas time, but many are poignant.  Many are translated from another language, like one of my favorites, “The Fir Tree” by Hans Christian Anderson.  Another favorite story was included, “A Christmas Memory” by Truman Capote.  Many other classic authors are represented at well including, but not limited to:  Langston Hughes, Ray Bradbury, Shirley Jackson, and Anton Chekhov.   It was an interesting collection, with many stories I haven’t read before.  I am going to get this as a hard cover for my collection next Christmas.

Review Copy from NetGalley.  Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote

 

What author do you consider to be a truly American author?  I have read In Cold Blood, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote.  All are completely different from each other and unique.  All paint different pictures of the American experience.  

A Christmas Memory is a poignant collection of three short stories that Capote wrote based on his life growing up in Alabama. Capote’s parents divorced when he was very young and had a custody battle over him.  He was shipped off to live with distant cousins in Alabama.  There he was raised by Miss Sook, a sixtyish cousin, who had the spirit of a child.  They didn’t have much, but Capote felt loved. 

The first story, a “Christmas Memory” is about Miss Sook (my friend) and Capote (Buddy) making their Christmas fruitcake.  The second story, “One Christmas,” is about a Christmas visit Buddy makes to his Dad in New Orleans.  The third story, “Thanksgiving Visitor” is the story of a family gathering where Buddy’s nemesis from school has been invited.  All three stories were excellent and painted a picture of the love and struggles that Buddy faced growing up.  They all gave me a great love for Miss Sook and a great sadness.  Buddy was shipped off to boarding school by his parents and never was able to see her again.  She raised him with great love and kindness and was his mother in all practical purposes.  It really made me think about the important people in my life growing up and how they made the holidays special.

I read this collection last year and it is the kind of holiday stories that you can read every year.  This year we read it in our Kewaunee Library Back to the Classics Book Club.  We all enjoyed it.  It’s a great story.  The library also had a book with beautiful illustrations for “A Christmas Memory.”  We discussed how you could place the story in time without a date being given, and the making of the fruitcakes. I really want a piece of homemade fruitcake now!

Favorite Quotes: 

“As for me, I could leave the world with today in my eyes.”

“Home is where my friend is, and there I never go.”

“And when that happens, I know it.  A message saying so merely confirms a piece of news some secret vein had already received, severing from me an irreplaceable part of myself, letting it loose like a kite on a broken string.”

Overall, A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote is a must-read Christmas story.

Book Source:  This book was already a part of my Christmas book collection.

A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote

 A Christmas Memory is a collection of three short stories written by Truman Capote.  I’ve previously read In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote.  This collection is unlike anything I’ve read by him before.  It’s a tender recollection of memories of his time as a youth living with elderly cousins in rural Alabama.

 Truman’s parents divorced when he was a very young child and had a bitter custody battle over him.  This led to him being raised by cousins, three elderly spinsters and a bachelor, in a rural town.  As he looks back on his childhood in the 1930’s living with his cousins, Capote realizes these were the happiest times in his childhood.  In particular, the childlike sixty-year-old Miss Sook Faulk took care of Truman, was his friend, and confidante.  She was a shy woman who was a very good person.

 In the first story, “A Christmas Memory,” Miss Sook, Queenie the rat terrier, and Buddy (Truman Capote) make fruitcakes to show people they care about them.  They scrape together all of their money for the ingredients and send them off to loved ones when they are complete.  They don’t have much, but they love to make others feel loved.  This story has one of the most poignant endings of any story I have ever read.  I’m tearing up just thinking about it.

 In the second story, “One Christmas,” Buddy travels to New Orleans to visit his father for Christmas.  The visit doesn’t turn out as he imagines, and he longs for his home back in rural Alabama.  Luckily when he returns home, Miss Sook helps to explain the true meaning of Santa Claus.

 In the final story, “The Thanksgiving Visitor,” Miss Sook invites Buddy’s nemesis, Odd Henderson, for Thanksgiving dinner with the family.  Will Odd show up?  Miss Sook shows Buddy her humanity in this story.

 Reading this collection, I want to make homemade fruitcake now.  This collection of short stories was very touching and perfect for the holiday season.  I feel bad for Buddy’s childhood, but happy that he had such a friend as Miss Sook.  Even more powerful, I’m glad that he was able to memorialize her in these stories.  They are short stories, but are filled with humanity, the spirit of joy and giving, and love and loss.    

 Favorite Quotes:

“It's bad enough in life to do without something YOU want; but confound it, what gets my goat is not being able to give somebody something you want THEM to have.”

 “I could leave the world with today in my eyes.”

Overall, A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote is an unforgettable collection of stories.  I highly recommend it.

 Book Source:  Purchased from Amazon.com

Laura’s Favorite Classics (Part 1 from Austen to Dreiser)

What defines a classic? Is it something that a stodgy college English professor tells you to read? Is it something that you read and enjoy? Is it a book that taught you a lesson? Is it science fiction, a graphic novel, a children’s novel? Is it a book that is often read and cited by other people and pop culture in general? I think a classic novel is all of these things. I loved my high school and college literature classics, but used them as a spring board for where to start in my search for great novels to read. Going through the lists of “classic” novels has made me think about my own personal library and favorite classics. I’ve also had several friends tell me that they are going to read “the classics.” This is part one of my favorite classic novels.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. Angelou writes a tale that is funny at times and heartbreaking at others. Overall it’s unforgettable.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Little Women was one of my favorite books as a young girl. I just reread it a couple of years ago and loved it again. While there are “moral lesson” parts that drag a bit, the overall love for family in the novel, and engaging stories of home life make this novel a classic.

Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion by Jane Austen. All six of Austen’s novels are excellent and must reads. I’d start with Pride and Prejudice. I love the humor and the social commentary. Persuasion is my other favorite. It is a tale of true love and how far we will let our friends “persuade” us against our better judgment.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte. The Bronte sisters and their passionate tales are must reads. Anne often gets short shrift, but I feel her novels are as good as her sisters. While all are passionate tales, they can also be taken as stories that bring to light the position of women in Victorian society. Each of these novels is my favorite by each sister (I’ve read all of their collected works).

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. Buck was a very popular author in the early part of the twentieth century. Reading her novels of life in China and the eternal questions of love and life as a woman, it is easy to see why.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. This riveting tale of murder in rural Kansas is a classic. This book was the start of literary true crime narratives.

Death Comes for the Archbishop, O Pioneers, and My Antonia by Willa Cather. Cather is one of my favorite novelists. Skip her Pulitzer Prize winning novel (One of Ours) and opt instead for three of her masterpieces. Death Comes for the Archbishop is a wonderful story set in the Southwest that is full of descriptive narrative and wonderful characters. O Pioneers and My Antonia are unforgettable tales of the hardships of life as a pioneer in Nebraska.

David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities, and A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I would like to read all of Charles Dickens novels before I die. These three are my favorites of what I’ve read so far. I love Dickens detailed descriptions and quirky characters. David Copperfield is his most autobiographical tale, A Tale of Two Cities is a tear-jerker that is one of his most quotable books, and A Christmas Carol is beloved and known by all.

An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser. I read An American Tragedy while I was in college (on my own – although I would have loved to discuss it in a class). It had a slow start, but once I got into it, I couldn’t put it down. It was only a few years after the OJ trial when I read it and I found that not much had changed in the 70 years since the book was written. Not only is it a love story gone wrong, but it’s also the story of a boy trying to get ahead in the world, of a system that doesn’t care for the individual, and public officials who only care about getting ahead and not about the people they serve. This book changed the way I feel about capital punishment. It is not a quick read, but by the end I cared enough that I cried.

I hope to continue posting on this subject in the future. This is my look through my first book case… I’ll do bookcase number two next!

As I look back through this list, I am struck by the fact that I didn't read any of these books for a high school or college literature class. The only one I did read in college, Pride and Prejudice, I had read on my own before and after the class. I think a lot of it was that for some reason in high school and college, not too many women authors made it onto the "great novels" list that we read. In fact, P&P was in my British novel class and the only book we read by a woman. My American novel class had not one book by a woman. What do you think about that? Why do teachers and professors (or at least mine) usually pick men authors?

I would love to keep discussing this in the comments section. How do you feel about these classics overall? What are your favorite classics?