I first read "Breakfast at Tiffany's" in high school, after I saw and fell in love with the movie. I found the novella a sad disappointment, as it wasn't like the movie, so promptly pushed it out of my mind.
As an adult, I wasn't so impressed with the movie--the horrible portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi in particular and pretty much everything else in general--so I began to think maybe I needed to reread the novella and see what Capote really intended.
I'll confess, I'm just as unimpressed as I was some twenty years ago, though not for the same reasons.
Frankly, very little.
Louise Brooks |
I also thought what an unappealing character Holly was. I had no sympathy for or connection with her at all, nor did I find the plot particularly interesting.
Capote's prose was fine, but not stellar, certainly not captivating enough to make this (to my mind) a classic.
With the exception of the final line, which generated a small bit of emotion due to Capote's obvious attempts to twang the heartstrings, I was unmoved. Again, I'll say that neither plot nor characters interested me enough to have any feelings for them.
I'm sure Capote had a message or an impression he wanted left with the reader, but I was unable to find it. I was not a good match for this book.
To show just how unmemorable "Breakfast at Tiffany's" was to me, I will mention that I forgot it even existed in my literary world. I read it in mid-to-late September, but was so unmoved by it that I didn't add it to my list of books read and didn't think of writing up the notes until now.
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