Breakfast at Tiffany's

For a nice analysis of the novel, click here.

Breakfast at Tiffany's is a wistful book. I read it a few years ago, and I've enjoyed reading it again. It's a novella, actually, so it doesn't take long to read. And I'm not even sure why the word wistful seems to fit, but it's a word I can't disassociate from this book.

You can find a synopsis anywhere, so I won't really point out the obvious plot points. I still think Holly is likeable in spite of her many flaws. The narrator sometimes judges her, sometimes he chooses to be her friend, but mostly he chooses to tell what he sees.

One thing I noticed as I read Breakfast this week: the language is both old and new. Some of the expressions used by Holly and the nameless, faceless narrator are obviously dated (the book was written over 50 years ago, so that's a given), but a few are expressions still in use today (and all of those are rather crude, so I won't outline them here). I loved her habit of using French words sprinkled liberally through her speech. Quel delight!

I watched the movie sometime during the past school year, and I was horrified by how much had changed from the book (Mickey Rooney as the Japanese landlord was obviously a mistake). But I adored Audrey Hepburn in the role of Holly.

This book was on Lucca's Something About Me list. She says, "There’s a bit of Golightly in me. And it’s not limited to the cat." I somehow think she is a bit wistful herself.