Breakfast at Tiffany's

 

“… she wore a slim cool black dress, black sandals, and a pearl choker. For all her chic thinness, she had an almost breakfast-cereal air of health, a soap and lemon cleanliness, a rough pink darkening in the cheeks.”  

We all know the iconic vision of Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in her black ensemble, pearls and long cigarette holder, but Blake Edwards’ classic 1961 movie proves to be as guilty of shying away from the source material as many Hollywood films based on books. An endearing story about belonging and finding love and a lost, bedraggled cat, this is not and it’s better for everyone to know that spoiler now rather than later. 

First published in 1958, the book chronicles the friendship between a budding writer and his apartment neighbour Holly, a free-spirited and fun-loving socialite. Captivated by Holly’s untameable spirit, our nameless narrator is quickly drawn into her world of parties, men, and Tiffany’s; all the while keeping an eye out for the repercussions that her thrill-seeking lifestyle will inevitably attract. 

Whilst it doesn’t seem so naughty or risqué by today’s standards, Capote’s depiction of New York towards the end of WWII still holds some indelible charm and undeniable glamour. It’s a whirlwind labyrinth of sass, confidence, and adult fun, all strung together in an unapologetic tone of telling-it-like-it-is. 

Through the technique of the nameless narrator recounting the events of the story from memory, Capote manages to create this wonderfully strong sense of character and, indeed, it’s the characters that captivate readers and give the story momentum. 

We have this irrepressible modern heroine in Holly Golightly: a woman who acts as she wants and damns the consequences. Her chic irrationality and her own happy but deprecating idea of herself cannot but pull us towards her and make us listen intently to her (often crass, politically incorrect, and stereotypical) views of the world. 

At the same time, the fascination around Holly stems from her being a bit of an enigma: we can never entirely fathom what her next move will be. Her nameless cat and tendency to live like a squatter spark a number of questions about belonging and her reluctance to talk about her own past or childhood indicate that here is a woman harbouring some sort of secret. She’s a wispy tornado continually spinning, only slowing down once in a while to let us in to her heart. 

Whilst the relationship between her and the narrator is strange and guarded at best, there is an unspoken band that ties the two strongly together and we as readers get to feel for Holly the same feelings that the narrator does. We love her, but worry about her and mistrust her to a certain extent. When the risks of her lifestyle finally catch up with her, we are right there in the thick hoping that she’ll make it out all right and we are rewarded with beautiful character titbits like her putting on her makeup in hospital to read a letter undoubtedly containing bad news. 

This undying perk and glamour makes Holly one of the most enjoyable women to read about. 

Whilst the title may conjure images of an elegant, sunglass-wearing Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a charming character novel that still captivates and intrigues readers, years after its naughtiness has ceased to be naughty. It’s true that the movie is guilty of touching up the romance and toning down the sexual naughtiness so as to meet Hollywood requirements of the time, but both the book and the film still hold charm and relevance to an array of readers from different genders and generations and this comes through timeless characters that refuse to be anything less than centre of attention.