Breakfast At Tiffany's

Hello to all my fellow literary travelers, whomever you might be. I have just finished another remarkable adventure, one that I highly recommend embarking upon. As a literary person, I generally have issues with books turned into movies, especially when there are huge differences between the two. However, I did not find this to be an issue with Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote. Perhaps it was because I saw the movie first. I have found quite often that I can enjoy a movie based on a book more if I see the movie first. However, that does lead to spoilers in the book. But whatever the reason was, I loved both the book and the movie and highly recommend it as reading material for anyone. 

Breakfast at Tiffany’s tells the story of an anonymous narrator, whom is affectionately called Fred, who moves into an apartment building and meets the delightfully eclectic Holly Golightly. Miss Golightly is a unique young lady who leads the life of a free spirit and thinks Tiffany’s in the most perfect place on earth. A society girl, Miss Golightly lives her life by sponging off of rich men and hoping to find the right one to marry someday. She also makes money delivering “weather reports” each week for a gangster in prison named Sally Tomato. However, her involvement in this ends up with her being indicted for aiding in a drug ring. This scandal ruins her chances at marrying one of the rich men she was socializing with and moving to Brazil with him. Although still under investigation, she decides to move anyway. Throughout the course of the story, this narrator, who is pursuing a career as a writer, tries to discover what exactly makes this beautiful woman tick. However, he is eventually left wondering if Holly ever found happiness in Brazil, a mystery that is never resolved for the reader as well.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s perfectly showcases the unique and creative writing style of Truman Capote. Capote perfectly captures the first person point of view while not excluding the thoughts and inner monologue of other characters. Reading Capote’s work is a completely new experience for readers and tells stories in a way no other writer does. Reading this book definitely has me excited to read more of his work.

For those of you familiar with the movie, expect an entirely different experience but still a wonderful story. The movie is honestly loosely based on the book, as often happens, but I still love both and recommend both. 

When I first started this blog, I did not expect to find this many literary gems but I have been pleasantly surprised by most of the books thus far. I am excited to continue in these wanderings. I also would absolutely love to hear from you and what books you have loved on this list so far. So, send me a comment or an email. I would love to hear from any of my readers out there. And look for my next entry coming next week where I tell you about my next literary journey into Contact by Carl Sagan.

Blonde

Hello fellow readers! As promised, I am back with another blog entry as I have just finished Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates. As readers, I am sure you will understand what I mean when I say I need to recover after reading this book. Blonde is an intense 700-page journey into the life and thoughts of Marilyn Monroe. Although fictionalized, it is not a far stretch from reality because, as Margaret Culkin Banning once said, “Fiction is not a dream, nor is it guesswork. It is imagining based on facts, and the facts must be accurate or the work of imagining will not stand up.” 

The book follows a fictionalized version of Marilyn Monroe’s life, based mostly on her diary entries as well as interviews with friends and family. While the story is fiction, it does draw heavily on fact and gives an accurate portrayal of her life. However, it doesn’t start with her first big movie. Instead, it starts with her first marriage and quickly transitions into how she was discovered while working at a factory. The book then goes on to discuss her family history, her rise to fame, her various love affairs, and her slow decline into madness which resulted in her death. The book, while long, was gripping and easy to read. Even when I finished the 700 pages, I was left wanting more.

Now, I admit to having very little knowledge about Marilyn Monroe before reading this book. I had seen Some Like It Hot and knew that she had a reputation for sleeping around. Honestly, like many, I thought of her as the all-American, ditzy, blonde sex icon. But reading this book changed all that. The life of Marilyn Monroe was truly a tragic one, full of heartbreak, drugs, and usury. Never again will I be able to view her the same way. It is no mystery why this book is on the list and I highly recommend it. While it is a long book, it is worth the time and effort of reading it. The story is very detailed and doesn’t hold back on anything. Also, to enhance your experience of the book, I suggest watching the movies mentioned in the book; it is truly a life-changing experience. Again, this takes quite some time and means you will have to pause in your reading to watch the movie but it truly is worth it. Seeing Marilyn Monroe in movies and then reading about what was going on with her behind the scenes adds more to both the movies and book. It is definitely worth taking the time to do.

I hope you give this marvelous book a chance. And I would love to hear your thoughts on it if you do. It is definitely deserving of a place on this list. Until next time, happy reading!