#52 Breakfast at Tiffany’s, by Truman Capote (Penguin Books)

When I was younger, one of the slang phrases of the time, to denote that something was good, was ‘top banana’. This common usage (which eventually led to a children’s quiz programme on TV-am in the late 1980s and early 1990s) prompted a number of fruit-based derivatives, such as ‘fit as a raspberry’ – I never said they had to make any sense.

So what’s all this got to do with Breakfast at Tiffany’s? Well, imagine my surprise when I saw that a writer as illustrious as Truman Capote had used that very ‘top banana’ phrase midway through his classic novella of the mysterious Holly Golightly and her seductive ways. I was so baffled, I looked the phrase up, and it turns out it stems from Vaudeville shows, where whomever was top of the bill was said to be ‘top banana’. In turn, this led to the name of a Broadway play in the 1950s – around the same time as Breakfast at Tiffany’s was written.

But I digress. Breakfast at Tiffany’s is said to be one of the great stories, but I think it’s true to say that people now might think first of the film, starring Audrey Hepburn, than the novel which formed its inspiration. And that would be a shame, because for all the iconic Hepburn’s loveliness, your imagination always surpasses what your eyes can see, and there is much to wonder at within Capote’s pages.

The story apparently prompted Norman Mailer to tell Capote that he ‘wouldn’t change two words’ in the entire novella, and, while I wouldn’t be so bold as to make a similar statement (not that anyone would take notice anyway), it’s evident that it’s a real work of art.

In Golightly, literature has a glamorous figure who revels in daredevil behaviour – stealing boyfriends, consorting with the mafia, inveigling money out of rich men and with a frequent flagrant disregard for friend’s feelings – but manages to inspire in the reader sympathy and likeability. It’s a real triumph, and as Capote gradually reveals the tale, and you learn more about her, you become as hooked on how things will unfold as Katie Price is on maintaining her media profile. And that’s probably the only time you’ll see Jordan compared to Audrey Hepburn.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a real delight. Even the wench read it, and I agree with her verdict – ‘darker than I thought it would be’. But there is also a lightness of mood, created by Capote’s lightness of prose, that captivates you until the moment she disappears…

Read the review by the Friend of the Wench here.

So, rating time:

#52 Breakfast at Tiffany’s, by Truman Capote (Penguin Books) - 9/10

Next up: The Great Gatsby, by F Scott Fitzgerald (Penguin Group)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating

Just as an aside, those who are following my progress may have noticed that, after a bit of a rocky spell, I’m firing all literary cylinders at the moment and firmly pushing myself back into the frame to complete this challenge. Indeed, not that I’m getting cocky or anything, but after finishing Breakfast at Tiffany’s, I knocked off three more short stories by Capote which were included at the end of the edition I had. Just for fun, you understand.

I’m not going to give full reviews of them, not least because I’m not counting them for the purposes of this challenge, but I have to say that A Christmas Memory is among the best things I’ve read this year, and House of Flowers and A Diamond Guitar weren’t too far behind.