Book 'n' Movie Both Good
The Grass Harp by Truman Capote
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Vintage (September 28, 1993)
ISBN-10: 0679745572
Product Description
Set on the outskirts of a small Southern town, The Grass Harp tells the story of three endearing misfits--an orphaned boy and two whimsical old ladies--who one day take up residence in a tree house. AS they pass sweet yet hazardous hours in a china tree, The Grass Harp manages to convey all the pleasures and responsibilities of freedom. But most of all it teaches us about the sacredness of love, "that love is a chain of love, as nature is a chain of life."
This volume also includes Capote's A Tree of Night and Other Stories, which the Washington Post called "unobtrusively beautiful...a superlative book."
I've seen the movie of The Grass Harp a number of times. It had a great cast.. but even with that it wasn't what would be considered a "hit".
Piper Laurie ... Dolly Talbo
Sissy Spacek ... Verena Talbo
Walter Matthau ... Judge Charlie Cool
Edward Furlong ... Collin Fenwick
Nell Carter ... Catherine Creek
Jack Lemmon ... Dr. Morris Ritz
Mary Steenburgen ... Sister Ida
Sean Patrick Flanery ... Riley Henderson
Joe Don Baker ... Sheriff Junius Candle
Charles Durning ... Reverend Buster
Roddy McDowall ... Amos Legrand
Grayson Fricke ... Young Collin
Scott Wilson ... Eugene Fenwick
Bonnie Bartlett ... Mrs. Buster
Mia Kirshner ... Maude Riordan
When a number of reviews showed up for "In Cold Blood" I remembered that Truman also wrote a movie that I had enjoyed but never read the actual story... So I fixed that, and just finished reading The Grass Harp.
I feel sure Truman Capote wrote the story before the movie was made. Knowing this, I was surprised at how much the movie stuck to the book. This is one of those cases where I'd say it was an exact match. Which is good.. because that means I got to enjoy both the movie and the story.
For anyone interested, the story is actually only 100 pages long and the book it's in comes with some other short things Truman wrote... but the one that is the best is The Grass Harp.
Basically, it's about some old eccentric people. Not the first thing many young folk would want to read about. But long before I, myself, became one of those old people, I did find that stories and movies about elderly people were really interesting. Maybe because they were stories told from the heart. ... and in that respect, this one is no different.
posted by DesLily | 6:31 AM
5 Comments:
I've been really wanting to read some Capote!! Can you believe that I haven't seen or heard of this one?? I'll remedy that though ;) I already have In Cold Blood on my wishlist...I'll add this one too!
Chris: This might be a good one for you since you also enjoy short stories... not sure how you'd feel about reading about a few eccentric old ladies lol...
Stories told from the heart...that's exactly right. I love The Grass Harp so much. I think it might be by favourite thing by Capote. I'm glad you enjoyed it too! And I'm extra curious about the movie now that you said it was such a faithful adaptation.
Haven't heard Piper Laurie mentioned in awhile
Never read anything by Capote so will see if the library has this next time I'm there. Funny enough though, I picked up a book of short stories, all apparently featuring elderly people, in the library yesterday. By Julian Barnes but I don't have the book here so can't say what the title is. It looked interesting though.
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