I now know I didn't understand all the specifics, but I loved the story. I didn't care about any of the characters because they are all sleazebags and I didn't want to waste my time reading about a cast of unremarkable people exhibiting the worst in human behavior. There were spells where I would read steadily, following along and trying not to be bored to tears. They spend five days together, growing closer and falling genuinely in love with one another. To top O’Hara in this department you’d have to shift. ", According to MGM records, the film made $6.8 million in the US and Canada and $3.2 million in other countries, resulting in a profit to the studio of $1,857,000 - making it MGM's biggest hit of the year. It would be descriptive, it would be profound, and in those moments I truly felt like I knew these characters and new them well. Well, John O’Hara did, for many decades—and the masterstroke of 8 (try to forget Liz Taylor’s clingy slip) is that O’Hara is wildly aware of how baldly banally conventional his characters are...yet he paints them with a pointillist three-dimensionally! Another scalding piece of American realism from John O'Hara. Foreshadowing the culture of freedom and experience that so defined the 1960s, these two main characters recognized a common thread of authenticity and raw hunger in one another that would take another thirty years for us to celebrate as a defined movement. Pursuing Gloria's car, Liggett sees her miss a sign for road construction and accidentally hurtle over an embankment to her death. Refresh and try again. I found a page from this book on the ground in Brooklyn in May, brown and torn and mostly disintegrated. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. She hates herself because she loved it and thus went on to make her life out of it. To my mind, the greatest American writer and, possibly, his best book. I found that I just feel disappointed ... All of the characters seem so underdeveloped that I really couldn't connect with them, even though I wanted to. I tried to like this book but just could not get interested in it. With this, we are reminded that O'Hara is a contemporary of Fitzgerald and Hemingway, with even some similar preoccupations, notably love in a time of Prohibition. With his second novel, BUtterfield 8 (1935), O’Hara turned his sights on Manhattan and produced one of the great novels of New York in the Depression. It was choppy in that regard. Does the term Butterfield 8 actually appear anywhere in the novel? Steve insists that Gloria stay the night since both Gloria and he have to decide what to do next. JOHN O'HARA (1905-1970) received instant acclaim for his first novel. Halfway through the novel is this passage: "...it seemed to him as though he and Gloria were many times on the verge of a great romance, one for the ages, or at least, a match for the love and anguish of Amory and Rosalind in This Side of Paradise and Frederick and Catherine in A Farewell to Arms. Dialing the letters "BU" equates to 28 on the lettered telephone dial, so "BUtterfield 8" would equate to 288 as the first three digits of a five-digit phone number. You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition. Just a pretty, well-dressed girl from the suburbs who craved a fast life in Manhattan. I liked this a lot, so I must give it four stars. Elizabeth Taylor as Gloria Wandrous earned her her first Oscar in 1960 for the 1935 novel adapted to the big screen. When Gloria finds Liggett at a bistro the following evening, he drunkenly launches into insults. That's not to mean that she took on masculine traits but that she played by the same rules. There were spells where I would read steadily, following along and trying not to be bored to tears. Sex (with women as sexual beings), drugs, alcohol (during prohibition), infidelity, marriage, men with younger women, suicide, theft, and just all around unsavory behavior, but the best part was the story was interesting as well. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. The big difference is that Gloria is so much more than Ms Hepburn’s character. “There comes a time in a man's life, if he is unlucky and leads a full life, when he has a secret so dirty that he knows he never will get rid of it. I will attempt to explain, It's not often that I read two works of fiction from the same author back to back, but I was digging John O'Hara so much after, Halfway through the novel is this passage: "...it seemed to him as though he and Gloria were many times on the verge of a great romance, one for the ages, or at least, a match for the love and anguish of Amory and Rosalind in This Side of Paradise and Frederick and Catherine in A Farewell to Arms. 3.5 stars I swear the author used "irregardless". John Henry O'Hara was an American writer born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Written a tad to, The novel was published in 1935, every chapter mentions speakeasies, as well as then current; politics, books, movies and news headlines, making the reader wonder if it was written in the present trying to give the feel of being set in the 1930s. The bit that was legible drew me in, though, and thanks to Google books I was able to find out what book it's from! My biggest shock with the book and author was reading that O’Hara has the most short st. As with some previous classics I can see why this book would be slotted in with those. I'd find myself deep into some truly beautiful writing. It would be descripti. After sleeping together, Liggett and Gloria decide to explore their relationship further. I just finished reading the book and no, I don't believe "BUtterfield 8" appears anywhere in the novel. )”, “Bing: You’re a heel…a low down rotten heel…anything that doesn’t go your way, anything that you can’t have you destroy.”. with the purchase of any eligible product. Until the early 1970s telephone exchanges were commonly referred to by name instead of by number. So why i became a scientist still eludes me. Liggett makes excuses and rushes out to search for Gloria at her regular clubs. If that is the case, I am in for some remarkable reading experiences to come! He's obviously in love with his gorgeous heroine and jealous of prep-school-bred aristos. "The Screen: Elizabeth Taylor at 'Butterfield 8'". But in many ways, and especially by today's standards, O'Hara is both sexist and racist. They part only after Liggett's wife Emily returns. The story is set during the Great Depression and asks the question, "What if a woman could behave like a man?" Coe, Richard L. (November 10, 1960). Get 90 days FREE of Amazon Music Unlimited. That isn't to say you will too. She orders her telephone answering service, BUtterfield 8, to put Liggett through if he calls. (Shakespeare knew this and tried to say it, but he said it just as badly as anyone ever said it. anyone researching the development of the American novel. Rather unlikable characters, their lives in New York, 1931 and inspired by a true event. She’s twenty-two, tall, and beautiful living in New York City in the late 1920s. They profess their love for each other, and though Gloria initially agrees to go with Liggett to the motel, she ultimately changes her mind and flees in her car. © 1996-2020, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. I read BUtterfield 8 years ago, and revisiting it now I realize I hadn't gotten much from it at the time. For his part, Liggett also plans to change his life, taking up Bing's offer of a job at the law firm. from this film for AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes.[17]. Fate hinges on a telephone number and a mink coat. The next day, a now-sober Liggett admits to himself that he still loves Gloria and asks Emily for a divorce. His portrayals of people of color are as stereotyped and phony as the shuffling servant roles in the movies of his day. Metaphors are all right to give you an idea. I know that O'Hara is a classic author but it just wasn't for me. Scott, John L. (November 4, 1960). When he returns home, Emily has noticed that her mink is gone. "[3] John L. Scott of the Los Angeles Times wrote that although the material had a "somewhat flimsy narrative" and "Harvey seems miscast," Taylor gave a "daring, brilliant performance" and "gains another chance to be nominated for an Oscar. "[4] The Monthly Film Bulletin stated, "In this case, the mixture resolutely refuses to come to the boil, due mainly to an inadequate script and theatrical, styleless direction. A bestseller upon its publication in 1935, BUtterfield 8 was inspired by a news account of the discovery of the body of a beautiful young woman washed up on a Long Island beach. O'Hara was a keen observer of social status and class differences, and wrote frequently about the socially ambitious. BUtterfield 8 is a 1960 American drama film directed by Daniel Mann, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Harvey. Women were coy and manipulative, even in language. "[12] Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post called it an "immensely handsome but painfully shallow film" with Taylor its "redeeming feature. Liggett returns home. What if, as a young person, she drank and used drugs liberally and recreationally, and she had a lot of intimate partners. 1931 that is maybe the least varnished I've ever seen. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in. Was … Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Start by marking “BUtterfield 8” as Want to Read: Error rating book. Taylor won her first Academy Award for her performance in a leading role. I found the speech both lovely and infuriating. [8], The café where Liggett finds Gloria as she is going to Boston is (as of 2016[update]) a single-story office building, 54 South (Liberty Drive), Stony Point. major yawning feels. Man is this a hell of a book-- it's, as much as anything else, a portrait of NY life ca. [5][6] Faithfull was found dead of drowning on a beach after having apparently been beaten. It is the trouble with all metaphors where human behavior is concerned.