General Rules

There is always something nice about the day when you leave the flat with the sun shining and return to find it doing the same.


After a tad disappointing Bank Holiday weekend, this week is turning out to be rather fine indeed on the weather front. The sun is shining, there is a nice refreshing breeze blowing, and there is no hint of any of that pesky rain to get in the way.

The sun is very much a feel good factor of life. Now, I know that not everyone likes hot weather and that it is easier to warm up rather than cool down. I am personally like Goldilocks when it comes to heat – neither too hot, nor too cold, but just right.

I am not sure why the right sort of sun and the right level of heat as a beneficial effect on the psyche. I am sure that some Red Brick University researcher has conducted a study into why this is the case, although I am not really bothered enough to actually do research into it to find out exactly why it is the case.

I am happy to take it to be “one of those things”, not unlike the sun always rising in the morning and other rules of life. There is no empirical evidence that dictates that the sun will rise tomorrow. It is possible, although highly improbably, that it might not. But still we work on the assumption that it will, we still accept the General Rule that it will rise. Likewise, I will work on the assumption that the General Rule is that sun and heat is good, irrespective of whether this is the case or not.

This morning was rather unique on the commute to work since the sun was rather bright and I wanted to read on the train. Therefore, at 7:30 am I was at the station (Oxford Road to be precise fact-fans) wearing sun glasses! There was something decedent about it; something not quite right for the time of day. However, it was also rather fitting.

The main reason for this is because of what I was reading that morning on the train – Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote. It was fitting because the lead character and the iconic image of her wearing her dark sun glasses. It seemed almost perfect to be reading about her whilst wearing my own.

It was also a practical thing as well, since I was able to read without squinting because of sun in my eyes. There is nothing worse than trying to read when you cannot see.

The decadence was probably taken a bit too far by wearing the sun glasses whilst on the Metro to the office. However, that is the peril of prescription glasses. I just need them to see and I am lazy enough not to want to change them before I am safely in the confines of work.

In fact, even now as I write this on the return journey I am back to wearing them again. The glare on the screen is just bearable but what the hell, it is summer and the situation is not entirely unwarranted.

The actual read itself is rather good. I am, thanks to the film, already familiar to the story, and so there have been no surprises with the read itself. However, the thing that is always missing from any cinematic recreation of a book is the description, the way that the author brings to life the world they are creating. This is something that Capote seems to be very good at. The world he writes about, the people who tell the story, seem real.

It is probably easier to visualise because I have already seen the film. After all, I already have a visual reference to place the characters in. Audrey Hepburn is my Holly in my mind’s eye, George Peppard is my Narrator.

However, these are just short hands for me and it probably helps that Hepburn fits the Holly of the book well.

I am about two thirds of the way through the story already, and should have finished it by the end of tomorrow morning. There are some other short stories in the volume that I have and they will probably be the focus of my reading at the beginning next week. It will be interesting to see how I react to Truman’s story telling without the obvious cinematic references already available to me.

It is probably true what people say, it probably is a General Rule, that you should always read the book before watching the film.

Life seems so full of them because realised another General Rule today as well – it is never too early to wear sun glasses!