Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

14 reviews

calicos's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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michaelion's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Automatic negative points for being pro-Paris / pro-France and using the French language. AUTOMATIC !!!!!! I can't help my dislike, nay I say hatred of those baguettes!

Negative points also for the main characters, all characters being white. I understand that the story couldn't be told without them being white. It's just hard for me to relate to white stories. I don't understand them. Usually when I read them I think "Okay but you don't have real problems. Why are you complaining?" Which is only halfway a joke. 55% a jape.

I did relate to the main character however. For future me reading this, you just broke up with your first girlfriend. You only related in some, a few ways, not completely, but it was noticeable.

Despite my criticisms the writing was lovely. It feels like thee queer/gay book that mothered or grandmothered queer books. I loved the brief analysis into gender and heteronorms. It came out of nowhere but it really stood out. Every thing you feel for the first time has already been felt by the rest of humanity a billion times over. I also love when classics can still be relatable.

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midnightmarauder's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Giovanni's Room follows the story of David, an American man who, after being left by his girlfriend in France, starts a relationship with another man, named Giovanni.

This book touches on many topics. The three main issues it covers is internalized homophobia/biphobia, what it means to be a 'real man',  and confinement. 

The book takes place in the 1950s, when attitudes of gay people were shifting—more for the worse than better. These strong homophobic attitudes further lead David into self-hatred.  

David's earliest experience of same-sex attraction happened with a friend of his named Joey. They
slept together
one night, and afterwards, David became extremely cold to him and began to
bully him
.  On top of this, David, who is raised by his single father, constantly expresses his want for David to be a real man. What being a 'real man' means is something that David struggles greatly with throughout the book. 

In my perspective, David felt that his attraction to Joey was just a one-time thing, but, after meeting Giovanni and almost instantly being attracted to him, he feels ashamed of himself. 

His same-sex attraction makes him feel emasculated, which he displays by mocking other gay/bi individuals that he encounters. He refers to the gay and bi men by the word 'fairy', which is another way of saying 'sissy' or the f-slur. He feels as though he is different from them, despite also being same-sex attracted. This attempt to separate himself from the other men shows how insecure he is about being who he is. 

He also pushes himself away from Giovanni because of his shame. While Hella, David's girlfriend, is off finding herself in another country, David and Giovanni spend a lot of time together. But the moment Hella returns,
David leaves Giovanni in the middle of the night and has him worried about him for over three days.
David runs from himself both literally and figuratively.

On top of all of this, growing up, David's father constantly expressed his want for David to be a 
'real man'. David's father never elaborates on what he meant by that, but through his letters to David, it can be assumed that he wanted David to find a woman, get married, and have children. David tries his best to achieve this expectation by trying to make things work with Hella. 

One last topic that is covered in Giovanni's Room is confinement. Giovanni has big windows with no curtains, so anyone is able to see inside. Because of this, he keeps the lights off in the room and him and David stay low to the ground. This is not just for the need of regular, personal privacy, but also to conceal the homosexual acts that take place in the room. They both know that if anyone were to find them, they would no longer be safe. 

All in all, I enjoyed this book. It showed a deeper side to homosexuality and how those who happen to experience same-sex attraction struggle with acceptance, but inward and outward.

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kell_xavi's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad medium-paced

3.0

Read for book club. Beautiful descriptions, frustrating and heavy exposition, a disconnect between character actions and ruminations, and difficult emotional tensions to move through despite the short length.

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thecatconstellation's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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miller8d's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I like James Baldwin’s poetic language and poignant emotional description but
I found the ending of this book quite disappointing and I really wish there had been more plot to this book. It felt like nothing really happened in comparison to how much of the book was spent explaining— it was a lot of telling and not a lot of showing, which isn’t bad, it’s just not my preference. James Baldwin is incredible and brilliant and this book is historically significant, but I did not enjoy it very much.

Note: I pictured James Baldwin as Giovanni, and Hugh Dennis as Jacques.

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laurendenton's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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shoohoob's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I just finished reading this book and I already wish I could read it again for the first time.

Giovanni’s Room comes to me at a very interesting point in my life. I resonate so much with David - searching for “home” and wanting to return to place that doesn’t exist anymore. Just like him, I want to understand myself and what I want but am uncertain on how to get there. I don’t know if this book helped in figuring things out, but it resonated with me in a way I didn’t realize I longed for. 

I’m so glad I read it. I think this book has aged so well and is still accessible as a classic. I think everyone should read it!

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lynxpardinus's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad

4.75


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li_reading's review against another edition

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4.0

It was very good, and absolutely wretched

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