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jwells's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
The reviews connected to this volume seem to refer to different books, so I'll specifically say that I read Go Tell It on the Mountain and Giovanni's Room out of the library's omnibus "Early Novels & Stories." At this point I want to switch over and read some of Baldwin's essays rather than more fiction, so I don't think I'll finish the volume.
These two short novels were powerfully written and also very different from one another. Baldwin is an amazing writer. In Go Tell It on the Mountain, I first thought that it must be autobiographical, because of how completely we were immersed in the point of view of this young boy. But then, I felt like Baldwin was equally at home in each new point of view, regardless of the character's gender or age. He inhabits the new character with the same natural sensitivity, and makes their thoughts and emotions just as vivid. Each new character's point of view adds new depth to the story. I ended up thinking about how little they understand one another, despite being each other's closest loved ones. And is the same true for all of us? Not an encouraging thought.
Go Tell It on the Mountain is about a black family who migrate from the American south to New York, and focuses on themes of family and religion (with perhaps the slightest hint of homoeroticism, unacknowledged by the characters, or was that just me?). Giovanni's Room, by contrast, takes place in Paris among white ex-pats and Europeans, in a bohemian or artsy subculture within which gay men are out, but not accepted in the larger culture. The major theme is the impossibility of building a life as a gay person, without living a lie.
Giovanni's Room is a more focused story, with only one point of view, and it is an emotional page-turner. Early on we get a glimpse of the doom awaiting these characters, and the slim number of pages count down all too quickly as we see them hurtling towards it. I really tried to sympathize with the protagonist, David; it's obviously not his fault that he lives in an impossibly unfair time and place when his sexuality is unacceptable. But wow, does he come up with the worst ways to treat people.
I went into this story suspecting that the women characters existed only to serve as the wrong choice, and it was therefore amusing that David's poor fiancee is named Hellas. Clearly the marriage would have been Hell for both of them. There's also a nice link to the French word "hélas!" (alas!) which is used by Jacques at one point to make sure we think of it, so a doubly bad connotation. Poor Hellas.
These two short novels were powerfully written and also very different from one another. Baldwin is an amazing writer. In Go Tell It on the Mountain, I first thought that it must be autobiographical, because of how completely we were immersed in the point of view of this young boy. But then, I felt like Baldwin was equally at home in each new point of view, regardless of the character's gender or age. He inhabits the new character with the same natural sensitivity, and makes their thoughts and emotions just as vivid. Each new character's point of view adds new depth to the story. I ended up thinking about how little they understand one another, despite being each other's closest loved ones. And is the same true for all of us? Not an encouraging thought.
Go Tell It on the Mountain is about a black family who migrate from the American south to New York, and focuses on themes of family and religion (with perhaps the slightest hint of homoeroticism, unacknowledged by the characters, or was that just me?). Giovanni's Room, by contrast, takes place in Paris among white ex-pats and Europeans, in a bohemian or artsy subculture within which gay men are out, but not accepted in the larger culture. The major theme is the impossibility of building a life as a gay person, without living a lie.
Giovanni's Room is a more focused story, with only one point of view, and it is an emotional page-turner. Early on we get a glimpse of the doom awaiting these characters, and the slim number of pages count down all too quickly as we see them hurtling towards it. I really tried to sympathize with the protagonist, David; it's obviously not his fault that he lives in an impossibly unfair time and place when his sexuality is unacceptable. But wow, does he come up with the worst ways to treat people.
I went into this story suspecting that the women characters existed only to serve as the wrong choice, and it was therefore amusing that David's poor fiancee is named Hellas. Clearly the marriage would have been Hell for both of them. There's also a nice link to the French word "hélas!" (alas!) which is used by Jacques at one point to make sure we think of it, so a doubly bad connotation. Poor Hellas.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Alcohol, Violence, and Abandonment
Warning for use of n-word in Go Tell It on the Mountain.
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