Scan barcode
bookappetit's review
5.0
Giovanni’s Room is not a gay love story. This is not about being a Black man in America. This book is about a man deeply distraught over his own sexuality. It’s easy to dislike David, our main character, but Baldwin writes him in a way that makes him so human, so relatable. This book covers themes of family, class, prejudice and internalized homophobia. In 1956, when this book was first published, Baldwin took this book to publishers and got rejected. They told him that he would lose his readers because he wrote about being Black, particularly being Black in America. But Baldwin said “the sexual-moral light was a hard thing to deal with. I could not handle both propositions in the same book. There was no room for it.” He even took America out of the equation and set the book in Paris. With everything that has come to light about the wage disparities between authors of color and white authors, I really hope a change is coming. And that Black people can write about whatever the heckity heck they want.
beatrizmallow's review
2.0
I am somewhat dissapointed in this book. It was my first Baldwin and I was hoping to love it and although I liked his writing style, I'm not sure the story itself was of my liking. I will however seek to read more of his books.
helenmcclory's review
A short book that felt very, very long.
I am sure this is an important book in the queer canon. But I found it so hard to read because it is full of loathing for non-masculine people (across the genders). Full of 'jokes' about hitting women. David looking at queer men in horror. Ropey characterisation of women. Hella in particular is unconvincing when she says 'making babies' is all she is good for. Urgh. Some of that may not have been Baldwin's viewpoints, true, but it keeps coming and coming in different forms that all boil down to the fear of the feminine as the motivator of action. I suppose I could deal with that if the writing were less purple, the dialogue less leaden. But I couldn't. I barely made it through the 149 pages this takes up.
I am sure this is an important book in the queer canon. But I found it so hard to read because it is full of loathing for non-masculine people (across the genders). Full of 'jokes' about hitting women. David looking at queer men in horror. Ropey characterisation of women. Hella in particular is unconvincing when she says 'making babies' is all she is good for. Urgh. Some of that may not have been Baldwin's viewpoints, true, but it keeps coming and coming in different forms that all boil down to the fear of the feminine as the motivator of action. I suppose I could deal with that if the writing were less purple, the dialogue less leaden. But I couldn't. I barely made it through the 149 pages this takes up.
chloejadereads's review
4.0
I read this for a college LGBT literatures class and I really responded to Baldwin's writing style. Very concise, but at the same time earth-shatteringly deep.
slowreader7f3b1's review
5.0
There's so fucking much to unpack in this beautiful and heartbreaking novel. To go into it would be an essay all it's own. Please read it.
bookishjenn's review
3.0
I'm a bit disappointed because I got really invested in Rufus' story, only for him to kill himself at the end of the second (?) chapter. From then on, the story followed how all of his friends were dealing with his death , which I eventually got bored with. And then, they all started having affairs with each other and it got weird.
I would've preferred hearing more about Rufus.
I would've preferred hearing more about Rufus.
knitterscasket's review
5.0
Bereft that no one made me read this in high school or college. Better late than never. I picked it up after it was featured prominently in The Cosmopolitans, which is set during the time it was originally published. Side effects: wanting to run away to Paris.
hal_incandenza's review
5.0
Dostoyevsky and DFW tell me all about the miserable self-hatred of man and how base he really is, and I say, Ok dude. But James Baldwin tells me how desperately we lie to ourselves and how the only way out is love but we are so so afraid of love because we are so afraid of ourselves and so love does not often work, but it is the only, only thing worthwhile. and I say Oh yes.
bengines's review
5.0
i can't rate this yet, it's so good and so sad but my heart is so heavy finishing this today of all days
acrimsondaisy's review
2.0
What a wonderful book. The writing is beautiful, and full of passion. The story is haunting, tragic, and simple. It's great.