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lauravreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Giovanni’s Room follows David, an American living in Paris who finds himself sharing a room with Giovanni. David finds himself conflicted with his attraction/relationship with Giovanni and the expectations from his family and society.
This book is a powerful read as it delves into the complexity of love and companionship and their coordination with marriage and having a life partner. This book was published in 1956 and I feel that it makes this book even more powerful. The way Baldwin describes the love, affection, desire, and attraction that David feels towards men is so deep. Especially how he describes the shame and guilt that he felt for leaving his loved ones to peruse his relationship with a woman is profound.
I found that this book had very slow pacing, which is okay, but I did find myself being a bit bored while listening at times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Classism, Drug abuse, and Grief
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Death, Homophobia, and Infidelity
Moderate: Misogyny, Murder, Bullying, Classism, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Minor: Blood, Child death, and Pregnancy
Not sure how to tag it, but whether it's a reflection of the author's biases or an extension of the book's core themes, this book has a lot of negativity toward effeminate/GNC gay men.kingcrookback's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I kept thinking about the conversation Baldwin had with Maya Angelou, where he said, in response to a question about being gay, "[...] all I know about human life is if I love you... I love you. And if I love you and duck it, I die." I've read some criticism--most of it recent and mostly from people who are too young to seriously consider what it must have been like to be gay/queer before the late '90s at the earliest--saying that Giovanni's Room contributes to the idea that gay/queer life is tragedy. I think such a viewpoint is informed by a pretty severe misunderstanding of the book. The misery that David feels and the end of Giovanni's story are not brought about purely by virtue of their being gay but rather they're proofs of Baldwin's thesis that denying the truth of who you love is a kind of death. It's David's internalized homophobia that stops him from admitting his love for Giovanni, which leads first to Giovanni's decline and eventual execution and second to Hella's unhappiness. But it isn't so simple as David making the decision to allow himself to love Giovanni; Baldwin is deliberate in portraying the factors that complicate David fully accepting the fact that he feels this love, very powerful forces that include internalized homophobia, notions of masculinity, compulsory heterosexuality, and class. Tied into the issue of class are the concepts of race, nationality, and culture, and how these concepts even further complicate ideas of manhood/masculinity and justice. Guillaume being a member of an old money French family and Giovanni being a poor Italian immigrant in Paris, it's difficult to fathom that class and nation didn't play significant roles in Giovanni's trial and, consequently, his fate. Thus, it's difficult to fathom that Baldwin didn't deliberately seek to depict how these broader ideas affect and complicate daily emotional life.
On the subject of race/nationality, if I recall correctly, there was also some criticism about the fact that Baldwin chose to write his protagonist as a white man rather than a Black one. However, I found that even though there were no Black characters present, the story was very aware of David's American-ness, if not exactly his whiteness. It's been said that people become more aware of how their homelands have impacted them once they travel abroad, and this is true for David. Though he becomes familiar enough with Paris to get around and have an understanding of the rhythms of the culture, he is never truly at home in Paris. Giovanni and the French characters alike speak of the differences they perceive between Americans and people of the Old World, and later, Giovanni speaks scornfully of the image of moneyed American tourists in his hometown. Rather than separating the subjects of race and homosexuality by writing a white protagonist, I believe Baldwin chose to examine them in conjunction with each other by focusing initially on white masculinity. Whiteness as a concept is irrevocably tied to a sense of superiority and supremacy, but David in the end finds that clinging to his idea of masculinity ultimately fails him, leaving him low.
On the subject of race/nationality, if I recall correctly, there was also some criticism about the fact that Baldwin chose to write his protagonist as a white man rather than a Black one. However, I found that even though there were no Black characters present, the story was very aware of David's American-ness, if not exactly his whiteness. It's been said that people become more aware of how their homelands have impacted them once they travel abroad, and this is true for David. Though he becomes familiar enough with Paris to get around and have an understanding of the rhythms of the culture, he is never truly at home in Paris. Giovanni and the French characters alike speak of the differences they perceive between Americans and people of the Old World, and later, Giovanni speaks scornfully of the image of moneyed American tourists in his hometown. Rather than separating the subjects of race and homosexuality by writing a white protagonist, I believe Baldwin chose to examine them in conjunction with each other by focusing initially on white masculinity. Whiteness as a concept is irrevocably tied to a sense of superiority and supremacy, but David in the end finds that clinging to his idea of masculinity ultimately fails him, leaving him low.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcohol, Classism, Murder, Misogyny, Child death, and Death of parent
Minor: Domestic abuse
li_reading's review against another edition
4.0
It was very good, and absolutely wretched
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Alcohol, Death, Infidelity, and Homophobia
Moderate: Classism, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Confinement, and Alcoholism
chloebethx_'s review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
4.25
James Baldwin really created a short masterpiece in this book, the emotions and struggles with sexual identity and finding your place in society were so well articulated and written out on the page that it took my breath away. Other reviews have put it in much better terms than I could, but this book is truly beautiful!
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Car accident, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
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