Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Giovanni's Room

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Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

219 reviews

e_r_q'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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"I feel in myself now a faint, a dreadful stirring of what so overwhelmingly stirred in me then, great thirsty heat, and trembling, and tenderness so painful I thought my heart would burst."

Despite being only 150 pages long, it did take me a while to read Giovanni's Room. It's definitely a lot to digest, it's very literary and emotionally intense, but those are also exactly the reasons I love this book so much.

With his powerful prose, it feels as though James Baldwin is reaching across time, right into the depths of my Queer soul. Honestly, sometimes it even hurt to read this (in a good way).

Giovanni's Room is a story of self-destruction, identity, shame, repression, alienation, gender and sexuality. It's a tale that examines the destructive forces of toxic masculinity, and internalised homophobia and misogyny. To quote Baldwin himself:

"It's about what happens to you if you're afraid to love anybody."

It's tragic, explosive, emotional, frustrating and deeply meditative. David is a very flawed person, but still I related deeply to so many of his experiences with his sexuality. And at his worst and most toxic, David also reminded me of all the shitty queer men I've had terrible experiences with. Baldwin somehow puts into words so many tumultuous feelings I myself have experienced before. It's genuinely astonishing.

"But if I were still able to feel affection and if he had seen it in my eyes, it would not have helped, for affection, for the boys I was doomed to look at, was vastly more frightening than lust."

Baldwin is a master at writing. The way he plays with tense/chronology/structure is especially ingenious. While very literary, his writing isn't impenetrable, and is still filled to the brim with complex themes, intensity, symbolism and poeticism. Every sentence is so perfectly crafted, and there are so many quotes that just took my breath away.

I honestly can't do this book justice with words. Just read it. It's life changing.

As I finished this book in a graveyard, bathed in the gleam of the Spring sunlight, the striking potency of the climax involuntarily caused me to frantically hold the book closer to my face. And when it was over, with that haunting denouement, I closed the book and sat there for a while in silence.

"No matter how it seems now, I must confess: I loved him. I do not think that I will ever love anyone like that again."

Content Warnings

klearlly's review against another edition

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dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

Content Warnings

sanperse's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense 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

4.75

Content Warnings

caseyreadslol's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

reading this having strong repression issues and in the slow progress of unpacking them is like having a chair thrown at you every five pages. insightful

Content Warnings

caseyjayner's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Oof. Beautifully written but terrible to read- I didn’t understand a lot of the social things that I think were customary at the time so I felt a little lost sometimes when people were interacting with “friends”. I think my least favorite part is thatt we everyone is described to hate each other and use each other anyway. As adults this seems a horrible way to live and confusing.
Idk, wasn’t for me. Misogyny and homophobia everywhere

Content Warnings

marissasa's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

This is my first James Baldwin book and I have always heard that he was an excellent writer who truly understood the human condition, but oof did this classic literature toxic yaoi hit even harder than expected. In all seriousness though, there is so much pain and turmoil and suffering in this book, interspersed with a few moments of tenderness and genuine human connection that will make your heart lift, only to be followed again by trauma, drama, and heartbreak that will drop it back into your stomach. The writing is beautiful and poetic in a straightforward way, and it touches on the themes of isolation, identity, homophobia, and masculinity in a very purposeful manner. The ending in particular is haunting and this book is definitely a testament to the plight of queer people throughout history that will stick around in my mind for a while.

Content Warnings

marija_m95's review

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.75

Content Warnings

marionhoney's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

goddessofwhatnot's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Far sadder than I was expecting. If this book is any indication, the level of self-loathing experienced by queer men at this time must have been unimaginable.
Reading this was like bobbing out on the open ocean, life vest on, but seeing nothing but wave after wave of misery and devastation coming your way

Content Warnings

theprinceofdenmark's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

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