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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
librocrone's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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
3.75
Heart-breaking, soul-crushing, agonizing. The writing is beautiful and brings all of that up in you, while still compelling you to keep reading. The men in this book are complicated, and certainly good representations of men of their time (read: misogynists), but you care for them anyway. You can feel the weight of traditional masculinity and how it crushes men — especially men who cannot make themselves fit into it.
It’s hard to read the descriptions of women in this book without being put off the book in general, which is one of the main reasons I rated this so low. I honestly can’t say if I think it was “just the character’s perspective” or if Baldwin also felt that way about women. Very few women are discussed in any positive terms, and those who are don’t remain so for long. Is it because David is a misogynist? Well, yeah. He’s an American man in the 1950s, of course he’s a misogynist. Is Baldwin a misogynist? Hard to parse. I’d have to look more into his real life politics to come to a conclusion. But it’s not the first or last time a gay man might be a misogynist, if so.
This is a classic for a reason. And I’m so glad we have it as a depiction of queer life, especially before Stonewall. It’s a good story, if made difficult due to censorship and obscenity laws. I wonder what this story could have looked like if US publishing laws had allowed for a happier ending. If queer stories in the 50s didn’t have to end with misery and death. The book is enjoyable on its own, but thinking about it in context is unavoidable, because when David asks, “What kind of life could we have?,” well… we have better answers to that question now.
It’s hard to read the descriptions of women in this book without being put off the book in general, which is one of the main reasons I rated this so low. I honestly can’t say if I think it was “just the character’s perspective” or if Baldwin also felt that way about women. Very few women are discussed in any positive terms, and those who are don’t remain so for long. Is it because David is a misogynist? Well, yeah. He’s an American man in the 1950s, of course he’s a misogynist. Is Baldwin a misogynist? Hard to parse. I’d have to look more into his real life politics to come to a conclusion. But it’s not the first or last time a gay man might be a misogynist, if so.
This is a classic for a reason. And I’m so glad we have it as a depiction of queer life, especially before Stonewall. It’s a good story, if made difficult due to censorship and obscenity laws. I wonder what this story could have looked like if US publishing laws had allowed for a happier ending. If queer stories in the 50s didn’t have to end with misery and death. The book is enjoyable on its own, but thinking about it in context is unavoidable, because when David asks, “What kind of life could we have?,” well… we have better answers to that question now.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Transphobia, and Homophobia
Minor: Child death, Death of parent, and Murder
sukriti's review against another edition
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.maddyj153's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, and Grief
_al's review against another edition
challenging
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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
i think this book broke me a little. maybe a lot, not sure still.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Homophobia, and Death
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Murder and Child death
untanglingbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
After months of wanting to read this book I finally did it!!
I need to say that at the beginning I was kinda disappointed because the story was not really moving forward, a lot of irrelevant things were described way too thoroughly and I couldn't really understand David's motives and thoughts. Even though I definitely would have had the time to read the whole book it took me days to read the first part... (But at the end I almost devoured page after page and just couldn't stop reading anymore :D)
With the return of Hella the pace of the story suddenly accelerated a lot and it finally got very interesting. Some thoughts eventually made sense and as a reader I got to understand David's situation a lot better.
Especially David's last meeting with Giovanni was really enlightening and also showed what being gay in these times actually meant for someone like him. In this scene as well as in the following, David and also Giovanni became very elaborate characters and I was very close to shedding tears when Giovanni begged David to stay, but he eventually went with Hella. The ending was quite sad, even though I had known that David and Giovanni wouldn't end up together. I still feel like David developed a lot as a character, so this could lighten my mood a little.
One thing that threw me off throughout the whole book were these misogynistic comments towards Hella or women in general. Back then the times were definitely different from today and Hella also addressed the topic of her role as a woman in society, but this was more or less the only time she was let to raise her voice and the whole topic just left me back a little uncomfortable.
All in all this is a great book and definitely worth reading, even though it takes a while until Baldwin actually gets to the point.
I need to say that at the beginning I was kinda disappointed because the story was not really moving forward, a lot of irrelevant things were described way too thoroughly and I couldn't really understand David's motives and thoughts. Even though I definitely would have had the time to read the whole book it took me days to read the first part... (But at the end I almost devoured page after page and just couldn't stop reading anymore :D)
With the return of Hella the pace of the story suddenly accelerated a lot and it finally got very interesting. Some thoughts eventually made sense and as a reader I got to understand David's situation a lot better.
One thing that threw me off throughout the whole book were these misogynistic comments towards Hella or women in general. Back then the times were definitely different from today and Hella also addressed the topic of her role as a woman in society, but this was more or less the only time she was let to raise her voice and the whole topic just left me back a little uncomfortable.
All in all this is a great book and definitely worth reading, even though it takes a while until Baldwin actually gets to the point.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Alcoholism, Death, Outing, and Transphobia
ashleycmms's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Death, Abandonment, Murder, and Sexual harassment
curatoriallyyours's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Although this book is, in many respects, about the tragic relationship between the narrator, David, and Giovanni, I think it’s more about the anguish within David as he tries to navigate who he truly is without bearing the burden of making decisions. I know I have been in the situation of not wanting to hurt someone but doing so anyway through my apathy and unwillingness to take decisive action - of allowing life to happen to me because I didn’t really know what I wanted. I don’t really see this as a love story either - Giovanni is manipulative and David is in no place within himself to be able to love anyone. I think the relationship is more of an awakening for David - his realisation that he is gay and he cannot keep running from it. He’s driven by guilt in all things and that guilt is a reflection of the time in history and the realities of being homosexual in a world that tells you it’s wrong.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Fatphobia, and Misogyny
Minor: Bullying, Child death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Murder, Outing, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Vomit, and Xenophobia
I was not a fan of the casual sexism and transphobia, and I can’t decide if it’s a deliberate airing of questionable ideas by the author to prompt reflection in the reader (this book would have been a shock at the time it was published), a mirror of the values of the time or the genuine feeling of the author.gabibrose's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-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
4.5
James Baldwin examines the heartbreakingly human concepts of passion, shame, love, and death in his novel Giovanni’s Room. Set in 1950s Paris, an American man struggles to maintain his own perception of morality after engaging in an affair with an Italian bartender named Giovanni while his fiancée is abroad. Considered a pinnacle of both queer and classic literature, Baldwin spins elegant prose into a multifaceted environment that is constantly shifting in tone. Sexy, confusing, tragic, violent, and romantic can all be used to describe the robust circumstances Baldwin places his characters in, but it’s the idea of self preservation that serves as the theme of the novel.
In short, the protagonist travels to Paris to find himself - a notion that Baldwin deems misguided due to the fact that the protagonist not only understands exactly who he is, but consequently suppresses his true desires and sexuality due to societal implications. Baldwin delves into the cost of maintaining heterosexual conventionality and presents the importance of quelling denial to regain the humanity behind our individual natures.
In short, the protagonist travels to Paris to find himself - a notion that Baldwin deems misguided due to the fact that the protagonist not only understands exactly who he is, but consequently suppresses his true desires and sexuality due to societal implications. Baldwin delves into the cost of maintaining heterosexual conventionality and presents the importance of quelling denial to regain the humanity behind our individual natures.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
liteartha's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Homophobia
Moderate: Child death, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts