Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Giovanni's Room

This is the first work of Baldwin's that I have read. I really enjoyed his writing style and the authenticity behind it. I thought this work was sad yet poetic and it obviously covers a period in time where homosexuality was not widely accepted. I think that it provokes important questions on self identity and the difficulty one may face in the pursuit of being true to yourself

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untanglingbooks's review against another edition

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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.

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menomica's review against another edition

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dark 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? It's complicated

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meenakshisathish's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

The first person POV is integral to understanding the story. The hatred you feel for the main character reflects the self-hatred and self-destruction the main character goes through, and the reader is forced to experience it. It becomes a metaphor about toxic-masculinity and internalized homophobia.

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evilespresso's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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frillyflutee's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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fightingmarc's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Giovanni's Room has a similar feeling to the book I had just finished reading before, Yukio Mishima's Forbidden Colours, however the emotional payoff here has much more impact. Most queer people who read Giovanni's Room can see themselves in some way with the struggle of Giovanni, David and even Hella. Baldwin's writing is beautiful, and the last fifty pages of the story were weaved so intricately that the climax of the story, which you are warned about early on in the book, still manages a suckerpunch. This is a classic queer tragedy, and one that struck me with an intensity I haven't felt in a while.

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