Reviews - Huone Pariisissa

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19k reviews for:

Huone Pariisissa

James Baldwin

4.36 AVERAGE

te_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

user211201's review against another edition

4.0

I found Giovanni's Room to be much more impactful on a second read. It's one of those books that I think I enjoyed the larger themes of more than the surface level narrative itself. Baldwin touched upon so many different complex topics (gender, heteronormativity, our ideas about what it means to be a man or a woman) and picking that apart was what made the novel so enjoyable.

There's a lot to dislike about the characters. For one, their blatant misogyny and transphobia. While these help the reader to better understand David's struggle with needing to be masculine, it's still shocking to read the way that he (and the other main characters) demeen trans women and feminine gay men in the story.

The main characters all also exhibit strong woman hating behaviours lol. Giovanni's casual fantasies about committing violence against his wife, the sexist jokes he shares with David, the disdain and disgust exhibited by the older queer men towards women, and also the way they are all completely oblivious to the patriarchy is incredible (/neg). Hella describing how women are always attached to men in an unequal relationship and David going "you're so adorable" and them dropping the topic was veryyyy....

I felt so much more empathy for Hella during my second read. Her descent from wanting to be an intelligent and independent woman to later begging David to "let her be a woman" was very moving. It said a lot about gender performativity, and also how, despite her feminist ideals, Hella also still existed within a patriarchal society where she strongly desired to confirm to her expected role as a mother and wife. She wanted to be dominated by David, willing to even give up her books and independence if that meant "being a woman".

Another obvious key contention within the story was the idea of power imbalances, and deconstructing the illusion that young boys could ever be on equal footing with old rich men who have status and money. Sex as currency and witholding or granting it, and this cycle of growing old and still being interested in young guys was... bleugh. But also very necessary. Thank god Giovanni killed that old guy.