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A review by amandajwampler
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
dark
reflective
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
5.0
“I scarcely know how to describe that room. It became, in a way, every room I had ever been in and every room I find myself in hereafter will remind me of Giovanni’s room.”
Absolutely breathtaking. Every word is filled with such anguish, regret, and lust as David tells this story, knowing the outcome at the end. I felt such sorrow for these characters and all the anger that David held for Giovanni because of his hatred for himself. I can’t imagine this story told any other way—the unreliability of David’s narration because of his pain created such an intense and complicated reading. I don't really have much to say other than James Baldwin is a masterful writer. Decided it would be on my favorites shelf within the first few pages. No review could do Baldwin’s writing any justice, so I recommend reading it for yourself.
"To remember it so clearly, so painfully tonight tells me that I have never for an instant truly forgotten it. 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. But out of this astounding, intolerable pain came joy; we gave each other joy that night."
Absolutely breathtaking. Every word is filled with such anguish, regret, and lust as David tells this story, knowing the outcome at the end. I felt such sorrow for these characters and all the anger that David held for Giovanni because of his hatred for himself. I can’t imagine this story told any other way—the unreliability of David’s narration because of his pain created such an intense and complicated reading. I don't really have much to say other than James Baldwin is a masterful writer. Decided it would be on my favorites shelf within the first few pages. No review could do Baldwin’s writing any justice, so I recommend reading it for yourself.
"To remember it so clearly, so painfully tonight tells me that I have never for an instant truly forgotten it. 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. But out of this astounding, intolerable pain came joy; we gave each other joy that night."