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philipeos 's review for:
Giovanni's Room
by James Baldwin
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I've been meaning to read this book for years now and to be honest I am glad I didn't. Not because I wouldn't have loved it as much or enjoyed it, but because I think it either would've destroyed me or I wouldn't have been able to feel the sadness properly. That is to say I am absolutely heartbroken, this book left me devasted. James Baldwin writes with such severity, doesn't hold back in any way. Reading this book felt violent. It's incredibly easy to connect to David as the protagonist, to relate to his feelings for Giovanni.
Following their relationship, knowing of it's inevitable tragic ending, though unaware of how it will end, god that killed me. And still it was twisted and real and unbelievably beautiful.
I feel the need to mention two things though. I have seen a clip circulation on the Internet, I think in one of Khadija Mbowe's videos, of James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni. As I understand it they were talking about him being polite to (White) strangers and not her and she says "You get home and I catch hell. Because I love you, I get least of you, I get the very minimum [...] fake it with me! Is that too much of a Black woman to ask of a Black man?" ("An Interview" 1971).
This Interview very much shaped the way I read this book. We have multiple characters in this book talking very negatively about women, which by itself isn't a problem, but I do not feel that this misogyny is properly adressed. Hella as a character feels a bit like a caricature, like she tried to be independent and it was hard and she decided to stop. And I feel like there is definitely a point to be made about a woman in the 1940s and 50s struggling to find a place in the world and to be independent, but seeing how in the end she begs David to just marry her so she can be a "woman", in the context of this clip it feels like Baldwins idea of and relationship to women is deeply unequal. I feel like there's a lot to be said about this, but frankly I haven't put in the time and effort to do it properly.
The second thing I feel the need to adress is the depiction of femininity. Hella is descriped to have in part "masculine" or unconventional qualiies (shorter hair, academic interests, the way she interacts with people as mentioned in the beginning of the book) and David seems to like her more for it, maybe because he is most likely gay or maybe it is for another reason. Because in contrast to Hella we have Jacques and Guillaume. Both of them are referred to as "faires" multiple times, they are described as effeminate in their mannerisms and sense of fashion, the older man seem to be constantly lusting after younger, beautiful men and sleep with them to sooth their egos and fight their loneliness. Both Giovanni and David despise them, they actively look down at the feminine gays, seeing themselves as above them because of their discretion and masculinity. I feel like Baldwin uses this as a way to symbolize David's fear of his homosexuality and it works well. There is a scene in the beginning of the book where a drunk, dead looking, very feminine man comes up to David at the bar and starts flirting with him snd David is absolutely repulsed by him and rudely sends him away. The man, on his way to leave, tells David that he will burn in hell and be "very unhappy" (p. 34-36). This to me reads as David's repressed love for men, in this case Giovanni, coming to haunt him, as it does throughout the whole book. This repression ends up being his downfall, since after he left Giovanni, his engagement to Hella didn't work out and he was left alone with neither her or Giovanni at his side and Giovanni was executed and died unloved and alone. And while his death isn't completely David's fault, he did play a big part in how it ended and had he stayed with Giovanni and loved him as he tried so hard not to, it all would've ended very differently. And while I do love the symbolism of that, I feel like Jacques and Guillaume as characters served to reinforce negative stereotypes about gay men being predators and feminine men being less than and more immoral than masculine men, gay or not.
The reason I bother writing all of this down and going into detail on what I feel should be criticized, is because more than anything else I absolutely loved this book. I am certain that I will read it again and again and I am very excited to hear other peoples takes on the story and it's characters. Very very strongly recommend!
I feel the need to mention two things though. I have seen a clip circulation on the Internet, I think in one of Khadija Mbowe's videos, of James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni. As I understand it they were talking about him being polite to (White) strangers and not her and she says "You get home and I catch hell. Because I love you, I get least of you, I get the very minimum [...] fake it with me! Is that too much of a Black woman to ask of a Black man?" ("An Interview" 1971).
This Interview very much shaped the way I read this book. We have multiple characters in this book talking very negatively about women, which by itself isn't a problem, but I do not feel that this misogyny is properly adressed. Hella as a character feels a bit like a caricature, like she tried to be independent and it was hard and she decided to stop. And I feel like there is definitely a point to be made about a woman in the 1940s and 50s struggling to find a place in the world and to be independent, but seeing how in the end she begs David to just marry her so she can be a "woman", in the context of this clip it feels like Baldwins idea of and relationship to women is deeply unequal. I feel like there's a lot to be said about this, but frankly I haven't put in the time and effort to do it properly.
The second thing I feel the need to adress is the depiction of femininity. Hella is descriped to have in part "masculine" or unconventional qualiies (shorter hair, academic interests, the way she interacts with people as mentioned in the beginning of the book) and David seems to like her more for it, maybe because he is most likely gay or maybe it is for another reason. Because in contrast to Hella we have Jacques and Guillaume. Both of them are referred to as "faires" multiple times, they are described as effeminate in their mannerisms and sense of fashion, the older man seem to be constantly lusting after younger, beautiful men and sleep with them to sooth their egos and fight their loneliness. Both Giovanni and David despise them, they actively look down at the feminine gays, seeing themselves as above them because of their discretion and masculinity. I feel like Baldwin uses this as a way to symbolize David's fear of his homosexuality and it works well. There is a scene in the beginning of the book where a drunk, dead looking, very feminine man comes up to David at the bar and starts flirting with him snd David is absolutely repulsed by him and rudely sends him away. The man, on his way to leave, tells David that he will burn in hell and be "very unhappy" (p. 34-36). This to me reads as David's repressed love for men, in this case Giovanni, coming to haunt him, as it does throughout the whole book. This repression ends up being his downfall, since after he left Giovanni, his engagement to Hella didn't work out and he was left alone with neither her or Giovanni at his side and Giovanni was executed and died unloved and alone. And while his death isn't completely David's fault, he did play a big part in how it ended and had he stayed with Giovanni and loved him as he tried so hard not to, it all would've ended very differently. And while I do love the symbolism of that, I feel like Jacques and Guillaume as characters served to reinforce negative stereotypes about gay men being predators and feminine men being less than and more immoral than masculine men, gay or not.
The reason I bother writing all of this down and going into detail on what I feel should be criticized, is because more than anything else I absolutely loved this book. I am certain that I will read it again and again and I am very excited to hear other peoples takes on the story and it's characters. Very very strongly recommend!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Grief, Alcohol
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship
Minor: Rape, Sexual content