A review by james1star
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I thought this was going to be one of my *five star* crème de la crème, all time fave books but sadly it didn’t deliver. Some of my reaction and reading experience is hindered by this but the rating is a true reflection. I definitely want to give this a reread as there’s very likely more to uncover and take from this book and my rating may change. 

The plot is essentially following David, a young American man living in 1950s Paris whilst his fiancé Hella is exploring Spain trying to find herself. He meets the younger handsome barman Giovanni and the two start a domed relationship. It’s told from the perspective of looking back at these events on the day that something major is about to happen and how it leads upto this. We get some more backstory of these main characters and some of the periphery ones too and how gay people experienced life in this ‘contemporary’ context. This was good and we got a glimpse into their lives being set and written in the 50s but herein lies my main issue with the book. That being the misogyny present which at times the two bond over by laughing and is not addressed which I found very disappointing. This section was infuriating to read: ‘'Oh, well,’
said Giovanni, 'these absurd women running around today, full of ideas and nonsense, and thinking themselves equal to men-quelle rigoladel-they need to be beaten half to death so that they can find out who rules the world.’
I laughed. 'Did the women you knew like to get beaten?’
He smiled. 'I don't know if they liked it. But a beating never made them go away, We both laughed. ‘They were not, any way, like that silly little girl of yours, wandering all over Spain and sending postcards back to Paris…’’ I HATED IT!! Later Hella says ‘I want to start having babies. In a way, it’s really so I’m good for.’ Which was frustrating too, and some other as well. 

The writing is exceptional, there are many beautifully written and crafted passages and quotes (at the end) which really bring the story to life - not as many as I had though there would be, I underlined and stared a decent amount but this too was slightly underwhelming. That being said, there’s also quite a lot of long winded sentences with multiple syntaxes which at times felt a bit hard to follow and I couldn’t fully understand or pinpoint what Baldwin was trying to say. Additionally there’s enough sections of untranslated French which I did find quite annoying and wasn’t able to understand again what was fully going on - it’s by no means excessive and at I could guess at points but there was enough to make a comment. I found the story and messages and what the author was saying with the book to be decent enough. However, I have read a fare few iterations of a similar story arc of a doomed queer love that we know already won’t go anywhere, or anywhere good, which I have much preferred. I understand many of these stories were probably influenced by this seminary work but as I’ve read these later ‘versions’ before and liked them more, this just doesn’t compare or rank as highly. 

On the whole, I am glad I read this as have wanted to for a long time but am left disappointed. I would still recommend it but there are (in my opinion) much better similar queer stories. 

Some of the favourite quotes: 
‘But people can’t, unhappily, invent their mooring posts, their lovers and their friends, anymore than they can invent their parents. Life gives these and also takes them away and the great difficulty is to say Yes to life.’ 
‘…Either, or: it takes strength to remember, it takes another kind of strength to forget, it takes a hero to do both.’ 
‘Giovanni looked at me. And this look made me feel that no one in my life had ever looked at me directly before.’ 
‘’Love him,’ said Jaques, with vehemence, ‘love him and let him love you… you can make your time together anything but dirty… if you will not be ashamed… you okay it safe long enough,’ he said, in a different tone, ‘and you’ll end up trapped in your own dirty body, forever and forever - like me.’’ 
‘…not many people have ever died of love. But multitudes have perished…’
‘He made me think of home - perhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition.’ 
‘Much has been written of love turning to hatred, of the heart growing cold with the death of love. It is a remarkable process. It is far more terrible than anything I have ever read about, more terrible than anything I will ever be able to say.’ 

SPOILER QUOTE
‘No matter how it seems now, I must confess: I loved him. I do not think I will ever love anyone like that again.’ - this shot straight to my heart as I could liken it to my still fave book ever, Philippe Besson’s Lie With Me and yh great! 
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