A review by keegan_leech
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

An instant all-time favourite. Baldwin is able to provoke and sustain an astonishing depth of emotion. There is a kind of sorrowful dread that hangs over Giovanni's Room which one might expect to very quickly exhaust a reader, and yet the novel is impossible to put down. It draws you through itself. Baldwin's characters are complex, fascinating, beautifully realised. Few novels are its equal in terms of the pure mastery of their writing.

It always feels a little silly finally reading a book that is widely-praised as a towering literary classic and then saying, "You know everyone, I think this James Baldwin guy was a good writer." It's not an unusual or unexpected opinion, and I don't think I have anything to say that literal thousands of people haven't said before me. But please, if adding my voice to the chorus of those praising him can somehow convince you, go read James Baldwin!
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