Reviews with content warning for Death - Giovanni's Room

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

198 reviews

jmichaelw28's review against another edition

dark emotional tense 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

A well-deserved classic, Giovanni's Room is a deep dive into the psyche of a White, queer man's struggle with masculinity and his own sexuality. Baldwin authentically ties together desire, self-loathing, and love into an unblinking character study. I would highly recommend pairing this book with Byung-Chul Han's The Agony of Eros.

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josiee123's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Not because I don't love James Baldwin but because at times I found the plot a bit dry and slow. But because I want to read more Baldwin I'll be moving onto some Parisian essays

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apthompson's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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tenbgale's review against another edition

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reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

definitely a gay classic imo, but just not my cup of tea. i found the main character really annoying, but that was kind of the point.

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sarah_kula's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.75

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marthadude's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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alexisgarcia's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Gorgeous writing

‘Perhaps he is a fool and a coward but almost everybody is one or the other and most people are both.’

‘perhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition.’

‘What a long way, I thought, I've come - to be destroyed!’

‘My executioners are here with me, walking up and down with me, washing things, and packing, and drinking from my bottle. They are everywhere I turn.’

‘’For a woman,' she said, I think a man is always a stranger.’

‘The stone of the city, which had been luminous and changing, faded slowly, but with no hesitation, into simple grey stone again. It was apparent that the stone was hard. Daily, fishermen disappeared from the river until, one day, the river banks were clear. The bodies of young boys and girls began to be compromised by heavy underwear, by sweaters and mufflers, hoods and capes. Old men seemed older, old women slower.’

‘There seemed to be no one on the streets at all. It seemed inconceivable that the day would ever break.’

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mates's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

crying. absolutely 10/10 book. The storytelling, the plot, the characters... James Baldwin's writing is so poetic, he managed to describe the ultimite gay struggle and the struggle of gay men's sexuality in society. The book is very personal and close to my heart, it hits so close to home and I think that every gay man can relate to this in a sense. Instant favourite.

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annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

in the last book i read, Greta & Valdin, Valdin is praised for not being "one of those gay men who says awful things about women" and reading that i was like what! which gay men are those, i'll fight them. these are those gay men.

i was expecting a tragedy of forbidden love between expats in Europe, a proto–Call Me By Your Name, but that's not what this is. rather, Giovanni's Room is a character study of two lost men who come to depend on each other for purpose, until their foundations crumble. the pacing was excellent and the journey as bleak as it was for our characters. i was going to make fun of my edition's Tortured Poets Department–ass cover (black-and-white photo of subject posed in almost cartoonish angst), but it's actually quite fitting:

David, our narrator,

is the smallest man who ever lived. they're both terrible misogynists, don't get me wrong, but this one is literally an emotional terrorist (albeit unintentional, i believe).

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