Reviews

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

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cheezedeleuze's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

bchir300's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

5.0

reading_rita's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

"Giovanni's Room" is a beautiful, lyrical, tragic, and heartbreakingly sad novel, filled with shame, longing, and the main character's painful inability to accept one's true self.

I tried to inhale every word and image, yet despite my best efforts, I’m not sure I fully grasped all the complexities and subtleties of the novel on my first read. It’s the kind of book that I know will reveal more layers with each revisit.

The audio narration by Matt Bomer was stunning—his voice perfectly matched the tone of Baldwin’s writing—though I switched to paperback after running out of time on Spotify.

It’s a novel that requires - and deserves - careful, thoughtful reading, and I have no doubt I’ll come back to it in the future.

4.25/5 ⭐

Love him,’ said Jacques, with vehemence, ‘love him and let him love you. Do you think anything else under heaven really matters? And how long, at the best, can it last, since you are both men and still have everywhere to go? Only five minutes, I assure you, only five minutes, and most of that, helas! in the dark. And if you think of them as dirty, then they will be dirty— they will be dirty because you will be giving nothing, you will be despising your flesh and his. But you can make your time together anything but dirty, you can give each other something which will make both of you better—forever—if you will not be ashamed, if you will only not play it safe.’ He paused, watching me, and then looked down to his cognac. ‘You play it safe long enough,’ he said, in a different tone, ‘and you’ll end up trapped in your own dirty body, forever and forever and forever—like me.

ashdevito's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-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

A really good read! Despite the plot being given away in the introductory of this edition it doesn't fault the book in fact I'd argue it expands the book. A masterclass of writing a must read for every young queen person or a good book to introduce those to Baldwin and his work.

Content Warnings