Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - El cuarto de Giovanni

This was simply beautiful. I enjoyed If Beale Street Could Talk, but this was an entirely other experience for me, sad, tragic, yet so very tender.

It's frustrating that this story is crafted to inevitably end in tragedy, and that frustration, as well as the general disregard for the very few female characters, that dropped this a star for me. I also found it quite difficult to really sympathize with David. Living in an entirely different time, under complex societal pressures I can excuse, but a lot of his suffering really was of his own making, his self-destructive tendency to distance and even extract himself from those he loved most.

But overall, this truly is a beautiful book, so richly evocative of Paris and interior spaces, of human body language and emotion. This is canonical reading that is not to be missed.

Content Warnings

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

mates's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

Go to review page

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).

Content Warnings