A review by olivcho
Giovanni's Room, by James Baldwin
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
”Your father or mine, should have told us that not many people have ever died of love. But multitudes have perished, and are perishing every hour - and in the oddest places! - for the lack of it.”
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
It’s a very short book ,under 200 pages, but it has depth and literary beauty many longer works lack. On the surface it’s a story about one men’s struggle with accepting his sexuality but for me it’s primarily a tale about shame. How it eats at us from within, prevents us from being free, stops us from being accepting of ourselves and others. It’s necessary yet in abundance it’s self indulgent and narcissistic. David is consumed so much by shame that he not only engages in self-deception but is unable to form genuine relationships. Hurting everyone he engages with by essentially denying himself. Hating himself and others fuelled by his conflicting desires. He is toxicity and repression personified- yet I couldn’t help but sympathise with him. Perhaps, because we are all ,to some degree, perpetually trapped in one room or another.
“I did not want him to know me. I did not want anyone to know me.”
A 5 star read for me, for sure.
TW for misogyny & transphobia…
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
It’s a very short book ,under 200 pages, but it has depth and literary beauty many longer works lack. On the surface it’s a story about one men’s struggle with accepting his sexuality but for me it’s primarily a tale about shame. How it eats at us from within, prevents us from being free, stops us from being accepting of ourselves and others. It’s necessary yet in abundance it’s self indulgent and narcissistic. David is consumed so much by shame that he not only engages in self-deception but is unable to form genuine relationships. Hurting everyone he engages with by essentially denying himself. Hating himself and others fuelled by his conflicting desires. He is toxicity and repression personified- yet I couldn’t help but sympathise with him. Perhaps, because we are all ,to some degree, perpetually trapped in one room or another.
“I did not want him to know me. I did not want anyone to know me.”
A 5 star read for me, for sure.
TW for misogyny & transphobia…
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Transphobia
Moderate: Alcoholism and Murder