A review by d____eb
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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A beautifully written book. Baldwin’s prose is enchanting, and once you get accustomed to his abundant use of commas, the story flows easily despite how painful it is. The character of David is raw and flawed. In his fear of his true self he, inadvertently, as many of us often do, hurts others around him. Giovanni’s character is beautiful and tragic, and it feels as though all of Paris wronged him. The imagery of Paris is really well written, and I could picture the streets through which they walked at night half-drunken.

I found some of the language around trans women to have aged poorly. I would like to believe it was more a reflection of David’s contrived way of thinking than of Baldwin himself.

My biggest issue with this novel is unfortunately its treatment of the female characters. I’m not sure why I was surprised, considering the time it was written, and the fact that, despite Baldwin being a great writer, its author is ultimately a man. There are bits where I think Hella is inching close to the emancipation, like she’ conflicted with being free and also wanting to be defined by David. But in the end she, and the few other women in the story, are one-dimensional. One can probably blame David, as it is his point of view and inherently biased. Still, left me feeling a bit sad, as it might’ve been an otherwise perfect book.

Still, I highly recommend it. Not only because it is beautiful and sad, and painfully human, but because it belongs in the canon of great literary works of the modern times.