Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Giovanni's Room
Book Review: An affair of the heart threatened by society's "clutter and disorder"
Summary: 5 Stars
"Giovanni's Room" is unique among Baldwin's novels for its all-white cast of characters--a decision that, his letters revealed, worried Baldwin somewhat, fearing that his portrayals would not seem authentic. His concerns turned out to be baseless; both Giovanni and David are convincing characters whose magnetism and flawed idealism stand in sharp relief to the cynical, grimy atmosphere of the bars and rooms they inhabit.
David is engaged to be married when his fiancee, Hella, travels to Spain to "find out" what she wants from life--and from David. He then meets Giovanni in a Parisian bar and their fate is sealed as soon as they enter Giovanni's tiny, claustrophobic room and its "outlines of clutter and disorder." David's internal struggle begins immediately: "if I do not open the door at once and get out of here, I am lost. But I knew I could not open the door, I knew it was too late."
I've come to think of Baldwin's "Giovanni's Room" as the inverted (no pun intended) example of Forster's "Room with a View," the book it oddly and inexplicably reminds me of. Although Baldwin is tragic where Forster is comic, the impossible coupling of stalwart David and carefree Giovanni echo the equally improbable pair of straitlaced Lucy and bohemian George. And in each novel, the foreign setting strips away David's and Lucy's inhibitions while it enhances Giovanni's and George's forwardness.
Both books, too, deal with a typically nineteenth-century theme, pitting moral honesty and romantic love against what "proper" society expects of its members. David is expected to marry Hella, as Lucy is expected to marry Cecil, and the comic or tragic outcome of each novel is determined entirely by the sincerity of the choices made by its characters. In Baldwin's more modern version, however, the virtue of David and Giovanni's relationship and the (yes) innocence of their love cannot ultimately withstand the pressures of society and the strictures of David's upbringing, and, inexorably, the couple become as sullied as the "clutter and disorder" of Giovanni's room.
Book Review: And the point was....?
Summary: 2 Stars
James Baldwin is an overrated writer in my opinion. I've read three of his "best" works and am not just basing this sentiment on one novel. Giovanni's room begins excellently; it vividly captures the mood of Paris and its more colorful characters. It presents the inner conflicts of Jacques and the main character well. But by the middle, it goes downhill with stereotyping (Giovanni is the proverbial loudmouth chauvanist Italian who's prone to fits of rage and crying; Hella is the spoiled, scattered-brain blond with no backbone; and Jacques is the sad, empty queen). In the end the story becomes a melo/crime drama. And what was the point? The main character was always a cold, detached soul that never came to any realization at the end, wasn't changed, and made no decisions about his life and treatment of people. Even THAT wasn't made the point.Book Review: Another James Baldwin Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of James Baldwin's best novel. The young man's struggle with his sexuality and the person who loves and ultimately pays the price for his struggle will make you cry and keep reading through your tears. Buy the book and everything else James Baldwin has written.Book Review: Another view
Summary: 1 Stars
I had to read this book for class, otherwise I would have thrown it in the trash. People pay money for this?Sure, Baldwin can write, but I feel like I need a shower after Giovanni's Room. It's not the sex; there is hardly any in the book. It's the depravity.
People hate themselves, hate others, try to drink it away and then go home to a nasty room where no one cleans. Lovely.
I feel like I did after watching Pulp Fiction or the Deer Hunter. I kept waiting for some redeeming character to step forward to pull this creepy book out of the muck.
If you feel like hating yourself, or want a taste of suicidal tendencies, read this book.
Yeah, he's good writer, but please.
Book Review: Beautiful
Summary: 5 Stars
Baldwin's book is nothing short of amazing. His characters are all incredibly interesting, and not one of them without emotion. Some passages are so true to life, it's worth reading the book for just those few words. Not to say the book isn't amazing as a whole. You'll feel each characters anguish and struggle, it's almost too difficult to take sides.