Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Giovanni's Room
Book Review: Nothing like a classic!
Summary: 5 Stars
First, ignore the review on the Amazon page from "The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature". What a horrible review! While it is not really negative about the book, it makes the book sound so sterile and boring! If you want to see what really great writing is like, try out Giovanni's Room. This was my introduction to James Baldwin and now I'm a huge fan. While I read the book because it was a groundbreaking early gay novel, I love it because it is an intriguing story and beautiful book. Baldwin's characters are so real you really can share their emotions, feel their pain, and experience their turmoil. You can certainly find more progressive gay stories out there, but for the 1950's, this was daring and new.
Book Review: One of Baldwin's Best Work
Summary: 4 Stars
Giovanni's Room is one of James Baldwin's best work of literature. In the book he expresses all the circumstance that went along with homosexuality in the 1950's set in Paris. His technique in writing the book is so great that if a person is not paying a lot of attention they probably wouldn't even know that the book is about homosexuality. Baldwin makes homosexuality seem like a simple everyday thing. He is not an explicit, provocative writer, yet you feel and see everything that he wrote. Instead of being all about physical acts, in the novel, he more discusses the emotional. Baldwin told of how homosexuality not only affects the person dealing with their sexuality, but the people that surround that person. He wrote of how most homosexuals have to live hiding who they really are just so that society will accept them.Book Review: Painfully Beautiful
Summary: 5 Stars
James Baldwin's stories are more like poetry, describing painful circumstances as dreamy metaphors. I felt myself pulled away from the story a few times to ponder what Baldwin is expressing through this story, for example he writes something about not choosing your friends or who you love, just as you don't get to choose your parents. He forces you to stand in the shoes of each character, feeling as though you were naked, because the message, for me at least, is clear. If people would allow themselves to feel total honesty with themselves, then perhaps the way they are choosing to live their lives would be completely, way over on the opposite end of the spectrum then what is actually real. No sexual orrient, race, religion. Just looking inside yourself and saying "yes". And if you think I'm just getting to romantic over a story, still read this book. James Baldwin is a master at story telling. Even if you don't feel as I do about this book, I'm sure you'll feel something. It is, for me, one of those stories you thin kabout long after you've read it.Book Review: Read it... but not for the plot.
Summary: 3 Stars
No assistance or convincing is required for one to acknowledge that Baldwin is indeed a very gifted writer. However, in GIOVANNI'S ROOM, it is less evident as to whether or not he is a great novelist. While his ability to describe complex emotions and deeply depict the political nature of courting and romance is superior, the plot suffers as the book progresses. Giovanni is an incredibly charming and likeable character upon his introduction; however, as soon as he forms a relationship with David, the protagonist, there seems to be a shift in the development of his character (or is it a regression of his character?), after which he remains rather unlikable and someone for whom you do not feel empathy.
As a result, the romance between Giovanni and David suffers throughout the book - and the capriciousness of David's sexuality calls into question the legitimacy of his love for Giovanni. This is disappointing to readers who are looking for a love story - even a tragic one. For who wants to read a love story where the love isn't assured? I think the plot needed more time to allow the reader to fully accept and digest the magnitude that these two men, supposedly, feel for each other.
The ending of the book, including the crime that Giovanni commits, seems irrelevant and forced - as if Baldwin was merely trying to come up with a legitimate way to end the story. This is perhaps my biggest complaint with the book. Again, the plot moves too quickly while characters change dramatically, all of which lead the reader to feel as though the plot is implausible.
Finally, the book is littered with various French phrases and short sentences which add no substance to the book, but seem to exist merely as a way for Baldwin to flex his knowledge of the language - as if somehow this will give the story's setting extra legitimacy (which it didn't need). I have a background in French and was able to understand most of this superfluousness, yet still found it rather annoying and distracting.
Many have suggested that David is rather unlikable; personally, I find his character to be the most honest and authentic, as well someone to whom I can relate. Through David, Baldwin hits the nail on the head when depicting the complexity and despair homosexuals feel when they are simultaneously involved with partners of both sexes. And while the honesty of David's emotions, with respect to both Giovanni and Hella, may be unattractive to some readers - it's clarity and accuracy cannot be ignored.
The book is certainly worth a read, and its impact and value must be measured in the context in which it was written. It is/was an overwhelmingly progressive novel, and no doubt a contribution to `gay' literature (if that's how you wish you classify the novel; I do not). However, this book being published today would hardly turn an eye. Read it to understand Baldwin, read it to understand the timeframe, read it for a glimpse into the complexity of homosexual relationships, read it to enjoy Baldwin's outstanding writing abilities - but don't read it for the plot.
Book Review: Review of Baldwin's 'Giovanni's Room'
Summary: 5 Stars
One cannot help but marvel at the complex psychology of this narrative, with all its curves of suspicion and corners of uncertainty. Baldwin displays the mind of an individual reluctantly discovering a new piece of his identity. The work is thoroughly 'gay' insofar as it adopts an incredibly diverse personality. It seems impossible to say plainly what a gay man is, and Baldwin's narrative testifies to this impossibility. His narrator is observant, yet obscure. He shows us almost everything we might imagine ourselves to see, and yet the novel offers no conclusions.