Customer Reviews

Giovanni's Room (Penguin Modern Classics)

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

James Baldwin is masterful in conveying underlying motives. In his book, Giovanni's Room, he deals very tactfully with the moral pitfalls of sexual relationships. The hero, David, is torn between feelings of homosexuality and heterosexual relationships. Far from being the politically correct propoganda most likely to be published today, Baldwin shines the light of his craft on this subject with startling honesty. He shows great insight into the psyche underpinning moral choices. The character development for the main characters is good but could be better for the others. Yet for such a relatively short novel he does a good job. If you want to read a novel that seems to honestly deal with the realities of this subject, this is the one. He shies away from being hyper-critical in a moral sense, yet doesn't attempt to soften the harsh realities of living this lifestyle. Overall, an excellent read.

This has undoubtedly become my favorite book. Never have I had the need to reread a book till I was brought to this book. I could write comments about this book greater in length than the book itself, so I won't say more. It's a book you feel. Like the embrace given to a grieving friend,indescribable.

It was just so beautiful. Incredaibly moving and emotional. Like Romeo and Juliet, right from the start you are told it's a tragdey, but that didn't stop me from going through the book hoping that it wouldn't be.

When I reached the end, I just sat there motionless. That was how deep the impression was.

One reviewer stated that it was a shame more young readers were not reading Baldwin. It has taken me almost 35 years to discover him. One of the best writers of the 20th Century.

The subject matter (as you can see in other reviews) is a bit controversial for the time. However, Baldwins lyrical prose is certainly an enjoyment to behold.

I also read Notes of a Native Son at the same time as this book and its a great companion piece. Baldwin was an Expatriate living in Paris during the 50's and Notes give you further insight into Giovanni's Room.

A must read novel...A must read AGAIN novel!

David is an American living in 1950's Paris. He has a finacée Hella, who recently left for Spain to make sure that she is ready to marry him. While she's away, David meets Giovanni, a young Italian bartender. They strike up a friendship, and for financial reasons, he moves into Giovanni's tiny room. But, the friendship grows into something more, and David must decide which life he wants to lead.

Throughout the novel, David is conflicted with his feelings of love, loathing and guilt for Giovanni. He loves Hella, too, but desparately wants to find out if her love is what he truly desires, almost willing her to save him. Author James Baldwin uses a very flowing style to permeate his novel with these emotions, allowing the reader to both sympathize and distrust Giovanni and David. One is strong and sure of himself; the other is fighting a battle in his head over what he feels.

"Giovanni's Room" is one of the great novel dealing with someone coming to terms with his or her own sexuality and all the emotions associated with it. A truly fine novel.

David is an American living in 1950's Paris, trying to flee from bad memories of home with his father. He has a finacée Hella, who has just left for Spain to make sure that she is ready to wed David. While she's away, David allows his urges to take him to one a gay bar, where he meets Giovanni, a young, Italian bartender. They strike up a friendship, and for financial reasons, David moves into Giovanni's tiny room.

Throughout the novel, David is conflicted with his feelings of love, loathing and guilt for Giovanni and for his own homosexuality. He loves Hella, too, but desparately wants to find out if her love is what he truly desires, almost willing her to save him. Author James Baldwin uses a very flowing style to permeate his novel with these emotions, allowing the reader to both sympathize and distrust Giovanni and David. One is strong and sure of himself; the other is fighting a battle in his head over what he feels. This creates one of the better novels dealing with someone coming to terms with his or her own sexuality.

As an avid reader, I felt as though I had rediscovered the joy reading can bring after being exposed to Giovanni's Room. The book was not simply written for homosexuals. It was written to open our eyes to the possibility that perhaps, like David, we are repressing our feelings out of fear. I walked around in a daze after completing it. Baldwin had a truly amazing gift to be able to convey those emotions through his characters. For anyone who has not yet picked up this book, I strongly recommend, better yet, I strongly advise you to let yourself fall into Baldwin's world.

It is a shame that James Baldwin is so overlooked by the younger generations of readers. There is no parallel to the brilliance in his work and his writing style that is literary and thought provoking. "Giovanni's Room" packs a tremendous emotional punch with its narration of David, an American living in Paris during the 1950's. David's journey is the slow acceptance of his sexuality, as he carries on a relationship with the Italian bartender, Giovanni, while David's fiance, Hella, is abroad in Spain.

This novel has withstood decades of censorship on gay literature and we benefit from it. Baldwin takes on sexuality with grace and patience as we watch the narrator battle his own inner demons. Very early on, David tells us that he knows he is at fault for the suffering of those around him and that Giovanni will be will be executed on the guillotine the next morning. David then takes us back into his history with Giovanni and their life in the small room he rents. As the story unfolds, we watch as David creeps into the subculture of Paris, dependent on the money of his wealthy friends who loiter in the gay underground. Yet, there is a sense of contentment from the narrator with his new surroundings, though he does not openly admit to it. He sees his sexuality and his involvement in this "forbidden lifestyle" as a temporary one and then that fragile stability is shattered when Hella finally returns.

This book is a treasure that accurately documents one person's journey in self-discovery and questions the lines between love and desire. Thank you, James Baldwin, for what you've left behind for us.

My now-deceased cousin Charles was a gay painter who gave this book to me when I was 16. Back then I followed him around like his shadow, loving his stories of travel and lovers. I grew to travel and thought of how no matter where I went, I took me.

James Baldwin's Giovanni's room, seems to be a story of this realization, of not being able to escape yourself; despite being in the free-est position you'll probably ever be in again. Too bad San Francisco wasn't up and running for a man in his position, back then. Nowadays the pilgrimage to self identity is the same by plane, and having lived in both Paris and Frisco, Paris (for me) is definitely the place to face oneself.

James Baldwin's David seems to be fighting a demon that surfaced long before his sexuality came into question. Between the lines I'm seeing a portrayal of Mr. Baldwin's 1950's America as the P-envying society of self-hate that he has escaped. He arrives in America's parallel universe, Paris; a place where he is accepted without having to reinvent himself.

I lived in Paris for 4 years. I went there with my pre-conceived notions, and was introduced to theirs. Being an American woman in Europe, men see you as the unfulfilled dame who has not been allowed to blossom. They see you as the accepting and unsatisfied victim of a cocky, selfish, binging male culture. They feel obliged to help you recover. to show that quality not quantity is the answer. finesse not excess.

Baldwin's Giovanni's room is a book that makes me think, that the plague of identity issues, sexual, societal, etc., is a monster empowered by self-doubt, a parasite in which strength of character can only defeat. You are your own worst enemy.

i love givannis room so much, james baldwin writes a story that is short and compact, but oh so good. Giovannias room is an extrememly easy read, i had to read it again after i read it the first time. I saw a bit of myself in the characters, which made it especially interesting to me. Im sure you will find a bit of yourself in the characters as well. There are people who love and those who are loved and its hard not to be able to relate to this story. it is my fav book of all time, and it started me on all of james baldwins great books.