Giovanni's Room

Mormegil reviewed Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin (A Laurel book)

Beautiful and honest

4 stars

Content warning Contains a quote near the end of the book

"I must believe, I must believe, that the heavy grace of God, which has brought me to this place, is all that can carry me out of it."

I love James Baldwin. He pulls no punches and makes no compromises. My first experience with him was Go Tell it on the Mountain, so I was a little skeptical about how I would like Giovanni's Room, but I never should of doubted him. He is so brutally honest about the sorrow and corruption he finds in himself and others, and yet he never loses his compassion and love for the beauty he finds there. His characters are never cliches, and they are never painful to be with no matter how deplorable their actions. The result makes my heart bigger and restores my faith in the novel.

Wolfgang Wopperer reviewed Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin (A Laurel book)

Heart-rending and unsparing

5 stars

A portrait of 1950s Paris, American culture and the margins of bourgeois society, of internalised homophobia and gay desire, of power and cruelty. And the psychogram of a privileged, pathologically passive and deeply disagreeable man, including two grotesquely dehumanising transphobic passages. All rendered in dense, vivid language and impeccable structure and style.

Zéro Janvier reviewed Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin (A Laurel book)

Review of "Giovanni's room" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

C'est la troisième fois que je lis ce roman, le deuxième de James Baldwin. La première fois, j'avais une vingtaine d'années et je l'avais lu en français. La deuxième fois, plus récemment, je l'avais relu, mais en anglais cette fois. Pour cette troisième lecture, j'ai à nouveau choisi la langue anglaise, d'autant que j'ai décidé de lire dans l'ordre les oeuvres principales de James Baldwin.

James Baldwin nous raconte une histoire qui peut aujourd'hui paraître banale : un américain trentenaire en séjour à Paris rencontre un jeune serveur italien avec lequel il vit une brève passion, avant de retrouver sa fiancée américaine de retour d'un séjour en Espagne. C'est d'abord une belle et tragique histoire d'amour dans le Paris des années 50. C'est aussi un témoignage sur cette époque qui peut nous paraître lointaine désormais. C'est en tout cas un livre magnifique, dont le récit est servi par une plume …

C'est la troisième fois que je lis ce roman, le deuxième de James Baldwin. La première fois, j'avais une vingtaine d'années et je l'avais lu en français. La deuxième fois, plus récemment, je l'avais relu, mais en anglais cette fois. Pour cette troisième lecture, j'ai à nouveau choisi la langue anglaise, d'autant que j'ai décidé de lire dans l'ordre les oeuvres principales de James Baldwin.

James Baldwin nous raconte une histoire qui peut aujourd'hui paraître banale : un américain trentenaire en séjour à Paris rencontre un jeune serveur italien avec lequel il vit une brève passion, avant de retrouver sa fiancée américaine de retour d'un séjour en Espagne. C'est d'abord une belle et tragique histoire d'amour dans le Paris des années 50. C'est aussi un témoignage sur cette époque qui peut nous paraître lointaine désormais. C'est en tout cas un livre magnifique, dont le récit est servi par une plume splendide.

Eduardo Santiago reviewed Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin (A Laurel book)

Review of "Giovanni's room" on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Which comes first: self-hatred or being a hateful person? Does one feed (or feed on) the other? And how does shame act as a catalyst in this toxic reaction?

Beautifully written, infuriating, moving, heartbreaking. The narrator is so loathsome (in a Gatsbyesque way) that I found myself in awe at Baldwin's sensitivity: to write someone like that, to take us in his self-justifying head and culture and era, to draw us in despite our dislike -- that takes skill. It was an unusual experience and has lingered with me for some days.

I first thought this was a period piece, that our world has progressed since then... halfway through I realized my mistake. These characters are timeless: their fears, desires, insecurities, self-absorption; their pettiness and inability to communicate with or listen to one another; and yes, the oppressive mantle of shame inherited from our culture -- I don't think we've …

Which comes first: self-hatred or being a hateful person? Does one feed (or feed on) the other? And how does shame act as a catalyst in this toxic reaction?

Beautifully written, infuriating, moving, heartbreaking. The narrator is so loathsome (in a Gatsbyesque way) that I found myself in awe at Baldwin's sensitivity: to write someone like that, to take us in his self-justifying head and culture and era, to draw us in despite our dislike -- that takes skill. It was an unusual experience and has lingered with me for some days.

I first thought this was a period piece, that our world has progressed since then... halfway through I realized my mistake. These characters are timeless: their fears, desires, insecurities, self-absorption; their pettiness and inability to communicate with or listen to one another; and yes, the oppressive mantle of shame inherited from our culture -- I don't think we've outgrown those yet.