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Title: Giovanni's Room by James A. Baldwin ISBN: 0-385-33458-3 Publisher: Delta Pub. Date: 13 June, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.4 (58 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Is this Desire?
Comment: 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.
Rating: 5
Summary: No Matter Where You Go - There You Are
Comment: 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.
Rating: 5
Summary: my favorite book of all time
Comment: 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.
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Title: Another Country by James A. Baldwin ISBN: 0679744711 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: February, 1993 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin ISBN: 0440330076 Publisher: Laure Leaf Pub. Date: November, 1985 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin ISBN: 0807064319 Publisher: Beacon Press Pub. Date: August, 1990 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone: A Novel by James A. Baldwin ISBN: 0375701893 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: February, 1998 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Fire Next Time by James A. Baldwin ISBN: 067974472X Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: February, 1993 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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