Giovanni's Room

Rating:
Summary: Gorgeous...
Review: I had never read any of Baldwin's books before, and when I friend recommended this one to me, I hesitated. But Baldwin's language and the intensity of his story just caputured me. I highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Words of Oil on a Canvas of Paper
Review: Mr. Baldwin has a way of writing that makes every detail crystal clear. In Giovanni's Room, I feel as if I am the main character. I can feel the small room and the city is wherever I may be reading this fascinating story of confused love. The ending made me cry. A literary romance!

Rating:
Summary: senses couldn' talk better
Review: Hardly could i expect more from this book when i started reading it, my friends gave it to me as a gift with his highest recommendation. It lived up to almost every expectation except for length. Exceedingly sensual but without pathos that one would find in the vast majority of romantic stories. Book is moving though tragic and deep; besides it's very well written and stylishly employs French at times.

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Summary: Finally, a book I relate to.
Review: The first book I ever related to, Giovanni's Room tells the story of a man struggling to come to terms with his own inside self. The room from which we get the title, the barman Giovanni's room, comes to symbolize the gay life, the gay world. Through this book, the title character is grappling with whether or not he wishes to remain in this room, this world, or whether he needs to conform to what is expected of him by mainstream society. As a gay man, I can honestly say it is a struggle we all go through, and Baldwin captures all the nuances of this very hard decision with great feeling and an amazing eye for detail.

Rating:
Summary: baldwin makes isolation and a search for self beautiful
Review: in this book. i am neither male nor gay, yet i identified with the main character. baldwin shows what it is like to leave america for europe looking for something, only to discover that you can neither find what you are looking for nor return home. his style is sparse, like hemingway, and like hemingway you can tell he knows what it is like to be an expat. this book touched me and i give it to everyone i know who is searching...

Rating:
Summary: Not bad (Two and a HALF stars)
Review: I agree with one reviewer in saying that the book is not really about race or gender, but passion and pain, loss and "what if's". And I think that's why it fell short of my expectations. While you are told that the two main men feel this passion for each other, it's hard to internalize it because the writer has basically ignored what should be a necessary interrogation into the complete aspects, not just the nature, of their relationship. We get a summary of what their love was. I couldn't help wanting to know more - more about the room; about what they did together in a sexual, and day to day sense; about everything! Perhaps the characterization needed to be slightly deeper. Let's hear a bit more about Giovanni at least; it's apparent the main character can't describe himself better, being as he is completely unaware of his true nature. A bit more description and angst and this book would have had a bit more oompf.

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Summary: Tragic Character, but Terrific Prose, Touching Psychology
Review: In this book, a white American, David, goes to Paris, meets the Italian Giovanni in a gay bar, leaves his girlfriend Hella....Will today's readers feel that David's self-hatred of his basically-gay identity (his "internalized homophobia") is dated now--much like some say the 1968 play THE BOYS IN THE BAND is, for example? We're past such agonizing? But aha, major personal growth against the norms is always turbulent. Anyhow, I have loved this novel for 3 reasons: its Paris, its prose, and its psychology. PARIS: Baldwin vividly sketches in words that great city. Onion soup at 4 A.M. in dubious cafes....the indomitable concierge....the sweeping quarters....and the rest. PROSE: Baldwin's long sentences, preaching-inspired, roll and swell and flow on and redouble. And, PSYCHOLOGY: sure, the bleakness of David is "pre-gay-lib," let alone pre-gay marriage plus parenting! But homophobia is not yet slain, is it. Plus, more universal is David's struggling with the major human issue of (as Baldwin said in ANOTHER COUNTRY) "the life you have, you want, you think you want, you should want, and you think you should want." Today, more of us can sooner arrive at where David only started, in his first surrender to Giovanni and male love: "With everything in me shouting No, yet the sum of me sighed Yes." Baldwin's unique portrayal of human emotions as risky, vulnerable, dubious--a great gift of his--energizes this novel for me; always has.

Rating:
Summary: A Tragic Dichotomy
Review: This novel presents the captivating dichotomy of love as experienced between two men and also their individual relationship to the societies to which they belong. It is beautifully written with a potent poetic rhythm as well as an introspective look into the thoughts and emotions of the characters.It's a must read for anyone who enjoys good literature!

Rating:
Summary: Read the book without knowing the writer
Review: Picked up the book in a shop in Paris. Did not know or care what the race of the author was. The conflicts that he illustrated in the book, the disappointments and the frustrations, they were all mine. This is the best book of its genre I have ever read, and I recommend it for anyone who feels internal bigotry and self-loathing.

Rating:
Summary: Some people just don't get it
Review: Oh, the boredom of reading these reviews by people who don't understand fiction. Ok, I'll try to explain it for you all. James Baldwin was a "fiction" writer. Understand? FICTION. He can write about whatever he wants. He doesn't have to have characters that are exactly like him: black. That is the joy of fiction.The writer can tell stories about anyone at anyplace at anytime. One person in this list of reviews said Baldwin wasn't being true to himself. Oh, please, get a grip. Every book doesn't have to be an autobiography. Do you know what that is? An autobiography is a non-fiction book that chronicles the author's life. Giovanni's Room is fiction, remember that. It's a great book. If you want silly writing with a "black-gay message" go read something by E. Lynn Harris.