Status
Available
Publication
Vintage Books (2013), Edition: 1, 176 pages
Description
"Set in the 1950s Paris of American expatriates, liaisons, and violence, a young man finds himself caught between desire and conventional morality"--Page 4 of cover.
Media reviews
what draws lovers of the book to its story of betrayal and the possibility of redemption through truth and, ultimately, to the question of the body as home, is the vision of Baldwin stumbling through it, sure-footed and alone, walking toward the idea that love may come attached with different ideas
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of what it should look like, feel like, but in the end, it’s what you do with its responsibilities that renders you genderless — and human. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member Nickelini
I don't want to start describing this book, because it is so rich and full of material that I'm afraid I would write an essay. I wish I was studying this at university and had to write about it.
Yes, it's about a young man's struggle for his identity, and his struggle with his homosexuality, but
This book must have made quite the explosion in the book world when it was published back in the 1950s. Not only is it an exploration of forbidden sexuality, but it's a book about a white man written by an African-American.
Recommended for: lovers of rich, intense literature.
Yes, it's about a young man's struggle for his identity, and his struggle with his homosexuality, but
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it's more than that. I loved the contrasts between clean and squalor, and between Americans and Europeans. The filth reminds me of Thomas Mann's Death in Venice, and the louche, hard-drinking expatriates remind me of The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway. But Giovanni's Room is more interesting than either of them.This book must have made quite the explosion in the book world when it was published back in the 1950s. Not only is it an exploration of forbidden sexuality, but it's a book about a white man written by an African-American.
Recommended for: lovers of rich, intense literature.
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LibraryThing member otterley
Baldwin writes wonderfully about the early stirrings of love and desire - the moment of being on the cusp of fulfilment or shattering loss. Like many fictional depictions of homosexuality when it was illegal or taboo, he presents the gay milieu as something that contains sadness and squalor, that
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repulses as much as it attracts. Perhaps this is how it felt, particularly to someone like the lead character, struggling with conflicting desires and loves. Baldwin writes about what we cannot control in the end, our desires and innermost natures, and shows why we must learn to live with them, however uncomfortable that might be. Show Less
LibraryThing member Clurb
My favourite of all Baldwin's writing. Giovanni's Room deals not just with a man coming to terms with his sexuality, but with the issues of race and country and with the ideas of prejudice and hatred.
LibraryThing member Narshkite
I won't start by talking much about the writing. It is James Baldwin. As always his prose is perfect. Somehow a single sentence can include desolation and hope, resignation and strength, and it does all that with economy and poetry. The perfection of the prose allowed me to focus fully on the story
I wondered throughout how different a read this would have been in 1956 or 1986, or 2006 for that matter. In earlier times the beauty, earthiness, and simplicity of David and Giovanni's love would have been a revelation and I am sure to many a much needed validation. That was certainly true in 1986 when the public perception of sexual relationships between men was limited to the transactional sex of the bathhouses that were the focus of AIDs news coverage and the bars as depicted in Cruising. I am no historian, but I see Giovanni's Room as the beginning of a subgenre of film and literature that depicts same gender relationships which include love, connection and tenderness and are somehow therefore doomed to crushing loss and pain. I think about Midnight Cowboy, Brokeback Mountain, even Philadelphia (in which love was depicted as tragic and also very non-carnal.) And I get it. The world made a stable joyful long-term relationship between men an awfully difficult, maybe impossible, goal. And also, it was not just straight people watching and reading these tales. I imagine boys realizing same-sex attraction most often did not even think to work for deeper relationships because it was not presented as a possibility. I am not intending to straight-splain or infer that long-term committed partnerships are the be-all-and-end-all. I mention all this because I have a point here that required some foundation. Art is in the viewers perception not the artist's intention. This is not timeless, and this is a very different book now than it was when written. I assume this story was revolutionary at its time in treating love between two men as something beautiful, if doomed. For me, here in 2022 though a good deal of what I see is not the liberation but the shame and self-loathing. There are constant biting asides talking about the loathsomeness of "fairies", how appalling it was to see a man behave in an "effeminate" way. There are also constant reminders that the "good" gay men also desired women. Giovanni and David both stress how much they enjoy(ed) sex with women. It is only the old queens, depicted as predators looking to seduce straight young boys with cash and prizes who only like boys.
Even the characters' physical surroundings and daily activities convey the message "homosexual=less than." Giovanni and David roll around in bed all day, accomplish nothing but drinking cognac and fucking in a decaying shell of a servant's room, barely within city limits, with peeling wallpaper and dirty sheets and pungent bodies. David and Hella, on the other hand, lie together in clean sheets, scrubbed sweet-smelling underclothing hanging from the bathroom rail. They pop out to take day trips around France or to stroll - always on the Right Bank bien sur. I understand that at the time pride was not something LGBTQ+ people could get to, what with the day to day burden of surviving and staying out of jail. That knowledge does not remove the sting of recognizing that what Giovanni and David had was considered a dream, that this was a comparatively positive look at life for gay men, that this limited and necessarily tragic existence was aspirational.
The world is now a very different place and when reading this now ione sees some warts. The book remains beautiful and revolutionary it a way, and now it is a reminder of just how recently so many of the people around us were denied the opportunity to even try to have a simple, mundane life of contentment and how many people suffered as a result (David's father and Hella were both caught in the crossfire, and suffered a great deal.) Also worth mentioning, the discussion of trans women and women in general is appalling. Hella lamenting her interest in the world and begging to just be controlled by a man made me shudder. Giovanni laughing about how women need to be beaten was even worse. Audre Lorde called out Baldwin on being hateful to women and she was so right. (For a snippet of that google James Baldwin and Audre Lorde and you will find a widely available conversation between then that was published in Ebony I think or maybe it was Jett? It is short and worth the read for sure. GR won't let me link.)
So at the end of this non-review where I think out my feelings in front of everyone who cares to watch, I heartily recommend that everyone read this book. It is a 4.5 rather than a 5 because the final 20ish pages were a bit ridiculously melodramatic IMO, for the misogyny when Baldwin knew better, and because there are a couple other books by Baldwin I thought were a whole lot better, and I felt the need to distinguish that -- had this book been written by a less accomplished writer than Baldwin perhaps I would have notched up to a 5. Vive la Baldwin.
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being told. I also won't start by telling you this is a good book. Of course its a good book. Instead I want to talk about the reading experience, because in addition to being a great novel, this is a historical document, and it gave me a good deal to reflect on.I wondered throughout how different a read this would have been in 1956 or 1986, or 2006 for that matter. In earlier times the beauty, earthiness, and simplicity of David and Giovanni's love would have been a revelation and I am sure to many a much needed validation. That was certainly true in 1986 when the public perception of sexual relationships between men was limited to the transactional sex of the bathhouses that were the focus of AIDs news coverage and the bars as depicted in Cruising. I am no historian, but I see Giovanni's Room as the beginning of a subgenre of film and literature that depicts same gender relationships which include love, connection and tenderness and are somehow therefore doomed to crushing loss and pain. I think about Midnight Cowboy, Brokeback Mountain, even Philadelphia (in which love was depicted as tragic and also very non-carnal.) And I get it. The world made a stable joyful long-term relationship between men an awfully difficult, maybe impossible, goal. And also, it was not just straight people watching and reading these tales. I imagine boys realizing same-sex attraction most often did not even think to work for deeper relationships because it was not presented as a possibility. I am not intending to straight-splain or infer that long-term committed partnerships are the be-all-and-end-all. I mention all this because I have a point here that required some foundation. Art is in the viewers perception not the artist's intention. This is not timeless, and this is a very different book now than it was when written. I assume this story was revolutionary at its time in treating love between two men as something beautiful, if doomed. For me, here in 2022 though a good deal of what I see is not the liberation but the shame and self-loathing. There are constant biting asides talking about the loathsomeness of "fairies", how appalling it was to see a man behave in an "effeminate" way. There are also constant reminders that the "good" gay men also desired women. Giovanni and David both stress how much they enjoy(ed) sex with women. It is only the old queens, depicted as predators looking to seduce straight young boys with cash and prizes who only like boys.
Even the characters' physical surroundings and daily activities convey the message "homosexual=less than." Giovanni and David roll around in bed all day, accomplish nothing but drinking cognac and fucking in a decaying shell of a servant's room, barely within city limits, with peeling wallpaper and dirty sheets and pungent bodies. David and Hella, on the other hand, lie together in clean sheets, scrubbed sweet-smelling underclothing hanging from the bathroom rail. They pop out to take day trips around France or to stroll - always on the Right Bank bien sur. I understand that at the time pride was not something LGBTQ+ people could get to, what with the day to day burden of surviving and staying out of jail. That knowledge does not remove the sting of recognizing that what Giovanni and David had was considered a dream, that this was a comparatively positive look at life for gay men, that this limited and necessarily tragic existence was aspirational.
The world is now a very different place and when reading this now ione sees some warts. The book remains beautiful and revolutionary it a way, and now it is a reminder of just how recently so many of the people around us were denied the opportunity to even try to have a simple, mundane life of contentment and how many people suffered as a result (David's father and Hella were both caught in the crossfire, and suffered a great deal.) Also worth mentioning, the discussion of trans women and women in general is appalling. Hella lamenting her interest in the world and begging to just be controlled by a man made me shudder. Giovanni laughing about how women need to be beaten was even worse. Audre Lorde called out Baldwin on being hateful to women and she was so right. (For a snippet of that google James Baldwin and Audre Lorde and you will find a widely available conversation between then that was published in Ebony I think or maybe it was Jett? It is short and worth the read for sure. GR won't let me link.)
So at the end of this non-review where I think out my feelings in front of everyone who cares to watch, I heartily recommend that everyone read this book. It is a 4.5 rather than a 5 because the final 20ish pages were a bit ridiculously melodramatic IMO, for the misogyny when Baldwin knew better, and because there are a couple other books by Baldwin I thought were a whole lot better, and I felt the need to distinguish that -- had this book been written by a less accomplished writer than Baldwin perhaps I would have notched up to a 5. Vive la Baldwin.
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LibraryThing member whitewavedarling
Baldwin's writing is, for me, a touchstone of genius. Somehow, I'd read much of his other work, and not gotten around to this novel. Today, I read it in one sitting. I must say that I'm glad this wasn't my introduction to Baldwin--I came into it prepared to expect the quiet power and passion that
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I've grown to expect from his writing, and I was overwhelmed even so. This book may have a specific setting and focus, but Baldwin's adept and beautiful tackling of love, identity, and the struggles of embracing one's self are universally relevant and timeless. There's no doubt that I'll come back to this work repeatedly, and there's no doubt that Baldwin has a genius for appreciating and illustrating humanity, particularly at its most fearful, and at its most loving. Absolutely recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member EBT1002
This novel was published in 1956, two years after Brown v Board of Education and 8 years before African Americans were given the right to vote in the U.S. Gloria Steinem was 22 years old and the Stonewall "riots" were still 13 years away. Gay people lived deeply secret double lives, terrified of
David, our narrator, is a young American vaguely living in the South of France, reflecting on his time living in Paris, where he loved both a woman and a man. Giovanni, his true love, is in prison and facing the guillotine for a murder whose motives we may only hypothesize. Apart from the masterful storytelling, what is remarkable about this novel is that it was written by Baldwin in the 1950s. He explores the deep shame, self-loathing, and terror experienced by queer folks living -- even in Paris -- during that time. Also interesting, race appears to "play no part" in the story. Baldwin's characters are decidedly white and it is their love that marginalizes them and dilutes their sense of identity. Nationality, sexual orientation, and gender are the identities in question here, the facets of self that generate need and lust and heart-wrenching angst. Yet, with all this, the novel is not depressing. It's sad. And it's captivating. And it's beautiful. Giovanni's room works with precision as a metaphor for the container of all our desires. Without that room, what does contain our desires?
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exposure in this life and damnation in the next. David, our narrator, is a young American vaguely living in the South of France, reflecting on his time living in Paris, where he loved both a woman and a man. Giovanni, his true love, is in prison and facing the guillotine for a murder whose motives we may only hypothesize. Apart from the masterful storytelling, what is remarkable about this novel is that it was written by Baldwin in the 1950s. He explores the deep shame, self-loathing, and terror experienced by queer folks living -- even in Paris -- during that time. Also interesting, race appears to "play no part" in the story. Baldwin's characters are decidedly white and it is their love that marginalizes them and dilutes their sense of identity. Nationality, sexual orientation, and gender are the identities in question here, the facets of self that generate need and lust and heart-wrenching angst. Yet, with all this, the novel is not depressing. It's sad. And it's captivating. And it's beautiful. Giovanni's room works with precision as a metaphor for the container of all our desires. Without that room, what does contain our desires?
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LibraryThing member lkernagh
Written with wonderful awareness and prosaic beauty, Baldwin gives the reader an insight into expatriate life in 1950's Paris and a young man's struggles to come to terms with his sexuality and his sexual identity. Underneath this struggle lies a love story, albeit a repressed one fraught with
Overall, a beautifully written story I am very happy to have finally read it.
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guilt, as David struggles to avoid certain choices for reasons of social and familial acceptance. I found the feeling of isolation David experienced harrowing as he internalized his struggle and tried to put on a brave, indifferent front and a strong emotional theme of the story. The story is about awakening to reality. About climbing above the fog that society expects one to remain enveloped in. It is also about how trapped one can feel when society exhibits indications of refusing to accept someone for who they are. Overall, a beautifully written story I am very happy to have finally read it.
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LibraryThing member strandbooks
I probably read this with too high of expectations because I loved Go Tell it On the Mountain. This is a short novel about a man fighting his homosexuality. I'm amazed that it was written in the 1950s. The first portion with David's flasbacks to growing up in Brooklyn being raised by his widowed
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father and aunt, and his reaction to his first homosexual experience. As the book moves into his adulthood in France, I lost connection with the characters. Even Giovanni seemed very flat, and I didn't really care for his breakdown at the end. Show Less
LibraryThing member Cecilturtle
This story is incredibly well-structured. Knowing the end immediately casts a pall on the entire story; regret, certainly, and more than that, cruelty. The narrator immediately becomes a coward, Guillaume a predator and Jacques a selfish lout. However, Baldwin never falls into the trap of
The room as a backdrop to all this confusion is in itself a character: small, dingy, oppressive, secret yet full of desperate hope and potential as Giovanni tries to turn it into a haven of peace and light.
Marvelous and heart-wrenching.
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stereotypes; David's palpable guilt, Jacques' sudden generosity as he follows Giovanni to the grave, all make the characters complex. Most complex, of course, is Giovanni himself, caught in his terrible secret and pain, aching to be loved as he is and not simply for his beauty.The room as a backdrop to all this confusion is in itself a character: small, dingy, oppressive, secret yet full of desperate hope and potential as Giovanni tries to turn it into a haven of peace and light.
Marvelous and heart-wrenching.
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LibraryThing member Proustitutes
Intense, enlightening, quickly read, mildly disturbing, and surprisingly emotionally engaging no matter how gay or straight you may be. I read this in what is likely to become my life's best 4-hour-long bath, but I can't deny how thankful I was for the cleansing shower that followed. Heartbreaking
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and touching. Maybe in a few days I'll be able to put together a review that's more than peppered adjectives and hot water. Show Less
LibraryThing member japaul22
[Giovanni's Room] by [[James Baldwin]]
James Baldwin is a masterful writer. There is something about the way he understands and uses the English language that I find impressive but not pretentious. [Giovanni's Room] is a short novel about a young American man who is living in Paris and experimenting
This is a short novel that packs a huge punch. The events are dramatic, and David's actions and indecision set into motion a string of events that he doesn't intend. I'm looking forward to continuing to read more by Baldwin.
James Baldwin is a masterful writer. There is something about the way he understands and uses the English language that I find impressive but not pretentious. [Giovanni's Room] is a short novel about a young American man who is living in Paris and experimenting
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with love. David is engaged to a woman named Hella, but while she is traveling, he takes up with a young man named Giovanni and they develop a passionate relationship. As David attempts to untangle his feelings, lives around him fall apart. This is a short novel that packs a huge punch. The events are dramatic, and David's actions and indecision set into motion a string of events that he doesn't intend. I'm looking forward to continuing to read more by Baldwin.
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LibraryThing member LilyCowper
Really beautiful. JB feels the things I feel. My brain always pulls a face from my past and glues it to strong characters in my books, and this time it was Giovanni who was someone I knew from my life, who was also Italian. I couldn't stop imagining him. I was David, an American. We sometimes can't
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fathom the emotion, romance, and passion they show us, and we certainly can't reflect it. I don't know why Americans are so flat and shy and I wish we weren't. The beginning is about the David's family relationships which was very realistic and honest and heartbreaking. It was the one part that brought me to tears. Anyway, the whole book was moving. Disgusted by passion. Honest thoughts. I read it all in two days. Baldwin writes so well, I think I'll read all his books now. And I think I'll watch that movie about him too. Show Less
LibraryThing member crtsjffrsn
What do you do when you want something so badly it scares you half to death? And when you don't understand why you want it in the first place?
David is an American who has run off to Europe to explore and learn new things. (Though some might say he's running from what his life would be if he stayed
But while Hella is off exploring in Spain, David does some exploring of his own. He meets Giovanni, a young bartender, one evening and the two hit it off. Before long, David moves in with Giovanni, sharing the small room he's renting, and what the two of them have goes well beyond friendship.
For David, this all feels so right but so incredibly wrong at the same time. He cares dearly for Giovanni, but the thought of being with him forever is frightening. And there's still Hella. Hella feels safe for David. And she will be coming back someday.
David will need to make a choice, and he knows what the easy decision would be. But it's all complicated by the fact that Giovanni has fallen in love with him. And David just might be too frightened to admit that he loves Giovanni back. If he abandons Giovanni, he knows his world will fall apart, but what's his responsibility to this other man anyway? He can live with the guilt, right?
---
The 1950s were certainly not an easy time to be gay. But that's true for much of history. And the struggles that some men went through, trying to reconcile who they were with society's expectations, were certainly heart wrenching. And we get a good glimpse of that here.
When reading this, it's easy to think of it as historical fiction. But that diminishes the significance of James Baldwin writing this contemporary to the time it takes place. In that regard, it's a truly groundbreaking work, although it's not exactly the most uplifting piece of literature.
I definitely give this one a recommendation, though I need to put a caveat that it's not a happiness and sunshine story. It's gritty. And it will definitely make you think.
David is an American who has run off to Europe to explore and learn new things. (Though some might say he's running from what his life would be if he stayed
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in the states.) While on his travels, he's met Hella, a woman from Minnesota, and he expects he'll marry her someday. That's what he should do.But while Hella is off exploring in Spain, David does some exploring of his own. He meets Giovanni, a young bartender, one evening and the two hit it off. Before long, David moves in with Giovanni, sharing the small room he's renting, and what the two of them have goes well beyond friendship.
For David, this all feels so right but so incredibly wrong at the same time. He cares dearly for Giovanni, but the thought of being with him forever is frightening. And there's still Hella. Hella feels safe for David. And she will be coming back someday.
David will need to make a choice, and he knows what the easy decision would be. But it's all complicated by the fact that Giovanni has fallen in love with him. And David just might be too frightened to admit that he loves Giovanni back. If he abandons Giovanni, he knows his world will fall apart, but what's his responsibility to this other man anyway? He can live with the guilt, right?
---
The 1950s were certainly not an easy time to be gay. But that's true for much of history. And the struggles that some men went through, trying to reconcile who they were with society's expectations, were certainly heart wrenching. And we get a good glimpse of that here.
When reading this, it's easy to think of it as historical fiction. But that diminishes the significance of James Baldwin writing this contemporary to the time it takes place. In that regard, it's a truly groundbreaking work, although it's not exactly the most uplifting piece of literature.
I definitely give this one a recommendation, though I need to put a caveat that it's not a happiness and sunshine story. It's gritty. And it will definitely make you think.
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LibraryThing member dbsovereign
Please don't read this until AFTER you come out of the closet - it might just scare you back in there...And it is profoundly depressing. But stunning too!
LibraryThing member drugfiend
Beautiful novel about love. And Paris is a city full of desperate longing it seems...
LibraryThing member isabelx
I have read "Giovanni's Room" before, but so long ago that all I remembered was that the story involved homosexuals and Paris.
Written in the mid-1950s and set in Paris, this is the story of a reluctantly homosexual American having his first real same-sex relationship with an Italian waiter. No
Written in the mid-1950s and set in Paris, this is the story of a reluctantly homosexual American having his first real same-sex relationship with an Italian waiter. No
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happy endings here. Show Less
LibraryThing member gbill
Baldwin followed up the success of his first novel, Go Tell it on the Mountain (1953), with Giovanni’s Room (1956). The book came as a surprise to readers who expected more “African-American literature”, instead, they got a book centered on homosexual Caucasian characters in Paris; moreover,
While ostensibly the novel is about a man who struggles to be true to himself in the face of conventional morality, the tale of forbidden love and the difficulties of a doomed relationship transcend “gay fiction”, and I really liked this book. One of the more memorable chapters had the main character seeking out and having meaningless, casual sex in order to reassert his heterosexuality; Baldwin’s descriptions of the psychology and feelings that go along with this are outstanding.
Quotes:
On love and settling down:
“…I told her that I had loved her once and I made myself believe it. But I wonder if I had. I was thinking, no doubt, of our nights in bed, of the peculiar innocence and confidence, which will never come again, which had made those nights so delightful, so unrelated to past, present, or anything to come, so unrelated, finally, to my life since it was not necessary for me to take any but the most mechanical responsibility for them. And these nights were being acted out under a foreign sky, with no one to watch, no penalties attached – it was this last fact which was our undoing, for nothing is more unbearable, once one has it, than freedom. I suppose this was why I asked her to marry me: to give myself something to be moored to. Perhaps this was why, in Spain, she decided that she wanted to marry me. But people can’t, unhappily, invent their mooring posts, their lovers and their friends, anymore than they can invent their parents. Life gives these and also takes them away and the great difficulty is to say Yes to life.”
On memories of lovers lost:
“Until I die there will be those moments, moments seeming to rise up out of the ground like Macbeth’s witches, when his face will come before me, that face in all its changes, when the exact timbre of his voice and tricks of his speech will nearly burst my ears, when his smell will overpower my nostrils. Sometimes, in the days which are coming – God grant me the grace to live them – in the glare of the grey morning, sour-mouthed, eyelids raw and red, hair tangled and damp from my stormy sleep, facing, over coffee and cigarette smoke, last night’s impenetrable, meaningless boy who will shortly rise and vanish like the smoke, I will see Giovanni again, as he was that night, so vivid, so winning, all of the light of that gloomy tunnel trapped around his head.”
On forbidden love:
“Each day he invited me to witness how he had changed, how love had changed him, how he worked and sang and cherished me. I was in a terrible confusion. Sometimes I thought, but this is your life. Stop fighting it. Stop fighting. Or I thought, but I am happy. And he loves me. I am safe. Sometimes when he was not near me, I thought, I will never let him touch me again. Then, when he touched me, I thought, it doesn’t matter, it is only the body, it will soon be over. When it was over, I lay in the dark and listened to his breathing and dreamed of the touch of hands, of Giovanni’s hands, or anybody’s hands, hands which would have the power to crush me and make me whole again.”
On parents:
“He thought we were alike. I did not want to think so. I did not want to think that my life would be like his, or that my mind would ever grow so pale, so without hard places and sharp, sheer drops. He wanted no distance between us; he wanted me to look on him as a man like myself. But I wanted the merciful distance of father and son, which would have permitted me to love him.”
On suicide:
“I had thought of suicide when I was much younger, as, possibly, we all have, but then it would have been for revenge, it would have been my way of informing the world how awfully it had made me suffer.”
Lastly this one, which I love, on saying goodbye to love which was not meant to be:
“Then I wanted to beg him to forgive me. But this would have been too great a confession; any yielding at that moment would have locked me forever in that room with him. And in a way this was exactly what I wanted. I felt a tremor go through me, like the beginning of an earthquake, and felt, for an instant, that I was drowning in his eyes. His body, which I had come to know so well, glowed in the light and charged and thickened the air between us. Then something opened in my brain, a secret, noiseless door swung open, frightening me: it had not occurred to me until that instant that, in fleeing from his body, I confirmed and perpetuated his body’s power over me. Now, as though I had been branded, his body was burned into my mind, into my dreams. And all this time he did not take his eyes from me. He seemed to find my face more transparent than a shop window. He did not smile, he was neither grave, nor vindictive, nor sad; he was still. He was waiting, I think, for me to cross that space and take him in my arms again – waiting, as one waits at a deathbed for a miracle one dares not disbelieve, which will not happen. I had to get out of there for my face showed too much, the war in my body was dragging me down. My feet refused to carry me over to him again. The wind of my life was blowing me away.”
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Baldwin was very frank in his depiction of gay love which came as a bit of shock to people. While ostensibly the novel is about a man who struggles to be true to himself in the face of conventional morality, the tale of forbidden love and the difficulties of a doomed relationship transcend “gay fiction”, and I really liked this book. One of the more memorable chapters had the main character seeking out and having meaningless, casual sex in order to reassert his heterosexuality; Baldwin’s descriptions of the psychology and feelings that go along with this are outstanding.
Quotes:
On love and settling down:
“…I told her that I had loved her once and I made myself believe it. But I wonder if I had. I was thinking, no doubt, of our nights in bed, of the peculiar innocence and confidence, which will never come again, which had made those nights so delightful, so unrelated to past, present, or anything to come, so unrelated, finally, to my life since it was not necessary for me to take any but the most mechanical responsibility for them. And these nights were being acted out under a foreign sky, with no one to watch, no penalties attached – it was this last fact which was our undoing, for nothing is more unbearable, once one has it, than freedom. I suppose this was why I asked her to marry me: to give myself something to be moored to. Perhaps this was why, in Spain, she decided that she wanted to marry me. But people can’t, unhappily, invent their mooring posts, their lovers and their friends, anymore than they can invent their parents. Life gives these and also takes them away and the great difficulty is to say Yes to life.”
On memories of lovers lost:
“Until I die there will be those moments, moments seeming to rise up out of the ground like Macbeth’s witches, when his face will come before me, that face in all its changes, when the exact timbre of his voice and tricks of his speech will nearly burst my ears, when his smell will overpower my nostrils. Sometimes, in the days which are coming – God grant me the grace to live them – in the glare of the grey morning, sour-mouthed, eyelids raw and red, hair tangled and damp from my stormy sleep, facing, over coffee and cigarette smoke, last night’s impenetrable, meaningless boy who will shortly rise and vanish like the smoke, I will see Giovanni again, as he was that night, so vivid, so winning, all of the light of that gloomy tunnel trapped around his head.”
On forbidden love:
“Each day he invited me to witness how he had changed, how love had changed him, how he worked and sang and cherished me. I was in a terrible confusion. Sometimes I thought, but this is your life. Stop fighting it. Stop fighting. Or I thought, but I am happy. And he loves me. I am safe. Sometimes when he was not near me, I thought, I will never let him touch me again. Then, when he touched me, I thought, it doesn’t matter, it is only the body, it will soon be over. When it was over, I lay in the dark and listened to his breathing and dreamed of the touch of hands, of Giovanni’s hands, or anybody’s hands, hands which would have the power to crush me and make me whole again.”
On parents:
“He thought we were alike. I did not want to think so. I did not want to think that my life would be like his, or that my mind would ever grow so pale, so without hard places and sharp, sheer drops. He wanted no distance between us; he wanted me to look on him as a man like myself. But I wanted the merciful distance of father and son, which would have permitted me to love him.”
On suicide:
“I had thought of suicide when I was much younger, as, possibly, we all have, but then it would have been for revenge, it would have been my way of informing the world how awfully it had made me suffer.”
Lastly this one, which I love, on saying goodbye to love which was not meant to be:
“Then I wanted to beg him to forgive me. But this would have been too great a confession; any yielding at that moment would have locked me forever in that room with him. And in a way this was exactly what I wanted. I felt a tremor go through me, like the beginning of an earthquake, and felt, for an instant, that I was drowning in his eyes. His body, which I had come to know so well, glowed in the light and charged and thickened the air between us. Then something opened in my brain, a secret, noiseless door swung open, frightening me: it had not occurred to me until that instant that, in fleeing from his body, I confirmed and perpetuated his body’s power over me. Now, as though I had been branded, his body was burned into my mind, into my dreams. And all this time he did not take his eyes from me. He seemed to find my face more transparent than a shop window. He did not smile, he was neither grave, nor vindictive, nor sad; he was still. He was waiting, I think, for me to cross that space and take him in my arms again – waiting, as one waits at a deathbed for a miracle one dares not disbelieve, which will not happen. I had to get out of there for my face showed too much, the war in my body was dragging me down. My feet refused to carry me over to him again. The wind of my life was blowing me away.”
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LibraryThing member hemlokgang
A powerful, moving story of self exploration. Two young men discover a frightening truth about their sexuality, and proceed to struggle painfully with their passion and love for one another in the face of societal judgements. An Italian and an American find themselves in a foriegn country and
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foriegn emotional territory. Certainly, progress has occured since the publication of this novel, but really....when will hatred and fear stop reigning supreme? Show Less
LibraryThing member bookworm12
David is a young man living in Paris and reflecting on a doomed love affair. This poetic story, a mere 160 pages, delves not only into his relationship with Giovanni, but also into his confusion, self-loathing, loneliness, shame and more. In a flawed attempt to figure out who he is and what he
In addition to telling a tragic love story, the book touches on the complicated role women held in society in the early 20th century. As they began to gain the freedom to make their own decisions they realized that in many ways they weren’t really free. The expectation was still that they find a husband as soon as possible.
“I don’t see what’s so hard about being a woman. At least, not as long as she’s got a man.” “‘That’s just it,’ said she. ‘Hasn’t it ever struck you that that’s a sort of humiliating necessity?’” … ‘I began to realize it in Spain that – that I wasn’t free, that I couldn’t be free until I was attached – no committed to someone.’”
BOTTOM LINE: A haunting look at love and its many forms, this story reminds the readers of the importance of understanding who you are. The pain and heartbreak is universal when we can’t even be honest with ourselves.
“But people can’t, unhappily, invent their mooring posts, their lovers and their friends, any more than they can invent their parents.”
“Much has been written of love turning to hatred, of the heart growing cold with the death of love. It is a remarkable process. It is far more terrible than anything I have ever read about it, more terrible than anything I will ever be able to say.”
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truly wants, David has a tendency to hurt those around him with little or no feeling. Baldwin’s beautiful and succinct writing style pulls readers into David’s world. In addition to telling a tragic love story, the book touches on the complicated role women held in society in the early 20th century. As they began to gain the freedom to make their own decisions they realized that in many ways they weren’t really free. The expectation was still that they find a husband as soon as possible.
“I don’t see what’s so hard about being a woman. At least, not as long as she’s got a man.” “‘That’s just it,’ said she. ‘Hasn’t it ever struck you that that’s a sort of humiliating necessity?’” … ‘I began to realize it in Spain that – that I wasn’t free, that I couldn’t be free until I was attached – no committed to someone.’”
BOTTOM LINE: A haunting look at love and its many forms, this story reminds the readers of the importance of understanding who you are. The pain and heartbreak is universal when we can’t even be honest with ourselves.
“But people can’t, unhappily, invent their mooring posts, their lovers and their friends, any more than they can invent their parents.”
“Much has been written of love turning to hatred, of the heart growing cold with the death of love. It is a remarkable process. It is far more terrible than anything I have ever read about it, more terrible than anything I will ever be able to say.”
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LibraryThing member reluctantm
A testament to the strength and beauty of the writing that such a navel-gazing novel held my interest.
LibraryThing member akblanchard
In post-WWII Paris, David, an American expat of confused sexuality, has relationships with Hella, an American woman he considers marrying, and Giovanni, an Italian waiter he moves in with in Hella's absence. The story has been described as a "love triangle" but I am surprised by how little love is
Published originally in 1956, Giovanni's Room is often regarded as a classic work of pre-Stonewall gay literature, but it is not a book about gay pride. Rather, it is a book about gay (and bisexual) self-loathing. In the book, homosexuality is almost synonymous with desperation and alcoholism. The two old gay men in the narrative (Jacques and Guillaume; they are not exactly friends of David and Giovanni, but they are in the same social circle) are both portrayed as pathetic, repulsive "fairies", "old queens" etc. "Giovanni's room" itself is descried as a cramped, filthy, uncomfortable place (David tries to clean it up, but fails). It's not any sort of paradise. It isn't even an adequate love nest.
At the beginning of their affair David and Giovanni are happy, but "[b]eneath the joy, of course, was anguish, and beneath the amazement was fear. ..[Later] anguish and fear [became] the surface on which we slipped and slid, losing balance, dignity and pride" (p. 117).
David likens his same-sex attraction to a "beast" and goes on to say, "The beast which Giovanni had awakened in me would never go to sleep again; but one day I would not be with Giovanni any more. And would I then, like all the others, find myself turning and following all kinds of boys down God knows what dark avenues, into what dark places?....[T]here opened in me a hatred of Giovanni which was as powerful as my love and which was nourished by the same roots" (p. 130).
The book is, for the most part, beautifully written (except for a few occasions in which David gets tangled in his own words), and once the narrative gains momentum in the second half, quite compelling. But it is a sad story that doesn't hold out any hope for an end to David's loneliness.
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actually in it. David, who narrates the story, is an emotionally stunted man who wants a socially-acceptable, conventional marriage with Hella one moment and...well, it's hard to say exactly what he wants from Giovanni other than sex. One of the main themes of the work is how little we really know about other people, even those we claim to love. David doesn't really know Hella, or Giovanni, and he doesn't really love either of them.Published originally in 1956, Giovanni's Room is often regarded as a classic work of pre-Stonewall gay literature, but it is not a book about gay pride. Rather, it is a book about gay (and bisexual) self-loathing. In the book, homosexuality is almost synonymous with desperation and alcoholism. The two old gay men in the narrative (Jacques and Guillaume; they are not exactly friends of David and Giovanni, but they are in the same social circle) are both portrayed as pathetic, repulsive "fairies", "old queens" etc. "Giovanni's room" itself is descried as a cramped, filthy, uncomfortable place (David tries to clean it up, but fails). It's not any sort of paradise. It isn't even an adequate love nest.
At the beginning of their affair David and Giovanni are happy, but "[b]eneath the joy, of course, was anguish, and beneath the amazement was fear. ..[Later] anguish and fear [became] the surface on which we slipped and slid, losing balance, dignity and pride" (p. 117).
David likens his same-sex attraction to a "beast" and goes on to say, "The beast which Giovanni had awakened in me would never go to sleep again; but one day I would not be with Giovanni any more. And would I then, like all the others, find myself turning and following all kinds of boys down God knows what dark avenues, into what dark places?....[T]here opened in me a hatred of Giovanni which was as powerful as my love and which was nourished by the same roots" (p. 130).
The book is, for the most part, beautifully written (except for a few occasions in which David gets tangled in his own words), and once the narrative gains momentum in the second half, quite compelling. But it is a sad story that doesn't hold out any hope for an end to David's loneliness.
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LibraryThing member starbox
'No matter what I was doing, another me sat in my belly, absolutely cold with terror over the question of my life',, 8 February 2015
This review is from: Giovanni's Room (Penguin Great Loves) (Paperback)
Set in 1950s Paris - and how beautifully Baldwin brings the city to life - this short novel is
But despite its moments of joy, the relationship is flawed by David's inability to admit to his own homosexuality. Imagining the 'normal' families in the houses he passes, he reflects:
'It was true... I wanted children. I wanted to be inside again, with the light and safety, with my manhood unquestioned, watching my woman put my children to bed... I wanted a woman to be for me a steady ground, like the earth itself.'
David's vacillating leads to heartbreak and a terrible ending....
This was a powerful work that really brings to light the shame and denial that societal pressures can put on a person.
This review is from: Giovanni's Room (Penguin Great Loves) (Paperback)
Set in 1950s Paris - and how beautifully Baldwin brings the city to life - this short novel is
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narrated by a white American male, living the cafe culture on handouts from home. While his girlfriend is off touring Spain, he falls for dashing young bartender Giovanni, and moves in with him.But despite its moments of joy, the relationship is flawed by David's inability to admit to his own homosexuality. Imagining the 'normal' families in the houses he passes, he reflects:
'It was true... I wanted children. I wanted to be inside again, with the light and safety, with my manhood unquestioned, watching my woman put my children to bed... I wanted a woman to be for me a steady ground, like the earth itself.'
David's vacillating leads to heartbreak and a terrible ending....
This was a powerful work that really brings to light the shame and denial that societal pressures can put on a person.
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LibraryThing member greeniezona
(review originally written for bookslut)
For every reader I believe there exist certain books that they will just fall into. From the very first sentence, it is obvious that there is something about the rhythm of the writing that matches the rhythm of the reader's brain. For me, Giovanni's Room by
Anyway, the troublesome thing about books that one falls into is that they don't just get under your skin, they permeate you. This may be an altogether fine thing when reading Jane Austen, where whatever tribulations the characters may suffer during the course of the book, by the end everyone is properly matched and enjoying whatever measure of happiness that they deserve. Oh, to live in an Austen novel! Unfortunately, in life, and perhaps in every other novel not written by Austen, human beings and their loves do not work themselves out so neatly.
Giovanni's Room is about the tragedy of one man's tortured heart, and the poison it spreads to all those with the misfortune of becoming close to him. The narrator, David, discovers early in his life the joy that is to be had in other man's arms. But nothing in his life terrifies him as much as this discovery, from which he runs far and hard. When he finds joy again in Giovanni's room, it quickly becomes clear that it cannot last, that love does not always conquer all, and that it actually stands no chance against fear and self-delusion.
When I finally put this book down, I walked around dazed for a bit, feeling terribly hollow inside. It is on this book that I finally blame my moment of weakness, in which I reached for and devoured a cheesy
romance novel (though this book surely doesn't deserve such association). But after walking around for a week, having the despair of Giovanni's Room resonating inside my brain, I needed something trivial, something optimistic. Something with a deliriously unrealistic happy ending.
I do recommend this book. I think that it is beautiful and true and provides glimpses into unopened rooms in your heart. But I hope that you have something altogether fluffy to read afterwords...
For every reader I believe there exist certain books that they will just fall into. From the very first sentence, it is obvious that there is something about the rhythm of the writing that matches the rhythm of the reader's brain. For me, Giovanni's Room by
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James Baldwin was one of those books. I opened it up at a bus stop and was immediately enraptured. In fact I had to close the book again almost as quickly, because I wasn't quite ready to be that deeply involved. I had just finished Tahar Djaout's The Last Summer of Reason and thought I would be able to slide myself gently into Baldwin's Paris, not find myself immediately in a house in southern France.Anyway, the troublesome thing about books that one falls into is that they don't just get under your skin, they permeate you. This may be an altogether fine thing when reading Jane Austen, where whatever tribulations the characters may suffer during the course of the book, by the end everyone is properly matched and enjoying whatever measure of happiness that they deserve. Oh, to live in an Austen novel! Unfortunately, in life, and perhaps in every other novel not written by Austen, human beings and their loves do not work themselves out so neatly.
Giovanni's Room is about the tragedy of one man's tortured heart, and the poison it spreads to all those with the misfortune of becoming close to him. The narrator, David, discovers early in his life the joy that is to be had in other man's arms. But nothing in his life terrifies him as much as this discovery, from which he runs far and hard. When he finds joy again in Giovanni's room, it quickly becomes clear that it cannot last, that love does not always conquer all, and that it actually stands no chance against fear and self-delusion.
When I finally put this book down, I walked around dazed for a bit, feeling terribly hollow inside. It is on this book that I finally blame my moment of weakness, in which I reached for and devoured a cheesy
romance novel (though this book surely doesn't deserve such association). But after walking around for a week, having the despair of Giovanni's Room resonating inside my brain, I needed something trivial, something optimistic. Something with a deliriously unrealistic happy ending.
I do recommend this book. I think that it is beautiful and true and provides glimpses into unopened rooms in your heart. But I hope that you have something altogether fluffy to read afterwords...
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LibraryThing member Dreesie
3.5 stars--may up later, I think this book may stick with me
I have heard so many raves about this book, and I think I built it way up in my mind. And there was nothing wrong with it--it is quite well done. But it didn't live up to my expectations. I also felt like it was snippets--or, rather, that
———
Quick summary: David is an American "finding himself" in Paris after a somewhat difficult childhood (widowed father, angry aunt, father remarrying). He meets Hella and falls in love. She goes to Spain. While she is gone he meets Giovanni, a bartender at a bar his friend Jacques takes him to. He ends up moving in with Giovanni and they too have a relationship, which David doesn't intend to keep up when Hella comes back. When she comes back they get engaged, Giovanni is very upset, Hella and David move to the country because David wants to get away.
———
So many questions, this book would be great in a book club or class.
Did David make a mistake? Would he rather be with Giovanni? Is he marrying Hella just to have an easy average life, and he is not actually in love with her at all? Or is he the type of person that will never be satisfied with the person he is with? Is Giovanni himself running from his sad past with his wife? Is Giovanni still grieving and that is why he is struggling so much? Or does Giovanni feel he was severely punished for trying to conform to society's expectations?
I have heard so many raves about this book, and I think I built it way up in my mind. And there was nothing wrong with it--it is quite well done. But it didn't live up to my expectations. I also felt like it was snippets--or, rather, that
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there were significant snippets missing. Like David's whole first year in Paris--is that when and where he met Hella? How long and significant was their relationship when she went to Spain? How long had he and Jacques known each other? What exactly was their relationship? How long did David know Giovanni for?———
Quick summary: David is an American "finding himself" in Paris after a somewhat difficult childhood (widowed father, angry aunt, father remarrying). He meets Hella and falls in love. She goes to Spain. While she is gone he meets Giovanni, a bartender at a bar his friend Jacques takes him to. He ends up moving in with Giovanni and they too have a relationship, which David doesn't intend to keep up when Hella comes back. When she comes back they get engaged, Giovanni is very upset, Hella and David move to the country because David wants to get away.
———
So many questions, this book would be great in a book club or class.
Did David make a mistake? Would he rather be with Giovanni? Is he marrying Hella just to have an easy average life, and he is not actually in love with her at all? Or is he the type of person that will never be satisfied with the person he is with? Is Giovanni himself running from his sad past with his wife? Is Giovanni still grieving and that is why he is struggling so much? Or does Giovanni feel he was severely punished for trying to conform to society's expectations?
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LibraryThing member bibleblaster
Baldwin consistently writes passages in no matter what I read by him (I re-read "Sonny's Blues" recently, too) that absolutely blow me away with their brilliance. This was no exception.
Subjects
Awards
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1956
Physical description
176 p.; 7.96 inches
ISBN
0345806565 / 9780345806567