Giovanni's Room is so devastating!

Submitted by EntrepreneurInside86 t3_120z53f in books

I just finished reading Giovanni's Room and I'm at a loss. Wow! Such a powerful novel about the devastating consequences of love. James Baldwin is such an efficient writer, he always seemed to convey exactly what the scene needed and no more. I loved how nuanced his characterizations were. Though all of them were incredibly flawed you really couldn't stop yourself from sympathizing. It's a quick read that I had considered only because it would be an easy addition for my reading challenge but instead became a book I'll revist many times. A classic. I'd recommend it to anyone I'd meet. If you haven't read it ,READ IT! If you have feel free to share your thoughts on it below. I'm just in such a mood to talk about it and hear /share opinions.

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Bazinator1975 t1_jdjssyd wrote

If you want to explore more of Baldwin's fiction, I highly recommend Go Tell It on the Mountain.

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EntrepreneurInside86 OP t1_jdjt9it wrote

It's next. Though I've heard great things about another country I can't seem to find it in my library or online

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lazylittlelady t1_jdjqx41 wrote

The disillusionment and alienation was so visceral. Holding up a façade and losing everything in the process. It was an amazing read!

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EntrepreneurInside86 OP t1_jdjt1is wrote

Exactly. Another visceral thing was disgust. James described it so well whether it of Jaques or his friend or was at Giovanni or David's own desires. It made everyone more human too me. How vulnerable and shameful they all felt

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cantspellrestaraunt t1_jdkl41y wrote

>James Baldwin is such an efficient writer, he always seemed to convey exactly what the scene needed and no more

Couldn't disagree more. I know I'm in the minority, but I really struggled to get through even 30 pages of Giovanni's Room.

So many of Baldwin's sentences seemed to spill into the next, and the next. There was constant reiteration and repetition. Like he was always grasping to say something profound. Occasionally he would.

Apparently, he was heavily inspired by the rhetoric of gospel preachers. The whole church-pastor-delivery doesn't sit well with me.

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>Then, perhaps, life only offers the choice of remembering the garden or forgetting it. Either or: it takes strength to remember, it takes another kind of strength to forget, it takes a hero to do both. People who remember court madness through pain, the pain of the perpetually recurring death of their innocence; people who forget court another kind of madness, the madness of the denial of pain and the hatred of innocence; and the world is mostly divided between madmen who remember and madmen who forget. Heroes are rare.

I just can't see this as 'efficient writing'. I can understand how other people enjoy it, don't get me wrong. But yeah. Not for me.

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[deleted] t1_jdmtjol wrote

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EntrepreneurInside86 OP t1_jdnhrld wrote

I agree 100% . I thought it was a sign of those time but as I read it became needlessly cruel. Even Hella's dependency feels dramatic and male identified. I get what you're saying 100%

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DGH-1973 t1_jdogndb wrote

Yes, I found it very moving too. Read it a while ago, is definitely on my vague re-read list. I remember the character being almost painfully vivid in my imagination.

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