Reviews

What an absolutely heart wrenching but beautifully written novel. Baldwin is succinct but also so lyrical and his ability to distill entire ideas into a few lines is brilliant! Which speaking of, I'm a sucker for a really good opening line and this has one of the best:

"I stand at the window of this great house in the South of France as night falls, the night which is leading me to the most terrible morning of my life."

SO GOOD!!!

Giovanni's Room is about shame, guilt, masculinity, and about people's attempts to hide or manipulate their feelings. It took me so long to read because of this; it was hard to read a book where you know from the start the ending won't be good. Needless to say, I still believe this book is worthwhile! It isn't gratuitous and I think it has a lot to say if you let it.

Even if you're not into classics I would highly recommend this. I will definitely be picking up more James Baldwin in the future.

#IndigoEmployee

nollkatie's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

orangepeel_angel's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

nicola78's review against another edition

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dark sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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