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A review by hobbitfreddie
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
4.0
To me this is a combo of A Time to Love and a Time to Die and Maurice. Anyways references aside this is a fantastic little novel. It's short and wastes no time setting up drama, tragedy, and some good themes/things to chew in.
The book isn't a simple gay romance, it's a pretty deep delve into life too. Giovanni and David certainly aren't literature's gay power couple (that honor goes to Maurice Hall and Alec Scudder). But it works, because of the themes and ideas presented in the book. But you still root for them, and it's tragic in that way I guess. The characters feel so real, and so you feel for them.
Not much really happens until the halfway mark, and that's where the book really shines. I feel like you could have some fun dissecting this book, especially the last half.
Anyways the prose is pretty good too, not too flowery, and not too simple but good enough to invoke emotion and that kinda stuff. This book makes me want to look into Mr. Baldwin's other works.
The book isn't a simple gay romance, it's a pretty deep delve into life too. Giovanni and David certainly aren't literature's gay power couple (that honor goes to Maurice Hall and Alec Scudder). But it works, because of the themes and ideas presented in the book. But you still root for them, and it's tragic in that way I guess. The characters feel so real, and so you feel for them.
Not much really happens until the halfway mark, and that's where the book really shines. I feel like you could have some fun dissecting this book, especially the last half.
Anyways the prose is pretty good too, not too flowery, and not too simple but good enough to invoke emotion and that kinda stuff. This book makes me want to look into Mr. Baldwin's other works.