Sandwich Joe
”You do, sometimes, remind me of the kind of man who is tempted to put himself in prison in order to avoid being hit by a car.”
James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room is one of the best novels I never want to read again. It's brutally honest and feels inevitable and tragic in a way that moves beyond drama and into reality.
For one, David is a terrible person I can't help but relate to. He's full of conflict, self-loathing, and quiet contempt for everyone and everything around him. This makes him deeply frustrating, but painfully real. The reader hopes David will make different choices, experience less shame, embrace the potential of Paris with Giovanni, but he never does.
And maybe that's what's so raw and unflinching about Baldwin's novel. Sometimes, when faced with so much promise, it's easier to feel disappointment and fear rather than love.
”You do, sometimes, remind me of the kind of man who is tempted to put himself in prison in order to avoid being hit by a car.”
James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room is one of the best novels I never want to read again. It's brutally honest and feels inevitable and tragic in a way that moves beyond drama and into reality.
For one, David is a terrible person I can't help but relate to. He's full of conflict, self-loathing, and quiet contempt for everyone and everything around him. This makes him deeply frustrating, but painfully real. The reader hopes David will make different choices, experience less shame, embrace the potential of Paris with Giovanni, but he never does.
And maybe that's what's so raw and unflinching about Baldwin's novel. Sometimes, when faced with so much promise, it's easier to feel disappointment and fear rather than love.