Giovanni's Room
2001 • 185 pages
Ratings30
Average rating4.4
15
Ratings30
Average rating4.4
"Giovanni's Room traces one man's struggle with his sexual identity. In a 1950s Paris swarming with expatriates and characterized by dangerous liaisons and hidden violence, an American finds himself confronting secret desires that jeopardize the conventional life he envisions for himself. After meeting and proposing to a young woman, he falls into a lengthy affair with an Italian bartender and is confounded and tortured as he oscillates between the two." "Now a classic of gay literature, Baldwin's haunting and controversial second novel is his most sustained treatment of sexuality. Examining the agonizing mystery of love and passion in an intensely imagined yet beautifully restrained narrative, Baldwin creates a moving and complex story of death and desire that is revelatory in its insight."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Reviews with the most likes.
This book started off so strong but it lost me at the last third of the story.
I had also not expected the amount of sexism and weird comments towards women that it had.
Things like: ‘he's a corporation lawyer and she's just the little woman.'
‘It's that you've got me. So now I can be - your obedient and most loving servant.'
‘I felt her moving, rushing to open the gates of her strong, walled city and let the king of glory come in.'
Good book, but I didn't connect with the characters well. Some parts were great, others dragged for me.
