Giovannis værelse (1956)

I'm not sure why it took me so long to get around to reading James Baldwin, but this book was great. It packs a lot into it's short length and is a devasting read. ( )

I finished reading this novel three days ago now, finished one book since, but it is still gnawing at me. The scene when **spoilers** Hella finds David in the club floats beneath my closed eyes. I can see the red of a neon sign and the smoke filled air. This book captivated me with it’s rich descriptions of the mundane aspects of Paris. Baldwin so expertly captures the feeling of being an outsider even, perhaps especially, to one’s self. ( )

Wow! This is the first review in a long time, maybe ever, that I started writing partway through reading the book. I just couldn’t wait. This novel is simply so remarkable I had to start getting down my thoughts and reactions. The writing is incredible. The way he describes Paris and Parisians is so concise and yet so memorable. The dialogue is excellent. The structure of the story is complex enough to be tantalizing and yet easy to follow. Then there is a black American author writing about a white American character coming to a realization about his sexual orientation. I can’t help but be curious about Baldwin’s motivations for this portrayal of the main character as white; for such an intimate subject matter, you would think most authors would want to stay closer to who they are, but Baldwin does it so well. Perhaps Baldwin wanted the focus to be on David’s dealing with his sexual orientation without mixing bringing race into composition.

Before I was done with Giovanni’s Room, I realized I had a copy of [b:Go Tell It on the Mountain|17143|Go Tell It on the Mountain|James Baldwin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348424233l/17143._SY75_.jpg|1027995] on my shelves. It quickly moved it to a shelf where I keep books I plan to read in the next 12 months. As much as I read, as much as so many of us read, we sometimes wonder will we have again one of those reading experiences we had when we were younger, where we read the book with amazement and when we finish we feel we are in shock.Your thoughts keep going back to the story and characters for days to come. Well, I am pleased to say this novel was one of those experiences for me. Here’s to many more to come. ( )

4.5/5

The writing was so beautiful, it flowed so nicely and created such vivid images in my mind as I read. I appreciated that a lot, right from the first few paragraphs.

Why do I always have to pick up sad, tragic novels? I always curse myself and promise myself read something happier but until I'm an emotional wreck at the end of the book, I'm not satisfied. Lucky for me, this book had enough material to feed the glutton inside me. From the very beginning I knew it was coming, I was prepared or so I thought because nothing could have prepared me for that one speech of Giovanni's addressed to David.

Anyway, I initially rated it 4 but on hindsight, I think I liked it more. ( )

Há tanto sentimento, tanta alma, tanta vida nesse livro que, para o bem e para o mal, é impossível não sentir algo intenso pelos personagens. A beleza, a dor, a crueldade, a violência... é como se víssemos todas as faces dos personagens, incluindo aquelas que não queremos ver. E isso é, por mais contraditório que pareça, o maior acerto de O Quarto de Giovanni. Os personagens são humanos, complexos e bem construídos como poucas vezes vi.

Por mais que eu ame e priorize o foco em personagens nas leituras que faço, acho que acertar bastante nisso não impede o livro de encontrar um problema quanto à trama. Aqui, ela é basicamente um fiapo, uma desculpa para olhar para os personagens e seus dramas pessoas e, para mim, isso não funciona tão bem assim. É tudo muito rápido e pouco importante. Não seria má ideia elaborar uma narrativa um tanto menos apressada para a trama.

Mas isso é apenas um fator que me impede de avaliar o livro com cotação máxima, pois em momento algum torna a leitura menos envolvente ou menos bela. No fim, O Quarto de Giovanni é uma linda introdução ao trabalho de James Baldwin e estou bastante curioso para ler outras obras suas. ( )