Also on Snow White Hates Apples.

If there is a list of must-read books that carry within its pages endless, gorgeous prose prostrating themselves before the tender mercies of love, then Giovanni’s Room must be on it.

This little modern classic is an eloquent reflection of a young man caught between love and hatred, life and death, desire and morality. It is a tragic tale of queerness, of alienation and identity. Every failing, every affection, the internal and external conflicts this young man faces, along with the results of his every action and inaction are all laid bare on paper, expressed through elegant prose that amplifies how much of a sucker punch to the solar plexus this book is.

My only qualm is the emotional distance created by the very same beautiful prose I cannot stop waxing lyrical about. I could, on a more surface level, sympathise and empathise with the characters but the narrative was still too cold to evoke deeper reactions from me. Nevertheless, this remains a beautiful book and I fully recommend reading it. 

crying. absolutely 10/10 book. The storytelling, the plot, the characters... James Baldwin's writing is so poetic, he managed to describe the ultimite gay struggle and the struggle of gay men's sexuality in society. The book is very personal and close to my heart, it hits so close to home and I think that every gay man can relate to this in a sense. Instant favourite.

I feel like there's nothing that I can truly put into words about this book that can do justice to the experience of reading it. Traversing through the pages of sorrow and melancholy of this novel felt like an unraveling journey that was slowly breaking me apart with each turn.

A classic which I think is a necessity to read for any queer person, James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room explores the turmoiled life of David – a man who left America in search of a more free life in Paris – and the developing relationship between him and Giovanni. Through the meandering narrative of David's life and the memories which he slowly recalls of both the past and the present, you're thrust into a story of depressing beauty laced in love and pain.

Conflicting sadness between desire and disgust mixes within the incredible writing and language of this novel, creating a fantastical read that I loved from start to finish. Reading through David's hatred for his own sexuality and the perpetual limbo he seems to be in when it comes to how he feels for Giovanni makes for a truly heart wretching story that I don't think I'll ever forget.

Accelerating, tragically romantic: an incredible story that I will never recover from, which brought me to tears by the end. I can't stress enough how masterfully crafted this is, and all I can ask is for more people to read the sickeningly beautiful narrative this remarkable novel puts through.