Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Giovanni's Room

Gutting. I’ve just finished Giovanni’s Room for the first time and that was the most fully-formed thought I had about it for several minutes.

Internalized homophobia can really fuck you up. Don’t let it?

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tpwreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Kicking myself for waiting so long to read Baldwin. Such tragedy described in such beautiful words. Absolutely brilliant pose. Baldwin’s ability to place you at the scene is magnificent to witness. You can almost feel the anguish and sorrow of the characters. Everything is so believable it hurts. Love the Macbeth reference. Everything about this is perfect. A literary masterpiece! Excited to explore more of Baldwin’s work.

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thenoboshow's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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snowwhitehatesapples's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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.

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alexisgarcia's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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yessenyan's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Beautiful depressing writing. Insightful however slow.

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rieviolet's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I had very high expectations for this novel and unfortunately it didn't live up to them as much as I'd hoped for.

I cannot fault Baldwin's prose, he knows how to paint a scene or portray an emotion with words. I also don't mind bleak and melancholic stories. I think that my main problem was that I struggled to connect with the characters. I wasn't very fond of David but honestly, I disliked Giovanni the most, he spewed such brutally misogynistic remarks that I just wanted to throw him into the Seine, sympathizing with him was the furthest thing from my mind.
While I recognize that not getting along well with unlikeable characters is a personal issue, I also think that the relationship itself felt a bit flimsly grounded. I was disconnected from the characters and, accordingly, I wasn't strongly invested in their turmoils and tragedies.

All in all, I understand and value the importance of the themes explored and the relevance of the novel within the queer literary canon, but it didn't resonate with me as deeply as with other readers.

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pipisonstage's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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