love can really destroy people and be dishonest damn

actions have consequences I guess and communication or lack of it can really impact people, also being honest both to yourself and others amid societal standards against your desires are what struck out to me

apart from the problematic views (I'm certain it's the time period) and all but this was a great book, poetically vulnerable and unafraid of what love means for the characters involved. 

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?

Giovanni’s Room delves into identity, repression, and the consequences of denied love. Set in 1950s Paris, it follows David, an American grappling with his sexuality, as he becomes entangled in a relationship with Giovanni, an Italian bartender. Baldwin’s prose is both lyrical and introspective, exploring themes of shame, self-destruction, and the weight of societal expectations. 

While I appreciated the novel’s message and its historical significance, I found the experience of reading it somewhat frustrating. Much of the book felt like it dragged, and I struggled to connect with most of the characters. David’s emotional distance makes sense for his character, but it also made it harder for me to fully engage with his story. The relationship between him and Giovanni often felt more told than shown, which made it difficult to feel the depth of their love beyond what was stated. That being said, the ending was powerful and tied everything together in a way that left an impact.

Overall, I respect what Baldwin was doing with this novel, and I can see why it’s so highly regarded. However, as a reading experience, it felt slow and emotionally distant for me. That said, I would like to revisit it sometime because I feel like I wasn’t as focused as I could’ve been, and that may have influenced my perception of the book.

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. 

I think this book was beautifully written of course. James Baldwin is able to make you just as confused and uncomfortable as the characters themselves. From the very beginning of the novel, you know that there is a tragedy. Moving through the story you already have a sense of the tragic fate that Giovanni awaits. in the novel, Baldwin writes in a way that is so raw and real that it has you processing and analyzing the text way after you have read it. I still think about this book a lot. Baldwin is the first writer I have read that truly captures the internalized shame that comes with being outside societal expectations, sexual, and parental expectations. 
     Baldwin made the characters so complicated and unlikable at times that it truly felt real because of how realistic it is. in life you don’t always take action before it’s too late and then you have to deal with the consequences of that. I think Baldwin did a phenomenal job at depicting how excruciating it can be to have to be different people to different aspects of your life. How hard it can be when different parts of your life collide. 
    Baldwin does a great job at showing the complexity of love. He shows the different kind of love you can have and how it can be extremely complex and confusing. The way he truly shows the shame and denial to his sexual identity and attraction to Giovanni was such a raw and realistic depiction of how it feels trying to deny your sexual identity especially during this time period. Of course you don’t have to feel shame or suppress your sexual identity. There is nothing wrong with loving who you love, but I feel that during the 1950s it was not a common experience to be proud of your sexual identity that did not fit the Norm especially for people from America. 
    I know that that he did a good job at depicting the tragic relationship because I felt uncomfortable and avoided coming back to the book because of how real it felt. It is a book that will leave you thinking about it long after reading it.