Book review: Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin ❤️🏳️🌈
This is an incredible, heart breaking, emotionally powerful read. I wanted to highlight every sentence I read! There's something about James Baldwin's writing style and grasp of prose which is addictive, immersive and grasps the power of human emotion and seeing the world so well.
I think it's quite hard for someone reading this now to grasp just how radical Baldwin was in writing this in 1956, but nonetheless the amount of emotion and feeling he packs into such a short book is nothing but astounding.
Baldwin documents the struggles of his main character, David, as he comes to terms with his sexuality and falls in love with another man whilst engaged to a woman. Baldwin documents the agony of this in a world which was far from accepting in the gritty, run down Parisian bars and apartments that our main character finds himself ruminating in.
The plot is simple, but the emotions and writing is nothing short of a masterpiece. I will definitely be reading more by him! This was an apt read to finish #pridemonth on & if you haven't yet read it I couldn't recommend it more highly, but prepared to be sad and broken in places you didn't expect.
Oh - if you're reading the penguin classic PB edition I would advise not to read the introduction beforehand as it essentially gives away the plot! But it's a good analysis afterwards :-)
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