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Giovanni's Room |  | Author: James Baldwin
Publisher: Delta
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy Used: $4.20
as of 9/3/2010 18:47 CDT details
You Save: $9.80 (70%)
Seller: belltowerbooks
Rating:  reviews
Media: Paperback
Pages: 176
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 0.5
ISBN: 0385334583
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780385334587
ASIN: 0385334583
Publication Date: June 13, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | ISBN13: 9780385334587 | | • | Condition: New | | • | Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Set in the 1950s Paris of American expatriates, liaisons, and violence, a young man finds himself caught between desire and conventional morality. With a sharp, probing imagination, James Baldwin's now-classic narrative delves into the mystery of loving and creates a moving, highly controversial story of death and passion that reveals the unspoken complexities of the human heart.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Excrutiatingly Beautiful March 22, 2010
J. Kim (USA)
I read Giovanni's Room for an English class at the college-level on the experience of foreignness. This has been one of my favorite classes and favorite teachers (not to keep beating on the word favorite, but maybe everything just came together really well?). We explored different ways of being foreign, first the more obvious - literally being foreign like being an immigrant, traveler, etc. Next, ways we could feel foreign, either by our personal interests or our political views.
Giovanni's room was just beautiful. It was a story of a man who felt foreign in his own skin, and traveled half way across the world to escape himself, only to trap himself, unable to escape. In Giovanni's room, he is exposed but cannot face himself, destroying himself and those around him. Baldwin is poetic. rhythmic. violent, emotional. and excruciatingly beautiful.
Revisiting the book again with the context of the author's background gives it another layer of complexity. Giovanni's room was published in 1956, during the post war era of social conformity. Baldwin, though black, writes exclusively about white characters experiencing sexual exploration. He himself left the US and went to Paris in 1948 due to American prejudice against homosexuals and blacks. In many ways, this novel has autobiographical elements.
A milestone that stands the test of time February 14, 2010
San Diego Heel (San Diego, Ca)
I read Giovanni's Room originally when I was in my 20's and loved it.
Now at 51, I just reread it. This time around it struck me as a tad overwrought, but still a wonderful book. It's certainly one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read. The prose just flows gracefully along like a Brahms Intermezzo. Baldwin captures the anguish of a man struggling with his sexuality and the impact that has on others beautifully. His insights into human nature are keen. Despite being written in the 50's when homosexuality was quite taboo, the book has aged remarkably well and in no way feels dated. Highly recommended.
 Weird ending October 27, 2009
Kjell N. Stava
I liked the story, although it seemed more like the outline to a great novel yet to be written. It was just too short. The only thing I didn't like was the sudden strange ending that was unrelated to the relationships between any of the main characters.
Amazing book. You will want to read it more than once! April 13, 2009
Tom Markus (Houston, TX)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I loved this book. It is one of the top ten gay and lesbian novels of all times. I was shocked to learn that Amazon was instituting a new anti-gay policy and censoring it from search lists. Hopefully people can still find this gem.
I am so glad I found this book! March 10, 2009
K. Morris (california)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
What a beautifully written book! I read it for my book club. I had heard of James Baldwin, but had never read anything of his before. I loved the depiction of Paris - the sleazier, decadent life underneath the beauty, and the depiction of the bars and the sad characters that Giovanni hung out with. The depiction of the main character's feelings for Giovanni and for his fiancee were just amazingly written - some of the best writing about feelings of love that I have read - the positive and negative. Heartbreakingly sad. Everybody in my book club LOVED the book - I think it is one of only two books which has received a 100% thumbs up from us all!
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