Giovanni's Room
by:
James Baldwin (author)
Baldwin's haunting and controversial second novel is his most sustained treatment of sexuality, and a classic of gay literature. In a 1950s Paris swarming with expatriates and characterized by dangerous liaisons and hidden violence, an American finds himself unable to repress his impulses,...
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Baldwin's haunting and controversial second novel is his most sustained treatment of sexuality, and a classic of gay literature. In a 1950s Paris swarming with expatriates and characterized by dangerous liaisons and hidden violence, an American finds himself unable to repress his impulses, despite his determination to live the conventional life he envisions for himself. After meeting and proposing to a young woman, he falls into a lengthy affair with an Italian bartender and is confounded and tortured by his sexual identity as he oscillates between the two.
Examining the mystery of love and passion in an intensely imagined narrative, Baldwin creates a moving and complex story of death and desire that is revelatory in its insight.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780141032948 (0141032944)
Publish date: 31-08-2007
Publisher: Penguin
Pages no: 150
Edition language: English
What a wonderful yet very powerful read. David is betrothed to Hella, he is an American living in Paris waiting for his lover to join him. A chance meeting at a Paris bar with a young attractive Italian, Giovanni, results in David questioning values that he has always believed to be true. He takes a...
Giovanni’s Room, James Baldwin’s controversial second novel, is a clenched fist, a bucket of sour grapes, a weeping work of art. A compact little tale of societal alienation and forbidden love (and lust), time has not dimmed its lights or smoothed its edges. Not one iota. Baldwin’s most well-known...
This novel was everything I thought it was not going to be. And this time, I don’t blame my expectations for disliking a book. It did make an impression on me, albeit for all the wrong reasons.I feel that Baldwin did no research before writing this book. He just used bits and pieces that he had hear...
La Chambre de Giovanni offre un magnifique triangle amoureux, écrit de façon extrêmement poétique et prenante, qui vous happe au sein de cette tempête de sentiments. Le livre joue avec la bisexualité (ou homosexualité) de son personnage principal, source de honte, d'interrogations, pêché impossible ...
So rarely does an author really capture the essence of finding oneself unexpectedly smitten, that I had a moment of wonder when reading “He smiled bleakly and looked at me; to my surprise, he took my hand and held it.”. Giovanni’s Room is about saying yes to life, about taking a chance no matter how...
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