Giovanni's Room
by James Baldwin
Nomination: National Book Finalist 1957
Date Read: May 29, 2021
Giovanni’s Room is a devastating tale of blooming, obsessive, embarrassing, self-loathing, curdling love. Perhaps it is the lure of the forbidden or Giovanni himself, but both seem to dabble in self-loathing and embarrassment over their sexuality – the flavor of which is irrelevant (bisexual, gay, who cares?). Understandably, being gay even in 1950s Paris is not looked upon favorably so how these men present themselves to the outside world does matter.
Baldwin manages to bring such delicate humanity to these two men wrestling with their identities which isn’t a harrowing coming out story or a syrupy queen fest like Priscilla Queen of the Desert (which I do love, by the way). The desire to love and be loved seems so simple in theory but in reality, so many factors come into play and Baldwin addresses each of these with the exquisite humanity this topic deserves. This relationship could have been between a man and woman and still would have applied.
The love between David and Giovanni is true but he continues to be lured by Hella, a conventional relationship that has the all the conventional trappings – marriage, children, growing old together. Hella comes across as desperate and conventional and ultimately boring – everything that Giovanni is not. She is not compelling enough to captivate David’s attention for any length of time before he is contemplating Giovanni.
And finally, I believe David is cruel and somewhat sadistic. He knows how his actions will impact Giovanni and everything he did throughout could have been handled much more tenderly and with so much more compassion. Some might argue Giovanni is the crazy one, considering the ending, but David gets my vote.
Baldwin at his most brilliant. A man who truly understands the complexities, both luminous and destructive, of love.
Comments
Post a Comment