Giovanni's Room: Amazon.co.uk: James Baldwin: 9780440328810: Books

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Product Description

Set in the contemporary Paris of American expatraites, liasons, and violence, a young man finds himself caught between desire and conventional morality. James Baldwin's brilliant narrative delves into the mystery of loving with a sharp, probing imagination, and he creates a moving, highly controversial story of death and passion that reveals the unspoken complexities of the heart.

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First Sentence
I stand at the window of this great house in the south of France as night falls, the night which is leading me to the most terrible morning of my life. Read the first page

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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

25 Reviews

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

4.7 out of 5 stars (25 customer reviews)

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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful novel about human relationships., 27 Oct 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Giovanni's Room (Paperback)

Not often does one encounter a novel that changes the way one thinks, that touches one deeply with its powerful story and realistic characters. 'Giovanni's Room' is one of these novels. It is written beautifully, like a long-lost tale but the pain in the novel reflects real life and human relationships. The selfishness, uncertainty, fears, love and passion of human beings are portrayed here for the reader to identify with them. The poignant way in which Baldwin describes Giovanni trying to better his 'room' for his ungrateful American lover is breath-taking. This novel is not only about sexuality, it digs deep into rifts of culture and class.

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, and painful, 25 May 2007

By

Andrea Pontiroli (Rome, Italy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Giovanni's Room (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)

This is an excellent novel, I could not put it down, in spite of the fact that, knowing that it would all go terribly bad, I was always scared of what could happen. It is a sad story, and yet so true, in the way it portrays a city, a historical period, and the realisation (and denial) of one's homosexuality. Yes, the main character is a coward, and yet Baldwin does not push the reader into hating him. We don't like him, we would not behave like him, still we can understand.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A powerful novel rich in emotion and symbolism, 15 Oct 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Giovanni's Room (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)

In this novel, Baldwin captures the torment faced by a young man in a foreign city with desires he dare not admit to himself. David spends his life running from his sexuality with the result that he denies and destroys his lover Giovanni. Giovanni's chaotic and shambolic room provides a powerful symbolic back drop to the events which unfold within. The novel leaves a bitter taste - you can't run forever and be happy. However this is a message to society and not the individual - David and Giovanni were constrained by an era where homosexuality was synonymous with inferiority and perversion. Within these constraints they could not be happy as a couple.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Intense and honest
I became totally absorbed in the story about David and his failed relationships. Baldwin writes with an intensity, as if his character's thoughts and actions were put to paper in... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Martin