Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
New York: Delta Trade Paperbacks, [2000], c1956.
169 p. ; 21 cm.
After reading Go Tell it On the Mountain during the summer, a teacher at our school suggested that I read Giovanni's Room. She said it was her favorite Baldwin novel.
The novel, published in 1956, is a powerful story of a young gay man struggling to come to terms with love, identity and convention in 1950s Paris. The novel is passionate and heartfelt, and is one of the great early gay novels rich in character and the nuances of Parisian expatriate and gay life in the 1950s.
I really loved how subtly Baldwin is able to convey the complexities of characters trying to unravel their identities and live in authentic ways. He also conveys the self-deception and destructiveness that homophobia and conventional mores foster in those characters.
I would definitely recommend Giovanni's Room to anyone wanting to explore the novels of James Baldwin.
Showing posts with label z author: Baldwin (James). Show all posts
Showing posts with label z author: Baldwin (James). Show all posts
Monday, January 2, 2012
Monday, July 25, 2011
Finally Baldwin
Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
New York: Dial Press Trade Paperbacks, 2005.
226 p. ; 21 cm.
As a former English major and a librarian for ten years, I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I had not read any James Baldwin novels until now. I decided that as a newbie, I'd start with his first novel, Go Tell it on the Mountain. I was not disappointed.
Set in Harlem in the 1950s, this novel uses the setting of a small Harlem independent Christian Gospel church to unfold the layers of stories buried within one African American family of the time. The main character, teen John Grimes moves toward a spiritual rebirth as the novel tells the stories of several important characters who's lives are tied together by family and religion.
It is not a novel that stuns with amazing techniques or plot development, but as a first novel the writing is sure-footed and rich and the unfolding stories behind the characters is satisfying and very interesting.
The novel also richly conveys the atmosphere of a Bible-based, Holy Spirit centered small African American church in the thriving New York City area of Harlem in the 1950s.
A teacher recommended that my next Baldwin novel be Giovanni's Room, and I will definitely add it to my must-read list.
New York: Dial Press Trade Paperbacks, 2005.
226 p. ; 21 cm.
As a former English major and a librarian for ten years, I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I had not read any James Baldwin novels until now. I decided that as a newbie, I'd start with his first novel, Go Tell it on the Mountain. I was not disappointed.
Set in Harlem in the 1950s, this novel uses the setting of a small Harlem independent Christian Gospel church to unfold the layers of stories buried within one African American family of the time. The main character, teen John Grimes moves toward a spiritual rebirth as the novel tells the stories of several important characters who's lives are tied together by family and religion.
It is not a novel that stuns with amazing techniques or plot development, but as a first novel the writing is sure-footed and rich and the unfolding stories behind the characters is satisfying and very interesting.
The novel also richly conveys the atmosphere of a Bible-based, Holy Spirit centered small African American church in the thriving New York City area of Harlem in the 1950s.
A teacher recommended that my next Baldwin novel be Giovanni's Room, and I will definitely add it to my must-read list.
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