The central protagonist of this novel is David, an American and Giovanni an Italian bartender. In the Guardian review, Garth Greenwell says 'the whole novel is a kind of anatomy of shame, of its roots and the myths that perpetuate it, of the damage it can do. And also of its arbitrariness, since as rebuttal to any claim that shame might be some natural accoutrements of queerness – the belief that lies at the heart of David’s malaise – the novel offers the fact of Giovanni, who seems immune to shame, or at least to the shame that plagues David. And it is this freedom that makes him available to the joy and love David finally believes men can’t share with one another.' This shame permeates the whole novel as it passes backwards and forward through time. A classic novel, James Baldwin writes eloquently about the psychological difficulities of being gay in a time when there was no acceptance. It discusses what it is to be white American abroad, and once you've left how you never feel quite so comfortable back in America - as Helga says “Americans should never come to Europe,” she says. “It means they never can be happy again. What’s the good of an American who isn’t happy? Happiness was all we had.” An interesting book with layers.
Words used to describe it: tortured, melancholic, nuanced, tragic, painful
Words out of 10: between 6 - 9.5 so a mixed reception
Next Book
I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes
Next Meeting
7th April Brighton Carolyn's
