James Baldwin’s “Giovanni’s Room” stands as not only an excellently written piece of fiction, but as well as a example of the harsh realities that gay men face in complex social settings. Even set in such a specific setting as the gay underground of Paris, the narrative is one of universal relevance and sheds light on the difficulty of navigating life through varying degrees of being in the closet.

One of the major themes of the book was the protagonist David’s performative heterosexuality and the disconnect between his narrative perspective and his actions throughout the plot. This performance informs not only the interactions David has with those around him—all the way from his own father to his lover, Giovanni—but alce is not so is the reason for his acute loathing of his own happiness. While parental relationships vary in their maintenance, especially when children are knowingly closeted, this emotional distance under the guise of a simple lapse in communication is an experience that even continues long past the breaking of silence between parent and child. Even leaving the discussion unaddressed, the painstaking realism of the exchange is beautifully rendered.

Secondarily, David’s insistence on needing to choose between either a life of security and a life with a lover who satisfies his desires exists simultaneously as a reality for some, and the illusory gatekeeper of a choice for many others. Especially in the world of the 1950s, marriage was seen as the ultimate marker of success in the social sphere. Without the ability to marry one another, many gay individuals—but particularly gay men as the Boston Marriage was a socially acceptable alternative for women—the choice existed between social success in an unsatisfactory marriage, or the pursuit of passion at the expense of a comfortable lifestyle. Again, with such nuance that the point is never addressed in word, the book begs the answer to the question that there is no right answer in choosing between the two, and that man can only be fulfilled when passion and success are mutually achievable. This reality, a pipedream for many even today, is the ultimate dream of many individuals who experience same-sex attraction.

Overall, the novel’s discussion of gay life and struggle is so powerfully realistic among the watercolor paints of Baldwin’s Paris, it is a read that anyone hoping to understand the gay experience should digest.