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    <name><![CDATA[Jessica]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Valdosta, GA]]></location>        
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  <id type="integer">38462</id>
  <isbn>0141186356</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780141186351</isbn13>
  <ratings_count type="integer">2674</ratings_count>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">264</text_reviews_count>
  <title>Giovanni's Room (Penguin Modern Classics)</title>
  <average_rating></average_rating>
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  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38462.Giovanni_s_Room</link>
<author>
  <id type="integer">10427</id>
  <name>James Baldwin</name>
  <ratings_count type="integer">14155</ratings_count>
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    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>2</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[aspiring artists, gays and lesbians, aspiring travelers, many more]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[Nicole...as usual.]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Apr 16 06:36:33 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Jun 17 23:09:04 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Eros and Thanatos: Sex and Death.  The mystery of inescapable human allure to these two themes paired--whether real life or fiction--is ineffable.  Baldwin has conquered this couple, at least in the sense of his lucid understandings of them together, with his striking insightfulness to human nature.  This book begins smack in medias res, you're left with this question of &quot;what happens&quot; throughout the whole thing, and you never tire of wanting.  Wanting the answer to the initial mystery, wanting the selfish and wanton protagonist to...make the better decision, wanting the &quot;antagonist,&quot; if you will, to win his battle.  I'm left a bit in awe at how much I love each of these characters--no matter how good or moral their integrity--and in total disappointment that teaching this novel is totally out of the question because of its &quot;controversial&quot; subject matter.  Ironically, I don't remember a single curse word, and the lovemaking is beautifully depicted; Baldwin doesn't even need to go into detail because of his ability to profoundly wrap his reader emotionally.  Although I didn't sob as I did near the end of A Thousand Splendid Suns, I am left with a certain hollow despair.  A sorrow, yet tiny triumph for this protagonist, a screaming lamentation for another, and a balloon-like hope for yet another.  And an aching desire for James Baldwin's genius.  Maybe God IS black and gay after all.  Won't these Southerners be disappointed.<br/><br/>((READ IT!!  Especially if you think people are born gay or if you've ever wondered what it's like to struggle with being it.))           ]]></body>
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