![]() ![]() What's the catch? Something that could have been avoided, alas. He has good timing, he finds non-stagy ways to evoke the characters, and he turns Baldwin's novel into a subtle, powerful monologue. Dan Butler is a fine actor, and he doesn't fight the dolefulness of the book. But Baldwin describes everyone with such vivid detail that their dead-ends blaze in Technicolor. Every character is at some kind of impasse. The tone is unrelievedly elegiac the sad ending is announced at the very beginning, and there is precious little joy in the narrative. The writing is filled with beauty, the characters are potent and alive, and Baldwin's ability to evoke time and place (cities, seasons, an entire era) is masterful. I think "Giovanni's Room" is a good way to get to know this extraordinary author. I'd never read any Baldwin and it was high time to fill in the gap. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |