You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
all that remains is dreammaking and strange remembrance
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I loved this book. This book was sooo relatable honestly. I totally get the feeling of falling for a guy you can't have and all the emotions that come along with it. This book also made me cry A LOT. it's soo fucking sad, so if you plan on reading this, be ready to cry.
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
saltburn goes all too well 10 minute version
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a retrospective review and whilst I have read this gorgeous narrative twice, it feels I still haven't discovered everything the author wants you to.
It's beautiful and tragic, hopefully and yet so realistically brutal about youthful love. The characters are flawed, so is their logic and behaviours and I cannot help but love them for it.
Finally, it needs to be said, I shall never look at a peach the same way again.
It's beautiful and tragic, hopefully and yet so realistically brutal about youthful love. The characters are flawed, so is their logic and behaviours and I cannot help but love them for it.
Finally, it needs to be said, I shall never look at a peach the same way again.
In my mind, this has always been a complete novel, a finished story. That's why I didn't like the sequel that came out a decade later, because what else is there to say? Call Me By Your Name had the start of the romance between Elio and Oliver, the end, and everything shared and said and unshared and unsaid in between.
Elio and Oliver had an incredible, albeit brief, love affair that started and ended in a summer. Reminds me of one of my favorite films, Andrew Haigh's Weekend (2011): “I met him two days ago. He doesn't know me and I don't know him. We met two days ago. Two days is nothing,” said Tom Cullen's character Russell, but two days, a weekend—or in the book's case—a summer is apparently more than enough for attraction and desire to root and to bud and to eventually blossom.
These twin feelings—attraction and desire—underlie everything that was written in the book, because it was written from Elio's perspective. What started out as a carnal attraction for the new guy, turned into a much more profound and sad desire for belonginess and acceptance and an understanding for who he actually is. For “he's more myself than I am”, he thought when he and his father were talking about Oliver. Or when he and Oliver began a unique language between lovers, of calling the other by their name, which was a much simpler way to say that they are of one heart, one mind, one body, and one soul— which is a longer way to say that all they wanted, as most lovers would have probably wanted: total intimacy.
This desire for total intimacy had Elio and Oliver do some questionable things that to my 20-year old mind who read this the first time were simply romantic and uniquely theirs. But it is easy to overlook this with such exquisite prose by Aciman. He wrote as if he was Elio, as if he was Elio desiring Oliver. It is uncanny to have some feelings Elio had be put into words and then echo the feelings I had that I was never capable of putting into words. It is incredible to write with total transparency and knowledge and sensitivity to these feelings. I loved Aciman's writing in this so much. It really was one of a kind.
And in the end, this book has the perfect closer—one of the best, really, for it summed up everything that had happened and it was a last punch for the feels. It was the most perfect prose in this already beautifully written novel. I'm glad to have experienced this all over again.
Elio and Oliver had an incredible, albeit brief, love affair that started and ended in a summer. Reminds me of one of my favorite films, Andrew Haigh's Weekend (2011): “I met him two days ago. He doesn't know me and I don't know him. We met two days ago. Two days is nothing,” said Tom Cullen's character Russell, but two days, a weekend—or in the book's case—a summer is apparently more than enough for attraction and desire to root and to bud and to eventually blossom.
These twin feelings—attraction and desire—underlie everything that was written in the book, because it was written from Elio's perspective. What started out as a carnal attraction for the new guy, turned into a much more profound and sad desire for belonginess and acceptance and an understanding for who he actually is. For “he's more myself than I am”, he thought when he and his father were talking about Oliver. Or when he and Oliver began a unique language between lovers, of calling the other by their name, which was a much simpler way to say that they are of one heart, one mind, one body, and one soul— which is a longer way to say that all they wanted, as most lovers would have probably wanted: total intimacy.
This desire for total intimacy had Elio and Oliver do some questionable things that to my 20-year old mind who read this the first time were simply romantic and uniquely theirs. But it is easy to overlook this with such exquisite prose by Aciman. He wrote as if he was Elio, as if he was Elio desiring Oliver. It is uncanny to have some feelings Elio had be put into words and then echo the feelings I had that I was never capable of putting into words. It is incredible to write with total transparency and knowledge and sensitivity to these feelings. I loved Aciman's writing in this so much. It really was one of a kind.
And in the end, this book has the perfect closer—one of the best, really, for it summed up everything that had happened and it was a last punch for the feels. It was the most perfect prose in this already beautifully written novel. I'm glad to have experienced this all over again.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"Most of us can't help but live as though we've got two lives to live, one is a mockup, and the other the finished version, and then there are all those versions in between. But there's only one, and before you know it, your heart is worn out, and, as for your body, there comes a point when no one looks at it" (Aciman, 225).
This is always my first read of the summer, and it never ceases to break me more each time.
As I get older and more comprehensive, this book and my views on love become more important to me. Through each read and each year with my wisdom's expansion, I become more aware of the severity of Elio's bruised coming of age. In a more naive era, I read this book as a love story; now I read this book as someone who has experienced hurt and manipulation within relationships and see the reality of the damage this has on those victimized. I hesitate to use the word "victimize" because I do stand by the idea of a love story coming from Acidman's work, but I also battle the idea of love vs. intimacy. Do I think the relationship in this novel is right? Probably not. Do I recognize that it is definitely problematic? Yes. Do I think it was rape or pedophilia? Not completely. Before you jump down my throat let me explain. I believe Elio to be an extremely weak an vulnerable character who is simply a child trying to come of age. Elio was not in a place of understanding and security. Elio was way too unsure of himself at this period of his life for this sort of engagement, and there is so much evidence of this within the work. So yes, I believe that this relationship left continual damage on Elio as he became a man, but this book still continues to break simply in terms of intimacy.
None of us can deny that Aciman writes one of the most beautifully intimate relationships in all of literature. The way he creates these characters and brings them to life, hooking us in, letting us see inside Elio's deepest most internal thoughts are so relatable to the coming of age within the aspect of intimate relationships and understanding of oneself, and I think that's why it hurts so bad. As readers, we want Elio to find himself, to understand, and to allow this happiness he finds momentarily to last forever, but Aciman shows us the hard truth.
Because of this truth, I will never get over this book. Thank you Aciman, I love you.
This is always my first read of the summer, and it never ceases to break me more each time.
As I get older and more comprehensive, this book and my views on love become more important to me. Through each read and each year with my wisdom's expansion, I become more aware of the severity of Elio's bruised coming of age. In a more naive era, I read this book as a love story; now I read this book as someone who has experienced hurt and manipulation within relationships and see the reality of the damage this has on those victimized. I hesitate to use the word "victimize" because I do stand by the idea of a love story coming from Acidman's work, but I also battle the idea of love vs. intimacy. Do I think the relationship in this novel is right? Probably not. Do I recognize that it is definitely problematic? Yes. Do I think it was rape or pedophilia? Not completely. Before you jump down my throat let me explain. I believe Elio to be an extremely weak an vulnerable character who is simply a child trying to come of age. Elio was not in a place of understanding and security. Elio was way too unsure of himself at this period of his life for this sort of engagement, and there is so much evidence of this within the work. So yes, I believe that this relationship left continual damage on Elio as he became a man, but this book still continues to break simply in terms of intimacy.
None of us can deny that Aciman writes one of the most beautifully intimate relationships in all of literature. The way he creates these characters and brings them to life, hooking us in, letting us see inside Elio's deepest most internal thoughts are so relatable to the coming of age within the aspect of intimate relationships and understanding of oneself, and I think that's why it hurts so bad. As readers, we want Elio to find himself, to understand, and to allow this happiness he finds momentarily to last forever, but Aciman shows us the hard truth.
Because of this truth, I will never get over this book. Thank you Aciman, I love you.