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emmylou's review
4.0
The entire last part was like a truck running over me and then backing up and then running over me again and then backing up and then running over me again and then ba
kanekiji's review
3.0
3 or 3.5 stars
mmmm I'm not sureeee. it was a nice summery read with a pretty writing. I liked the really family-ish side of the story if that make sense. I didn't really like that much the last part tho
mmmm I'm not sureeee. it was a nice summery read with a pretty writing. I liked the really family-ish side of the story if that make sense. I didn't really like that much the last part tho
ochutchinson's review
5.0
[This is a review of the audiobook read by Armie Hammer.] This is absolutely gorgeous. Hammer gives a beautiful, sexy performance of a deep, tender story. I now want to read it just to consume it in all forms available to me, but I know I'll be hearing Hammer's voice the whole way through.
"If not later, when?"
"If not later, when?"
kaispellmeier's review
3.0
“If I could have him like this in my dreams every night of my life, I'd stake my entire life on dreams and be done with the rest.”
This book has been on my to-read list for a few years, but now that the film is set to be released, I believed it was time to get going and pick it up once and for all. From what I had seen of the film - that is shirtless Armie Hammer and not much else because I wanted to read the book before even watching the trailer - and from what I had heard about the book, I was up for a promising and exciting read. Oh, and a gay one, too.
To be blunt, I expected more. More emotion most of all. Longing and sexual frustration dominated most of the novel, but I was looking for dramatic heartbreak and high emotions. Maybe a tear or two. Maybe I didn't connect enough with Elio, the main character. Sometimes I even disliked him. Then again I understood his aching and longing for a guy that seemed so very much out of reach.
What bothered me most was the highbrow narrative style, the thousands upon thousands of cultural references to literature, music and art. I felt like someone had slapped me with a travelling guide and a Latin dictionary over and over again. It seemed pretentious and took away my interest in the novel.
The writing was beautiful at times and overwhelming at others. Sentences were much too long and seemed never-ending. Pretentious, again.
I can't decide if I want to give this two or three stars - I might change the rating again later. It's not that I disliked the novel, on the contrary, sometimes it was like a dream: Italian food prepared by a personal cook, strolling on the beach, lazing around in the sun, handsome and interesting people around night and day. The openness with which Aciman wrote the gay sex scenes surprised me positively. But especially towards the end, it almost bored me, for reasons that I already mentioned above.
However, I have high hopes for the film adaption. It has the chance to develop the feelings and the relationship between Elio and Oliver much better and to actually make me feel something.
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This book has been on my to-read list for a few years, but now that the film is set to be released, I believed it was time to get going and pick it up once and for all. From what I had seen of the film - that is shirtless Armie Hammer and not much else because I wanted to read the book before even watching the trailer - and from what I had heard about the book, I was up for a promising and exciting read. Oh, and a gay one, too.
To be blunt, I expected more. More emotion most of all. Longing and sexual frustration dominated most of the novel, but I was looking for dramatic heartbreak and high emotions. Maybe a tear or two. Maybe I didn't connect enough with Elio, the main character. Sometimes I even disliked him. Then again I understood his aching and longing for a guy that seemed so very much out of reach.
What bothered me most was the highbrow narrative style, the thousands upon thousands of cultural references to literature, music and art. I felt like someone had slapped me with a travelling guide and a Latin dictionary over and over again. It seemed pretentious and took away my interest in the novel.
The writing was beautiful at times and overwhelming at others. Sentences were much too long and seemed never-ending. Pretentious, again.
I can't decide if I want to give this two or three stars - I might change the rating again later. It's not that I disliked the novel, on the contrary, sometimes it was like a dream: Italian food prepared by a personal cook, strolling on the beach, lazing around in the sun, handsome and interesting people around night and day. The openness with which Aciman wrote the gay sex scenes surprised me positively. But especially towards the end, it almost bored me, for reasons that I already mentioned above.
However, I have high hopes for the film adaption. It has the chance to develop the feelings and the relationship between Elio and Oliver much better and to actually make me feel something.
Find more of my books on Instagram
uknowdarya's review
5.0
4.5 stars
I went into this story thinking it would be another novel about a teenage boy coming to terms with his sexuality and falling in love with someone he could only have for the summer. It turned out to be so much more. It became a story, first about desire and desperation, then about passion, then about happiness, and then it came together as a whole about memory - all that we remember and all that we forget, only to be reminded by those who lived in our memories.
The narrative was beautifully written and despite certain parts where one could not help but feel uncomfortable, it was a moving piece.
I went into this story thinking it would be another novel about a teenage boy coming to terms with his sexuality and falling in love with someone he could only have for the summer. It turned out to be so much more. It became a story, first about desire and desperation, then about passion, then about happiness, and then it came together as a whole about memory - all that we remember and all that we forget, only to be reminded by those who lived in our memories.
The narrative was beautifully written and despite certain parts where one could not help but feel uncomfortable, it was a moving piece.
sparrowlicious's review
Reasons why I didn't finish this book:
There was way too much pining, the plot felt like it didn't try to go anywhere. That sort of thing is dreadfully boring for me to read. Also, when the love interest (Oliver) suddenly started making out with a girl and the main character (Elio) got jealous I HAD TO PUT IT DOWN because nothing makes my heart ache more than this nonsense.
I heard people talk about 'slow burn', but at least in those sort of stories there is some additional plot apart from 'our summer holiday where we were lazy all day long'.
This is obviously up to taste and my taste is pretty much if the plot doesn't try to go anywhere then I don't want it. Also, pining is only interesting if it is obviously mutual.
There was way too much pining, the plot felt like it didn't try to go anywhere. That sort of thing is dreadfully boring for me to read. Also, when the love interest (Oliver) suddenly started making out with a girl and the main character (Elio) got jealous I HAD TO PUT IT DOWN because nothing makes my heart ache more than this nonsense.
I heard people talk about 'slow burn', but at least in those sort of stories there is some additional plot apart from 'our summer holiday where we were lazy all day long'.
This is obviously up to taste and my taste is pretty much if the plot doesn't try to go anywhere then I don't want it. Also, pining is only interesting if it is obviously mutual.
roguemouse's review
5.0
I could've finished the book months ago, but considering the reader is explicitly warned how the love story between Elio and Oliver ends, I was hesitant. When I knew I had about 20% of the book left to read, I stopped and put it down. I didn't want it to end. And I reckon that's the best recommendation I could give it.
Aciman writes in an incredibly evocative (if sometimes wordy) way, beautifully painting the Italian countryside, a coming-of-age story, and a romance between two (in my mind) equally confused young men. Oliver may be older, but that doesn't necessarily mean he knows what he's doing. Elio, on the other hand, though younger and more hesitant, seems much braver than the object of his affection - even if we see that bravery mostly in his own mind, in the way he thinks and feels.
I loved the stream-of-consciousness style of Elio's thoughts, even if sometimes it was hard to tell who he was talking about in the moment. Then again, considering the title of the book, and how the characters seemed to sometimes melt into each other, I think it's a very apt stylistic choice (even if it was semiconscious).
The last part of the book left me heartbroken, but at the same time, weirdly hopeful. I'm not sure what Elio - or Aciman - was trying to say about the character's relationship (not to mention its future or the impact it had on Oliver and Elio), but it seems to suggest some people will always be in our life, even if only because they changed it so drastically. It may be bittersweet, but it's also poignant. I find that oddly comforting.
I read the book in preparation for the movie, not knowing what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised and hope to come back to "Call Me By Your Name" many times in the upcoming years.
Aciman writes in an incredibly evocative (if sometimes wordy) way, beautifully painting the Italian countryside, a coming-of-age story, and a romance between two (in my mind) equally confused young men. Oliver may be older, but that doesn't necessarily mean he knows what he's doing. Elio, on the other hand, though younger and more hesitant, seems much braver than the object of his affection - even if we see that bravery mostly in his own mind, in the way he thinks and feels.
I loved the stream-of-consciousness style of Elio's thoughts, even if sometimes it was hard to tell who he was talking about in the moment. Then again, considering the title of the book, and how the characters seemed to sometimes melt into each other, I think it's a very apt stylistic choice (even if it was semiconscious).
The last part of the book left me heartbroken, but at the same time, weirdly hopeful. I'm not sure what Elio - or Aciman - was trying to say about the character's relationship (not to mention its future or the impact it had on Oliver and Elio), but it seems to suggest some people will always be in our life, even if only because they changed it so drastically. It may be bittersweet, but it's also poignant. I find that oddly comforting.
I read the book in preparation for the movie, not knowing what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised and hope to come back to "Call Me By Your Name" many times in the upcoming years.