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ajkhn's review
5.0
Absolutely loved this series of essays on nostalgia, love, and relating those concepts to space. Like I fully expected to fall in love with Aciman's essays, but I don't think I expected to fall in love with them this hard, they were absolutely wonderful and I was teary-eyed not too infrequently.
ellephuonglinhnguyen's review against another edition
3.0
Later that night, as I'm looking out from my balcony, I think of the young man from Fayoum, and of the young man of fourteen I used to be back then, and of myself now, and of the person I might have been had I stayed here thirty years ago. I think of the strange life I'd have led, of the wife I would have, and of my other children. Where would I be living? I suppose in my great-grandmother's apartment—it would have fallen to me. And I think of this imaginary self who never strayed or did the things I probably regret having done but would have done anyway and don't wish to disown; a self who never left Egypt or ever lost ground and who, on nights such as these, still dreams of the world abroad and of faraway America, the way I, over the years, have longed for life right here whenever I find I don't fit anywhere else.
softstarrynights's review
3.0
I read this collection of essays for my Aciman-August challenge, wherein I wanted to read multiple books by this author, after falling head over heels for Call me By Your Name. In constrats to that book this is a collection of around fourteen essays, their themes ranging from exile, to home, to time, and all in all I did enjoy this book. There were times when it got a little too high brow for me and I got a little lost, but there were also times when an essay really touched me, in a way I don't usually associate with non-fiction. Aciman's writing style came through beautifully, and I can see myself returning to some of my favourites.
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Looking for more bookish content? Look no further than www.cartonmanettedarnay.wordpress.com!
handfulofcashews's review
I don’t think I can appreciate, understand, or relate to the complexities of Aciman’s life. The nostalgia and melancholy he feels revisiting places he lost does not yet strike a chord with me as I simply have no experience with it.
_mery98_'s review
4.0
4.3/5
The book consists mostly of essays with the addition of one or two short stories. The thread connecting all the pieces is the feeling of longing for someplace or someone. Aciman is masterful in being able to put into beautifully expressed words the sense of longing and nostalgia. For anyone grappling with the phantom pain of missing someone who is no longer around or a place you no longer inhabit, this book will be a treasure.
That dream space is Aciman's territory, and he has made it ours as well. You don't need to have lost an Alexandria to understand what he does with place and time and memory. After all, we are all exiles in away - from our own childhoods, our own pasts, if nothing else. It is that remembered aspect of ourselves, that shadowy other life, that André Aciman's new book so piercingly addresses.
The book consists mostly of essays with the addition of one or two short stories. The thread connecting all the pieces is the feeling of longing for someplace or someone. Aciman is masterful in being able to put into beautifully expressed words the sense of longing and nostalgia. For anyone grappling with the phantom pain of missing someone who is no longer around or a place you no longer inhabit, this book will be a treasure.
That dream space is Aciman's territory, and he has made it ours as well. You don't need to have lost an Alexandria to understand what he does with place and time and memory. After all, we are all exiles in away - from our own childhoods, our own pasts, if nothing else. It is that remembered aspect of ourselves, that shadowy other life, that André Aciman's new book so piercingly addresses.
gfabulous's review
4.0
some of these are ASTOUNDING & feel like andré aciman pulled thoughts out of my own brain. others r very repetitive. overall a good read if you, like me, cannot stop yourself from experiencing life thru a lens of past experiences & are also dumb. very validating
aditurbo's review
4.0
A travel book that is so much more than a travel book. Travel writing at its highest form, mixed with reflections on our connection to places, how they influence our lives and how our perceptions of them changes with time. Beautiful, candid, moving at times, looking forward to reading more books by Aciman.
samhitarao's review
5.0
Aciman has written a brilliant collection of essays reminiscing on his lost past. Even though my move away from home does not share even an iota of the intensity and pain that was his from Alexandria, this book tugs at a special chord in my already emotional heart. His way with words is so lyrical and a textbook example of fashioning poetic imagery through prose. His other work- Call me by your name, in the book and film form were excellent, but this is something else, something more.
I hope Luca Guadagnino finds it in his creative genius to transform Aciman's essays into short films and bring his past to life.
I hope Luca Guadagnino finds it in his creative genius to transform Aciman's essays into short films and bring his past to life.
cute_x_bunny's review against another edition
4.0
This wasn’t the best choice to read since I’m in a reading slump but I still really enjoyed it. It was so beautifully written (like anything by Aciman) and had this overall feeling of nostalgia and longing.