Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman

53 reviews

maddie_08's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

THE LAST LINE OF, NO PARAGRAPH OF THIS BOOK WAS JUST *CHEF'S KISS*. 

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jo_lzr's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This story focuses on love, physical desire (though not only physical) and separation. The prose of this book is one of the reasons why I gave it 4 stars. I cannot begin to describe how beautiful the prose was. I liked reading it from Elio's perspective, especially the 4th part of the book. This story shows that separation, in all kinds of relationships, is inevitable and an essential component of human existence. I love the way it portrays both the beauty and sufferings that are part of the human experience, without demonizing the pain but rather accepting it and even reminding us that it has its own use.
 I also have to mention that it was surprisingly a fast read. 
Additionally, the scenery was beautiful and aesthetically pleasing.

I didn't give it 5 stars because I didn't relate to some of Elio's thoughts and because there were some scenes that I wasn't as interested in.

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tadiwa_e's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I cannot really express the experience I went through reading this book. Almost DNFed it 3 times… I am still processing. But I will say. What a beautifully written piece. I would not call it a romance but maybe a recollection of Elios memories. It was intimate and sometimes really intense. 

However I cannot get behind the age gap and power dynamics in the relationship. No matter how much Aciman tries to present it as something to be praised. For that I cannot give a higher rating. Some parts of this book also were disgusting… sorry… there’s no way THAT scene is going to be skipped past like it never happened. 

Overall I loved a lot of quotes in this book and it was thought provoking especially Elios Fathers speech at the end. 

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milakzm's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

snoozefest lowkey. movie is better.

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chelseeaa's review against another edition

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

it was… something. for a minute you forget that there’s a seven year age gap between the two. it’s written beautifully but, i found it difficult to pick back up after i’d finished reading a couple pages. it’s a pretty but ultimately strange book filled with feet, swimming trunks and.. peaches.

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joeykills's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25


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laffi's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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shayh's review against another edition

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lighthearted slow-paced

4.0


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sauvageloup's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective relaxing sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

very poetic, very reflective and human

pros:
- beautiful language, beautiful dialogue that I definitely want to read again. a rawness to the expressions and a lack of concern with moralising. 
- elio is much more complicated and contradictory in the book, he wants so badly and doesn't shy from portraying that in the book,  even if the character isnt always so brave. 
- a poignant reminder about not being afraid of seizing your desires, no matter the difficulty or taboo or opinions of others. that people grow and change and die but some experiences can be so powerful. 
- the film had a much less controversial or deep view than the book, which had elio acting hot and cold and cruelly at times, and Oliver somewhat the same, which made me like the characters less perhaps, but also added a much more human element. also, the end is far richer in how it stretches into the future, though it's very sad.
- I liked the exploration of different seasons of life, the burning spark of youth, the deeper, longer burn later on. and the depiction of memory, since elio has moments he remembers better, and Oliver adds details that illuminate bits of the story we weren't originally told. it felt more real and like a diary that way. even if it took a bit of getting used to, and irked slightly at the start when I just wanted all of it, not just the bits older elio remembered. 

cons:
- few cons included above
- I did feel less compassion towards the early characters perhaps because of the on and off, the lack of communication. but this is understandable and I didnt hold it against them as the book progressed.
- I didnt agree with how little joy Oliver seemed to get from his future life, nor elio really. to call living with his wife and children a coma seemed cruel.
- the lack of important female characters is a real shame. the women who are there are for sex and to fulfil society's expectations of a picket fence life and little else. even elio's mother really has a very little role compared to his father. the other female characters are just flings, the house keeper or a sick, pre-publescent girl. while I understand the nature of the book is to focus on elio and Oliver's relationship, the lack of value given to relationships with women, platonic or romantic, and the lack of loyalty they seem to inspire was noticeable. although elio does make a throwaway mention that it could have been a man or a woman who caused such a fundamental shift for him.

overall, a strong, poetic, shockingly but refreshingly intimate and raw book with beautiful depictions of lust and love.

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finleigh's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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