A review by vidp
Call Me By Your Name - Screenplay by André Aciman, James Ivory

3.0

I can’t decide if I liked this book more than I expected to or less. I had heard such polarizing reviews.... I think I enjoyed it most at the beginning (the desperate, adversarial, longing stage of the relationship) and the end (the reflective, melancholic moment of looking back on their relationship as frozen in time). But while I get that this was a story about absolute intimacy, some of it was written well enough for it to be beautiful while other moments just felt creepy or gross to witness. I’m trying to be open minded on this point, and like I can understand the eroticism of the peach, but “don’t flush”? really?
I think I also don’t really know enough about Italy or Italian to appreciate all the details of the setting. I’ll certainly remember the experience of reading it, but honestly? in terms of recommending it to others? I would feel pretty lukewarm about it. Also can’t really understand how someone could read this book (which takes place 70% of the time in Elio’s head) and think “wow this should be a movie”. I have yet to see the movie though, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Edit: Looking back on this months later, I'm actually lowering my rating. I simply didn't like it that much.