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A review by jfield351
Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
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
4.5
Wow. That about sums up what I thought of this wonderful, brilliant book. Of course it doesn’t hurt thats it’s set in my favourite time period in beautiful country.
I have never read a book with so much imagery and description that completely relates to what I feel. Elio’s irrational and impulsive thoughts somehow reflect my own invasive and irrational thoughts - they change as the slightest external detail changes, they swing to both extremes, they are selfish and sad and powerful. The description in this book is - and this is not an understatement - god tier. Aciman creates sentences in a way that leaves you with a feeling that depicts what has happened, rather than an image. one i can think of now is “his reaction to Vimini’s death, rather than soothe an open sore, seemed to graze one that had healed on its own” but there are so many more beautiful descriptive sentences in this wonderful book. i wish i could write like this.
the ending is what hurt most. the type of love elio and oliver have actually scares me, because in the final pages you see just how much of an impact they each had on each other’s life from a period of six weeks. it’s insanely powerful .
Another aspect I liked was how malleable the time aspect was. Time wasn’t linear or even, it was all over the place and would be stretched out or skipped over. It was very much Elio’s perspective of time and how Oliver influenced him.
Something else i liked - the only time the name Elio is mentioned is when Oliver is saying it, and it doesn’t happen a lot. When the name is finally mentioned it has a more powerful impact, especially considering the title of the book.
I may come back to this review when I reflect on other aspects I loved. the only reason i didn’t give it 5/5 stars was that while it was interesting, for the most part it wasn’t compelling (although i have been very busy at work and with exams so that could be why). It gives me Lana Del Rey vibes. The movie did not do it justice, though it was very good.
I have never read a book with so much imagery and description that completely relates to what I feel. Elio’s irrational and impulsive thoughts somehow reflect my own invasive and irrational thoughts - they change as the slightest external detail changes, they swing to both extremes, they are selfish and sad and powerful. The description in this book is - and this is not an understatement - god tier. Aciman creates sentences in a way that leaves you with a feeling that depicts what has happened, rather than an image. one i can think of now is
the ending is what hurt most. the type of love elio and oliver have actually scares me,
Another aspect I liked was how malleable the time aspect was. Time wasn’t linear or even, it was all over the place and would be stretched out or skipped over. It was very much Elio’s perspective of time and how Oliver influenced him.
Something else i liked - the only time the name Elio is mentioned is when Oliver is saying it, and it doesn’t happen a lot. When the name is finally mentioned it has a more powerful impact, especially considering the title of the book.
I may come back to this review when I reflect on other aspects I loved. the only reason i didn’t give it 5/5 stars was that while it was interesting, for the most part it wasn’t compelling (although i have been very busy at work and with exams so that could be why). It gives me Lana Del Rey vibes. The movie did not do it justice, though it was very good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Terminal illness, Vomit, Abandonment, and Alcohol