Call Me By Your Name - Andre Aciman

Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman
Genre: Realistic Fiction

Blurb (on back of book): Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents' cliff-side mansion on the Italian Riviera. Unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, at first each feigns indifference. But during the restless summer weeks that follow, unrelenting buried currents of obsession and fear, fascination and desire, intensify their passion as they test the charged ground between them. What grows from the depths of their spirits is a romance of scarcely six weeks' duration and an experience that marks them for a lifetime. For what the two discover on the Riviera and during a sultry evening in Rome is the one thing both already fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy.
The psychological maneuvers that accompany attraction have seldom been more shrewdly captured than in André Aciman's frank, unsentimental, heartrending elegy to human passion. Call Me by Your Name is clear-eyed, bare-knuckled, and ultimately unforgettable.

MY OPINION: ****

*minor spoilers*

I must admit that I watched the movie before reading the book, and after some self-reflection, my best advice is to do just that. For me, I feel like the book made a lot more sense after watching the movie. The film simplifies the book, obviously because we cannot see inside the actor's heads as we can in a book. Also, I must admit that I liked the movie version better than the novel, as it was less... prose-like.

To be completely honest, this did not feel what I would consider "romantic". Yes, the characters were in love with each other and felt a strong sense of adoration and obsession with each other. But I would consider this to be more of an "affair" or a "fling" than a true romance. Of course, that's just my opinion.

There were parts of this book that I loved and there were parts that I disliked. The book is written in fairly long and blocky paragraphs that oftentimes were quite descriptive and almost rambling. It is written from Elio's perspective, the seventeen-year-old boy (hence the younger of the couple).

To be quite honest, Elio was kind of... creepy. I love him and I love his character but there were times when he came off as quite strange. He talks of wanting Oliver to be crippled and fantasizes about quite... strange things with Oliver. He dreams of situations with Oliver that aren't the most safe or appropriate. However, he has a clear obsession and infatuation with the older intellectual who comes to live with them.

In the film, Elio seemed a lot less strange and stalkerish, and I enjoyed that version of him more. Now as I see what Elio truly wanted and dreamed about, I can't help but think of him a bit differently than I did prior to reading this novel.

I think the truth of the matter is, I pitied Elio. He was quite stupid and foolish at times, and he dreamed of things that he believed he could not have. He was confused and misread a lot of the social cues that Oliver sent towards him, and I think because of that, he truly encompassed an experimenting, confused seventeen-year-old boy.

Oliver, on the other hand, was a completely different character. The film version of him comes off as more brusque in my opinion, but the book Oliver was a bit different. He was more confusing, for sure, and I could definitely relate to Elio's misunderstanding of what Oliver was talking about half the time. He seemed one day to be interested and then others to not be and that was what was the most confusing about him.

Oliver is 24, so there's a seven-year age gap between him and Elio, which I think is the most off-putting part of the book for many readers. However, as it is Italy, where the age limit is different than here in America, this was all perfectly legal and consensual so I didn't mind the age so much as other people did. People say that it is inappropriate but love is what love is and I don't think there's anything that can change that, especially since it is legal and technically okay. Yes, Oliver could have done something about it if he were uncomfortable but he obviously wasn't and it was okay.

Oliver and Elio were beautiful and heartfelt and heartbreaking by the end. While I didn't cry while reading as I did when watching the film, the ending of the novel was much worse than that of the movie. It was abrupt and fast-paced, unlike the rest of the book, and was unsatisfying although realistic.

The peach scene. I understand why it was written and while I do find it repulsive, I think it added to Elio's character and our understanding of what his desires are. It wasn't very necessary but being as it was there, I'm choosing not to mind it too much. Um, we're not going to talk about it but WARNING, this may change your outlook on fruit.

Poor Marzia. I really felt bad for her the entire time. I wish there had been some resolution to her and Elio's relationship but alas.

This book was not focused on the LGBTQ+ community. Rather, it focused on the love between two people, and that was what I loved about it.

The writing itself was beautiful, but because of that, I think it made the book quite slow. Although it was only 200 pages, it took me forever to get through the passages about Italian art and landscapes and philosophers, and was quite off-putting at some points. However, I admire Aciman's talent for writing.

I would recommend this book to readers looking for a romantic, beautiful, memorable read.

Main Character: Elio
Sidekick(s): Oliver, etc
Villain(s): Love, age, confusion, misunderstanding, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: All of this could happen in real life.