Book Review
Elio, Your Thoughts Were Hard to Bear
Reviewing “Call Me by Your Name” by André Aciman
Sue me for being so late to the game, but I finally watched “Call Me by Your Name” for the first time in December of last year. As film adaptions often do, it inspired me to read the book.
Considering how slow the movie was, I should have anticipated the same pace when purchasing the book. I despise reading slow-paced books, and I almost never choose anything from the romance genre. Despite this, I put myself through André Aciman’s coming of age story.
Most of this book is Elio overthinking, much like young people do when they don’t understand their feelings. The thing is, I don’t need to read someone else overthinking given I do a pretty good job of that on my own. Oliver, the so-close-yet-so-far love interest, is unpredictable, causing a long-winded, roundabout internal monologue.
An additional bone I have to pick with this book is the number of (in my opinion) obscure references. Do I know Monet? Yes. Have I heard of Brahms? Kind of. If my life depended on explaining who M.C. Escher is, would I live? Simply put, no.
What I did enjoy was the setting. To me, books with heavy descriptions of the location are enjoyable to read. A small Italian town and a beautiful mansion? Say less.
In fact, the movie’s depiction of the estate reminded me of a painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir entitled “Luncheon of the Boating Party.” Now, it is not lost on me the potentially obscure reference I am making considering I just criticized the book for doing the same thing too often. However, I am justifying my decision to include this because I am in an art class this semester.
Maybe I’m delusional, but the man in the sweater is giving Elio, while the man beneath him in the hat is Oliver, and the woman is Marzia. Hopefully, other people see that too because I did make this reference on my art midterm.
The next two paragraphs will include spoilers, be warned.
The book’s ending was far more painful than the movie’s ending. The last scene of the movie where Timothee Chalamet is crying is powerful, don’t get me wrong, but the things that happen at the end of the book made me want justice for Elio more than the neatly wrapped up conclusion of the movie.
First off, Aciman kills off the father? That was cruel. To make matters worse, Elio visits Oliver when he gets older, and Oliver wants him to meet his children. Aciman made a choice to include that, and I may never forgive him.
Conclusion of spoilers.
Even though I only rated the book three stars, it was not for lack of emotional damage. I found the story powerful and highly resonant with anyone who is trying to navigate love and relationships at a young age.
This book is one I can imagine falls into the category of “right person, wrong time,” so if you are okay with reading about a doomed relationship and you haven’t read this book yet, by all means, try it. Maybe you’ll find it deserves more stars than I did.
