Call Me By Your Name
By André Aciman
Publication Year: 2008
Type: Fiction
Genre: romance, LGBTQ, contemporary
Read on 2018-04-22
View additional specs on this book in Muhan’s 2018 Reading Survey ➞
★★★☆☆
So the title definitely makes a lot more sense after reading the book than it was after watching the movie. I interpreted Oliver and Elio’s act of calling each other by their own names as an act of inhabiting each other’s beings in that sort of intensely intimate way (psychically and physically) described AT LENGTH in the book. At the start I really truly enjoyed Elio’s meandering obsessive first-person thought spirals - I could relate I guess to dissecting every minute thing someone you’re into does or says. But at some point it just became such a fucking chore to read. Like, I wanted to tell Elio to just get a room already but I couldn’t because I was the sucker who kept picking up the damn book to read his bicurious seventeen year old bullshit.
In this respect, the movie is truly superior to the book: the obsessive wordiness used to convey Elio and Oliver’s crescendoing obsession for one another in the book is replaced by primarily visual/musical cues in the movie, where chatter is used sparingly and plenty of space is given for the viewer to fill in the gaps. My problem with the book was mainly just that Elio’s endless ruminating prattle on every tiny goddamn thing started, after a while, to just register as white noise.
With this book, the first person has truly never felt so freaking personal, and I can’t even express how glad I am they didn’t go for narration in the movie. Plus, as someone who likes to keep other couples and the inner workings of their relationships at a distance, I really just couldn’t take the Elio & Oliver gross out love fest anymore. Also, the peach is one thing - like it’s genuinely cheeky (ha) and cute, but the bit towards the end where they take turns shitting in the same toilet at a hotel was...let’s just say I’m glad they decided not to include that in the movie.
All in all, very well written book, creative and interesting writing style, cuts deep and true into the psyche of young/first love, but my intimacy challenged ass truly could not handle just how deep this author goes.
