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Call Me By Your Name

2007 | Contemporary | Fiction & Poetry | LGBTQ+

Call Me by Your Name is a 2007 novel by American writer André Aciman that centers on a blossoming romantic relationship between an intellectually precocious and curious 17-year-old American-Italian Jewish boy named Elio Perlman and a visiting 24-year-old American Jewish scholar named Oliver in 1980s Italy. The novel chronicles their summer romance and the 20 years that follow.



Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Edition Hardcover
ISBN 9780374118044
Language English
Edition Paperback
ISBN 9781786495259
Language English
Edition Kindle
ASIN B004TLNO5O
Language English
Edition Paperback
ISBN 9781250169440
Language English

Images And Data Courtesy Of: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
This content (including text, images, videos and other media) is published and used in accordance with Fair Use.

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Sarah

Added this item on Apr 21, 2018

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Call Me By Your Name Reviews & Ratings (8)
9-10
37.5% (3)
7-8
12.5% (1)
5-6
12.5% (1)
3-4
25.0% (2)
1-2
12.5% (1)

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Veronica Pena (690 KP) rated

Jan 18, 2020  
Call Me By Your Name
Call Me By Your Name
André Aciman | 2007 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, LGBTQ+
10
6.6 (8 Ratings)
Book Rating
I loved this book and then I hated it and then I loved it again. Let me back up. I love everything about the way this book was written. I think that if I were going to write a book in a similar fashion, it would look a lot like this. The way Elio thinks and sometimes overthinks is very similar to my own. I think that it's very obvious that this book is written about a European boy in the way that he talks and thinks about love and sex and the grand scheme of life. At one point in the novel, Oliver asks him if he's always been this wise and Elio shrugs and says he knows nothing and I think that is so far from the truth. You would never find an American 17-year old that talks and thinks about love and sex and life in the way that Elio does - at least I don't think - and I loved that. I read a lot of American and English authors and novels and it's nice to be transported to a different place - the very serene cottage that Elio's family lives in - and live vicariously through him and Oliver.

The parts that I didn't like in this novel have nothing to do with the characters or the dialogue or anything pertaining to the story really. I think the trouble of writing a novel from this specific perspective is that Elio's thoughts can get away from him, especially at good parts where you just want the story to keep progressing. Overall though, they always find a way of meaning something and bringing you back in.

Finishing this novel left me with these mixed emotions of euphoria and heartbreak. I love the way that Elio talks about Oliver and frames him to be the great love of his life, essentially, and Oliver does the same thing years after their last encounter together. I find the way that Elio thinks about him and loves him to be magical and all-encompassing and I think if you've ever experienced that overwhelming feeling of love and desire of another person in every way, you can just put yourself in Elio's shoes and you're transported back to that feeling and it's really magical. I think that's what books should do for you.

I was also surprised at how much I enjoyed the time jumps that happen at the end of the novel. Sometimes I think that they are unnecessary and just annoying because you want to think about the characters having lived this certain way and when it's given to you, it can sometimes be disappointing but I didn't feel that with this novel. I appreciated them, I liked where they went, and I liked that there was and probably always will be this unspoken deep, unresolvable love between Elio and Oliver.

This novel is written almost as if Elio is dying and someone asked him about the love of his life and he remembers it so vividly and with so much love that he's lying back and telling this story and just reminiscing and falling in love with Oliver all over again - at least that's how I read it. I loved this novel. The last paragraph just really pulls it out of you and I just. It's great. I'm not sure what else to say other than it's great.
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Sarah (7799 KP) rated

Apr 21, 2018  
Call Me By Your Name
Call Me By Your Name
André Aciman | 2007 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, LGBTQ+
9
6.6 (8 Ratings)
Book Rating
Very moving
I don’t know what I’d expected from this book, but I hadn’t anticipated liking it as much as I did. And I haven’t seen the film yet either.

This is a beautifully written tale of a kind of love story between a young teenager and his family’s summer house guest. The confusion, frustration and heartbreak of his first gay relationship really comes across throughout the entire novel, and you really feel for him. Elio is an endearing protagonist and I was really invested in the outcome although I feel like the ending and the summary of the 20 years following that summer were a little too short and very sad. I would’ve happily read on for longer for a slightly happier ending. But that said, it’s still a well written book and a very interesting plot.
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Marylegs (44 KP) rated

Aug 14, 2019  
Call Me By Your Name
Call Me By Your Name
André Aciman | 2007 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, LGBTQ+
4
6.6 (8 Ratings)
Book Rating
So I heard lots of good things about this book. It was being (has been) made into a film. So I thought I'll give this a go. And after the effort it was to read this book, all I can say is, meh.

The were elements I really enjoyed, where I started to go "Ooo its starting to get good" and then I would be dragged back into really abstract ways to describe the scene. I honestly don't mind a bit of well done descriptions of visuals of feeling etc. But this just felt pointless. I think its a very, arty, type of writing and honestly its just not my cup of tea.

The story as a whole, is interesting and would normally be my cup of tea. Over a beautiful hot summer in Italy a young professor finishing off his philosophy book and the son of the people housing him in Italy begin a romantic affair in secret. The concept of the story brilliant and refreshingly new. The execution... honestly, not my style and the writing style really stopped me following the story easily. I just like a bit more instant gratification from my books.