Call Me By Your Name

“We rip out so much of ourselves to be cured of things faster than we should that we go bankrupt by the age of thirty and have less to offer each time we start with someone new. But to feel nothing, so as not to feel anything - what a waste!”

This book almost earned extra points for me from these few lines alone. Chills.

This book, which has been adapted into a popular film in the recent past, was well written, incredibly detailed, and had some really good, touching moments that reflect the tumultuous, crushing, intoxicating feelings one can have during a first love. And yes, as humans, we should all feel, even the painful stuff. Got it. Love the message.

That being said, the entire rest of this novel just wasn’t for me. The story’s entire “plot” is just the development of Elio and Oliver’s relationship and extremely detailed descriptions of Italy—mostly the former, though I honestly probably preferred the latter. Unfortunately, I realized at around the halfway point that the characters aren’t likable enough for me to want to read a book about their love story. Elio comes off as overly pretentious and kind of annoying with how obsessive and overdramatic he is internally towards Oliver; though I do understand why he’s written this way, I can’t say I’m a fan. Even though his beautiful, flowery inner dialogue can be immersing, I don’t like Elio nearly enough to listen to him be infatuated over Oliver for hundreds of pages. Who, while charismatic and… hot, according to Elio, often comes off as—you guessed it—pretentious, standoffish and often dickish, under the guise of being “carefree”.

Once they end up becoming friends and eventually more, the romance isn’t bad and the characters become more bearable, but the book still felt slow to me and rather boring. I would suggest that if you are like me and struggle through long-winded dialogues about love and passion and desire, maybe watch the movie instead of reading the book. I watched it and found the imagery and dialogue much more poignant in that form. And I liked Elio significantly more when I couldn’t hear his every desperate, overcomplicated, often extremely dirty thought. The tension played out better between the two seeing Elio from a third-person lens.

Mostly though, I don’t fault the book for my overall feelings towards it. It just wasn’t up my alley.

For the record however, the points made by critics that Elio is seventeen and therefore the story has a creepy undertone to it is also very valid. Especially because Oliver straight up makes it a point of contention by saying he knows pursuing Elio is wrong (because of his age). Yikes in that regard.

Thanks to everyone for reading! ♥️