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Call Me by Your Name: A Novel
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Call Me by Your Name: A Novel
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Call Me by Your Name: A Novel
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Call Me by Your Name: A Novel

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this ebook

Now a Major Motion Picture from Director Luca Guadagnino, Starring Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet, and Written by Three-Time Oscar™ Nominee James Ivory

The Basis of the Oscar-Winning Best Adapted Screenplay

A New York Times Bestseller
A USA Today Bestseller
A Los Angeles Times Bestseller
A Vulture Book Club Pick


An Instant Classic and One of the Great Love Stories of Our Time

Andre Aciman's 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’ cliffside mansion on the Italian Riviera. Each is unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, when, during the restless summer weeks, unrelenting currents of obsession, fascination, and desire intensify their passion and test the charged ground between them. Recklessly, the two verge toward the one thing both fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy. It is an instant classic and one of the great love stories of our time.

Winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Ficition

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year • A Publishers Weekly and The Washington Post Best Book of the Year • A New York Magazine "Future Canon" Selection • A Chicago Tribune and Seattle Times (Michael Upchurch's) Favorite Favorite Book of the Year

Editor's Note

Oscar nominee…

A coming-of-age story about 17-year-old Elio and his memories of a summer in 1980s Italy, when he met 24-year-old Oliver. This tale of romance on the Riviera captured our hearts, as did the acclaimed movie version starring Timothée Chalamet.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJan 22, 2008
ISBN9780374707729
Author

André Aciman

André Aciman (Alejandría, Egipto, 1951), se trasladó a vivir a Italia con sus padres a los quince años y más tarde se afincaron en Nueva York. Allí se graduó en lengua inglesa en el Lehman College y obtuvo un doctorado en literatura comparada en la Universidad de Harvard. Es profesor de literatura comparada e imparte clases sobre la obra de Proust en el Graduate Center de la City University de Nueva York, donde dirige el Writers’ Institute. También ha impartido clases de escritura creativa en la Universidad de Nueva York y de literatura francesa en la Universidad de Princeton. Es el autor de las novelas Llámame por tu nombre y Ocho noches blancas, de las memorias Out of Egypt (Premio Whiting Writers’) y de los ensayos False Papers: Essays on Exile and Memory y Alibis: Essays on Elsewhere; además es el editor de The Proust Project. Vive en Nueva York.

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Reviews for Call Me by Your Name

Rating: 4.086190119490695 out of 5 stars
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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    "But going back is false. Moving ahead is false. Looking the other way is false. Trying to redress all that is false turns out to be just as false."

    This is an excellent book that I would give 4 1/2 stars to if I could. The narrator's inner dialog and decision-making is enough to sad sack self-sabotage that I found myself irritated at several places in a way that makes a book less satisfying to me. It's certainly understandable and well-rendered, just not my cup of tea; in balance, the book stays this side of that line and I am glad I kept with it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is some of the most beautiful writing I have read/heard in a while. I listened to the audiobook and Armie Hammer's voice combined with Aciman's beautiful prose create a very atmospheric read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    my heart!! That was the best ending to a book I've read in a long time.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    What is André Aciman doing with Elio? Is he a naïve youth exploring different aspects of his feelings and personalities? Or is he a self-deluding narcicist who sees everything the the unreliable lenses of his shifting passions? I suppose he is both, which, for me, makes him a bit difficult to relate to. I want to shake him up and say, come on, you’re a smart kid, intellectual, talented, sensuous, feeling. Why are you wallowing in this overblown romanticism? Either jump the guy or move on, but don’t mope endlessly. And there’s the problem, I suppose. Elio is a romantic teenager, exploring his identity and trying to come to terms with his desires, both emotional and sexual. In his relationship with Marzia, he learns something about love and willingly sharing his psychic being with another person. In his relationship with Oliver, he goes farther, and wants to become Oliver when he says, Call me by your name. Communication is a repeated theme in the novel, with successful and unsuccessful communications that range from the hinted and unspoken messages that Elio wants to read in a glance and that extend to to his desire for total intimacy and shared knowledge. But communication is the last thing that any of the characters find here when they are so often speaking at cross-purposes and avoiding what they want to say. And perhaps that’s the point.Aciman parallels Elio’s two relationships when he joins them in the gift of the book, Se l’amore, If love. But the relationship with Marzia is a brief and simple one that Elio quickly abandons. The relationship with Oliver is complex and layered, which Elio (and I) hoped would prove to be more lasting. (This is a little ironic, as the European sensibility is portrayed here as more sophisticated and complex, while the American Oliver is brash and straightforward.) Aciman also mocks the literature of love in the pretentions and artifice of the poetry reading in Rome, which Elio sees through but still enjoys. But of course, this is a summer love and even Elio knows that Oliver is leaving at the end of a few weeks. So he ends the summer heartbroken but wiser for having experienced a deep connection to Oliver. This is so familiar that it’s a cliché, even if it’s one that a reader can enjoy.But then, there’s the conversation with Elio’s father, in which his father hints that he gave up (repressed) his homosexuality and married, ending up in a distant relationship with his wife. He tells Elio not to make the same mistake, not that Elio seems likely to. Elio does, however, show some casual homophobia in his self-loathing after his first sexual experience with Oliver, when he compares it the next morning with his experience with Marzia. Since the story seems to be set in about the 1970s or ’80s, that’s probably common enough for some young men, particular given Elio’s ambivalence. This adds a sociological line to the story that seems out of tone with the exaggerated romanticism of the rest of the story.There’s another layer of complication here. The story is in the first person, in Elio’s voice, but apparently as a recollection of a distant past. A contemporary narrator occasionally makes an appearance reflecting on Elio’s story. And Elio himself re-connects briefly with the married Oliver later in life, and still finds a bond of unspoken communication. Is this story the naïve voice of Elio the younger or the mocking voice of Elio the mature exaggerating the naivety of his youth? In fact, there were several times, before the appearance of the narrator, where I wondered if this story was a satire of romantic self-absorbed youth. Perhaps this is how to take the story of the peach, so sensuous and yet so ridiculous.So is this an exploration of the formation of the identity of a young gay man in the 1980s, or is it a satirical reflection on the comical exaggerations of romantic love? I’ll be interested to read what other readers comment on the novel.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I don't think I would have finished this if it wasn't a bookclub read. Never managed to gain any empathy for Elio or Oliver. They were both so clearly spoiled and privileged and maybe just a little bored. I have read other gay fiction with much more body, (Alan Hollinghurst and John Boyne) come to mind, and very much enjoyed them, but Elio's internal dwelling on himself and his desires tested me. I don't really believe he actually loved Oliver. He was lusting after him before he even knew him. This sort of shallow emotion does not move me at all, and although I know they were young (Elio anyway) this youthful drive for sex with any gender does not automatically make it a good story. I thought their cavorting around Rome seemed a little pointless, nothing ever came of anything they did together except a bit of lustful sex. All up a pretty empty story for me.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The audio should just be called "Armie Hammer reads you sex scenes."

    Seriously, though, this was a touching, poignant story full of beautiful language and all the longing and confusion of youth. When I finally get around to seeing the movie, I am sure to use an entire box of tissues from weeping.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    So beautiful, sensual, soulful and sad. Everything I hoped it would be.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One of the most beautiful, gorgeous stories I've ever read.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I was intrigued by the trailer for this at the cinema but never got around to watching the whole film, and though the book would be better. I'm not so sure now! Also, the characters and vague progression of the plot reminded me of another book, Maurice by E M Forster, which, going by my review, I much preferred. Elio is likeable enough, if typically self-indulgent for a teenage boy, while mooning over house guest Oliver for the first half of the book, and the consummation of their lust/love is actually quite erotic, but the second half of the story in Rome drags for an eternity. I can't stand poetry at the best of times, but the pretentious wanker that Oliver and Elio meet through Oliver's publisher would have put me off the breed for life anyway.Great setting with a feel of endless summer, but more Edwardian in language and attitude than late twentieth century. Read Maurice and watch the film version of Call Me, I would suggest.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It has been a long while since I've read a painting book. It's what I call books with really well-written scenes, and not just the physical ones, but the emotional ones as well.

    "It never occurred to me that I had brought him here not just to show him my little world, but to ask my little world to let him in, so that the place where I came to be alone on summer afternoons would get to know him, judge him, see if he fitted in, take him in, so that I might come back here and remember."

    (Segue: This recommendation came from my good friend Emman, former feature editor in our school paper- so probably I shouldn't have expected less.)

    What can I say? This book is beautiful. It got me through my 11-hour internship shift, which I admit is probably a bad idea because it deserved my 100% attention and not chopped up chunks of it. Nevertheless, I was emotionally provoked in the end :)))
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Bittersweet and beautiful.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Egyptian author Andre Aciman tells the story of 17 year old Elio, the son of two Italian academics and his six week love affair with Oliver, a 25 year old guest in his parent's villa. The culture clash is interesting. Elio at first percieves Oliver as "rude" and is amazed at how open and proud Oliver is of his Jewishness, when Elio's family still feels the need to be discreet and ashamed of it. They see it as a liability, while Oliver sees it as an asset. But Elio's family, because they are European academics, allow him to do a lot of things American parents never would. The sex is pretty hot, and Aciman writes "desperately in love and horny bisexual 17 year old boy" really well. And it definitely disproves that stupid theory that men write porn and women write romance and even if men wrote romance it'd be different from what women write. The main characters act like boys, and not like a boy and a girl, but maybe people should try redefining what they think it means to "act like a boy". Stop writing gender roles (that goes for you too, slashers!) and start writing people.What I mean by this is that the sex and relationships are realistic. Elio learns that his fantasies don't quite correspond to reality. His first time leaves him feeling guilty, ashamed and sore, even though he wants to do it again. The reactions of the characters aren't the reactions of any gender stereotype, it's very easy to be female and yet identify with Elio, without the character being "feminized". But Elio doesn't just want Oliver, he also speaks enviously of Oliver's muscles. The line between wanting someone and wanting to be them can be very thin. It can be confusing, but it can also be a lot of fun when it comes to same gender attraction. To be looking at a picture of a beautiful naked woman and be thinking "she's so hot, but I wonder if that hairstyle would look good on me?" If a genie appeared and said "you can have that, or you can be that", I think it'd be a difficult choice. And I know I'm not weird to say that it happens with het attraction too. At least for probably more girls than will admit it. After all, we live in a world where for most of history the male characters in mainstream movies, books, plays, religion and comics were usually more interesting or more powerful or lead more exciting lives than the female characters. It's not a sign of major gender identity issues, it's a reaction to reality. There are a lot of admirable men, fictional and non, that I don't want to sleep with really- but if it were possible for me to kill them and steal their identity, I would. Also, if you've ever been asked to "play the boy" (and I mean that in every way you're thinking of it), it's pretty normal to think that way. I also tagged this under "david and jonathan" because it reminded me of that couple. Without the military aspect or the crazy father or the death. The characters are both Jewish, and the same ages that David and Jonathan were when they fell in love. The narrator of the story is also an accomplished musician and his attitude towards the girls he uses while waiting for his true love to come around are...familiar. Favorite quote (Elio's fantasy of Oliver): "he'd step into my room after everyone had gone to bed , slip under my covers, undress me without asking and after making me want him more than I thought I could ever want another living soul,gently, softly, and, with the kindness one Jew extends to another, work his way into my body, gently, softly, after heeding the words I'd been rehearsing for days now, Please, don't hurt me, which meant, Hurt me all you want"It only gets four stars for two reasons. One, there are a couple of moments, such as an "American Pie" style bisexual fantasy involving a piece of fruit, that made me go "WTF?" (but I suppose people who are in love do all kinds of stuff that makes no sense to the rest of us) And two, the ending sort of runs out of steam. But I honestly can't see any way this story could end that would make readers happy, so what can you do?
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Very intense and visceral, yet also strangely distant from its subject. Although the book is written in the first person and is about deep longing, it felt very much as though it were written from a distance of years, as in fact the writer probably intended. Still a very intense read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Beautiful writing evoking the yearning and obsessive qualities of first love in adolescence - that feeling of wanting to merge with and BE the beloved.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Poetic writing and exceptionally strong understanding of a teenage crush/obsession makes for a quick, intelligent read. A few nitpicky concerns.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The fact that this novel is set in Italy, my favourite country, was enough to ensure that I would be sure to enjoy the settings evoked by this authors prose, but if you add in the fact that it is a bittersweet romance with bold characters you cannot help but care about, then you are guaranteed a winner.I won't summarise the plot as that has already been done, but I wanted to add in my two-pence worth at least and agree that this is a really beautiful novel. I read a lot of gay fiction, some of which is erotic and overly done, but this was a truly tender romance and I really found myself aching for the two men and their longing for one another. Their self doubts and insecurities and the will they/won't they scenario was carefully paced and tied in so well with the laid back summer setting in which the story was based. It had a very dreamlike quality to it which I really admired.The writing style is wonderful, evocative and rich with the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of Italy. You can virtually feel the hot summer seeping through the pages and imagine yourself in the sun-drenched Meditteranean. The characters are very well drawn, though at first I did feel that Elio seemed to be far too intelligent for his age, but hey-ho. I fell in love with Oliver who initially seemed to be a bit of a play boy, until eventually his realness shone through.I loved this book, though for me it does lose one star merely because I did find it difficult to follow Elio's narrative voice on occaision- particularly with his high-brow interests which for me just didn't seem that true and became a bit pretentious at times. Nevertheless, if you can get past this then you are in for a real treat of a book which deals with the issue of male/male relationships in a sensitive manner.I will definitely read more books by Aciman in future.*This review also appears on Amazon.co.uk*
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Totally delectable. The prose is sort of artless, but in a way that's entirely appropriate to the mindset of a love(lust)-struck 17 year old. Artfully artless. And the thoughts and emotions are SO well-observed, it's delightful. On every page there's some line that makes me reflect, "yes, that's exactly how it was! I've never seen anyone put it that way before, but it's precisely right." The interiority is masterful... It all feel perfectly honest and accurate and I read the whole thing with a big stupid grin on my face.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I am left somewhat speechless by this novel. I was so mesmerized by the prose I sat and read it cover to cover without pause.I cannot think of any other work that has captured desire and lust so accurately and more than that, so beautifully. The way Aciman wrote Elio's thoughts and desires just felt so pure and perfect. The confusion about his feelings, and the shame later, and everything in between, I was right there with him, feeling them all. It took me to a time when I remember being scared of my thoughts and feelings and desires, and not knowing what any of them meant. It never felt cliche, or trite or pretentious to me, the way so many books of this topic can be. It felt nuanced and real, and visceral. It felt like I was there, feeling all over again that ache of obsession that turns into feelings that turns into love. Love that doesn't need to be called that to know that it is that.One of my favorite parts of the whole novel however does not take place between Elio and Oliver, but rather between Elio and his father. It is one of the most beautiful parts of the entire novel, in my opinion, and my heart nearly leapt from my chest. Aciman is a masterful writer. This book was moving and wonderful and beautiful. There were so many passages that felt like poetry to me, down to the very last passage of the book.I loved every minute, every page, every word.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A lovely exploration of the mind of a smart 17-year-old in love.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    What is the difference between the lover and beloved, the watcher and the one watched? In his story of Eros and education Andre Aciman considers these questions and demonstrates the answers. With emphasis on the erotic, he has created a seeming Proustian meditation on time and desire, a love letter, an invocation in words that one must call simply "beautiful". His novel, Call Me by Your Name, is a wonderful tale whose dream-like qualities continually evoke the narrator's obscure object of desire which is, by definition, inexpiable, and indeterminate. For the details of the story I recommend you read the book, not because it is banal but rather because it is too beautiful to risk spoiling.This book constantly reminded me that it was fiction - the product of an imagination able to create an unreal dream world - yet I did not mind because it was simply, joyously readable. I was both entranced and intrigued by the narrator, whose name is withheld for much of the novel, but this is because, as the title implies, he is entranced and intrigued himself by his family's summer guest, Oliver, who seems to be nothing less than a Greek god. The subtle allusions to poetry and philosophy, the music of the senses, add to the magnificence of this short novel. Perhaps it will not effect everyone the same as it did me, but for those who appreciate the classical source of beauty this is a novel that ranks with Mann and Gide in its glistening presence.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I'm a big fan of prose, but Aciman's style is not without fault. There were perhaps one or two moments when I had to double back a couple lines to be clear on who said what. His descriptions of emotion were eloquent if somewhat detached, like he was watching himself in a film. However, that is quite forgivable since the story is told as a recollection.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It was the little, though not very subtle nuances in this book which in my eyes made it shine. I think Andre captured the essence of obsession very well - and though I had been a rather mentally boring teenager in way of love, I found myself identifying with Ellio's keen eye for detail for things he loved, & the manner in which he approached life as a supermarket of events that he needs to select to commit to memory the best. That is what I enjoyed the most - the theme of time & youth as a fleeting commodity that so many people waste by allowing it to fester way past it's due by date. The wound that hurt the most from the book was the public defamation of Calvino. (I jest, so that I shall not ruin the book for you) Thanks to Wei for reccomending a book I would otherwise have not found (& devoured so quickly thanks to a visiting dateline)!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I went to a reading by Andre Aciman the other day. I had enjoyed a couple of his essays but hadn't known he also wrote fiction. The day my husband checked out this book from the library, I stole a look at the first few pages before, then stole the book. I'm amazed to see this depth of interiority so well sustained. 'Call Me By Your Name' is by turns gripping, seductive, and unbearably tender. It's even a little maddening--as it should be. After all, it is a story of intimacy.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    (This was my Amazon review and the references are to reviewers there, not here.)You know, I could go on and on about the beautiful poetry of the language and the painful yearning, steeped in truth, that resonates with memories that we all have buried deep within our psyche, but dozens of other reviewers have already said much the same thing and in better words than I could. Instead, I'd like to address my review to the fellow who gave up on page 34, disgustedly tossed it into the garbage and proceeded to slap the book with a one-star review. Okay, okay. I'll grant you it is slow out of the starting gate, but guess what? It's building up to something, and the restraint Andre Aciman puts into the language it a direct reflection of the tremendous restraint Elio and Oliver exhibit toward each other. The payoff comes in the second section, and it is very rewarding. If the one-star reviewer had just stuck it out, he may have been pleasantly surprised. On second thought, maybe not. Unfortunately he probably still would have been bored by this low-key, reflective, nostalgic confession. Modern literature has evolved (or de-evolved?) to the point where to be a best-seller, a book must hook you from the first line, take you on a roller-coaster ride, and never let up until the last sentence. It has sadly created a whole generation of A.D.D. readers who can't appreciate a book that takes its time to unfold, and let the reader really get inside a character and know him. "Call Me by Your Name" is not an easy read. It takes some effort, but things in life that are hard to do are often the most rewarding.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Call Me by Your Nameby Andre AcimanThis book is a beautifully written coming of age novel with several strong points worth mentioning:1. The story's setting. A drowsy, hot summer; an Italian seaside villa with a swimming pool and lush gardens; long, delicious meals at the family table; evenings spent wandering the piazzas of a local Italian village, book signings and impromptu parties attended by international bohemians; bicycle trips on country lanes -- what more could you ask for??2. The author's powerful depiction of psychological attraction and raw physical desire. Although this book depicts a love affair between two young men, anyone who has ever participated in the tortuous (and yet delicious!) approach/avoidance dance of mutual attraction will recognize themselves in this book. 3. The last 40 pages of the book (Part 4). If you aren't left in tears, you don't have a heart or you are still very, very young. The author's bittersweet depiction of the main protagonist's struggle to resign himself to the loss of his once-in-a-lifetime love will deeply affect anyone who has encountered the rapture of true intimacy, only to watched it ebb away due to the loss of the beloved or (sadly) due to the beloved's everyday presence over the deadening tedium of time.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Matter-of-fact, powerfully written story of first true love and how the repercussions of it can echo down all the days of a life. Very well-done. The story haunts me.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Seventeen year old Elio lives on the Italian Riviera where his parents have a villa. Each summer his father invites a student to live in and assist him in his work, this year that student is a Canadian in his early twenties, Oliver, charming, handsome and, to Elio among others, very attractive.Elio recounts the events of that summer from his first impressions of Oliver, through the weeks their of courtship manoeuvring, to the final consummation of their affair and their few days together in Rome. Elio concludes his account relating his meeting with Oliver at a latter date. This is delightful story, Elio seems unaware of the good fortune of the circumstances of his life, and is unspoilt and unassuming. The seemingly on-off relationship between Elio and Oliver is charmingly and convincingly portrayed; it all adds up to a most rewarding read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is one revolutionary love story. Its not even about the sexual orientation but its about the passion of young, summer love. How one summer can change your life (I know that it sounds cliche but the book is anything but). The book transports you to Italy, in its little, country bookshops to its rocky beach. The book transports you to young love (ah, young love), how "innocent" and passionate it is. This book is just full of truth. Do not expect a happy ending though. It's not sad but it is a real world ending. It is for everyone, whether you're straight or LGBT.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I'm not a fan of lyrical romances, gay or otherwise , so I wasn't going to like this book no matter what. However, it was the first book for our local glbt book club, so I gave it a try. I hated the constant repetition of scenes, told slightly differently, until you had no idea what was really going on. (Of course, if you're a postmodernist, there's no reality outside the subjective remembering of the moment, which I'm sure is the author's point) Late in the book the lovers get out of the (to me) stifling Italian villa and go to Rome. That was a little more interesting. The best part for me was when they attended an author's reading at a bookstore. The author discussed the archeological layers of a church I actually visited in Rome. However except for providing a justification for the layering of the narrative, I didn't think it had much to do with the rest of the book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I loved this book! While some may feel a bit betrayed when they discover that this is a book about a deeply passionate relationship between two men, I didn't. Aciman writes quite intimately about a powerful and gut-wrenching love between two people. I was so moved by the hearthfelt emotion, love and destroying loss that is felt by the main characters in this book. My heart ached for them as they moved through their lives, never quite getting the love they desired to deeply. A true love story for the truly romantic at heart. A must read for anyone with an open mind in what they read.