Book Review: ‘Call Me By Your Name’
“Do you like being alone?” He asked.
”No. No one likes being alone. But I’ve learned to live with it”
Summer in London was practically non-existent. But then again, no one can really travel these days. At least not without spending £300 on covid tests. However, summer is not so far away when you wonder over to that little explored, usually ignored place: the bookshelf. I have a few summery springs to leap into on my shelf, some that will take me to cold winters nights too. But summer is where I wish to be, so summer is where I went. And I dove right in- head first, without thinking about what might be waiting for me in the watery depths below. But Call Me By Your Name was a warm lagoon teaming with life, curiosity all of which was begging to be explored.
It is one of those rare books in which you can feel the heat of the Italian sun, the languor of sunny days where all you want to do is lay by a pool with fresh peach juice by your side to cool you off. Because this book was heady, sensuous - burning with, not just desire, but teenage angst.
You see, there are coming of age stories and then there’s Call Me By Your Name. The coming of age stories to end all coming of age stories. ‘The Catcher in Rye’? Take a walk! There is something about self discovery that is so relatable to everyone. And the tangled confused web that Elio, our narrator, follows is fraught with anxiety and angst, so much more than your Disney princess picking flowers saying ‘he loves me- he loves me not’.
There is the effervescent feeling of having you feelings returned- the idea, the notion, that tantalising taste of euphoria of love. Not just a teenage crush, but one that is deep, true, slick. It drips like honey. Because our man who is the centre of attention: Oliver. Is everything and more. The world of Elio’s little world, the town, his home and the very people revolves around Oliver. Does he know that the world is turning just for him? He could move a mountain with the ease of a butterfly flapping its wings. Their romance is beautiful. That’s the only way to describe it. Luca Guadagnino’s film of the same name, nailed the heat and desire all wrapped up into one. It’s awkward, that first bloom of love between two people who know that it will end. But the beauty, therein, lies in the fact that they don’t care that it will end, because everything ends eventually. it doesn't mean that it wasn’t perfect. I would recommend seeing it. It’s warm, like a blush rising in your cheek.
Even at its most inevitable ending, the love that was between them will not go away, it’s not the feeling that won’t leave. But the memory. Those hot summer nights in a small town of Italy have left their mark. It’s not skin deep. It seeps down right to the core and flows through you.
If you read this book and end up not wanting a romance like Elio’s and Oliver’s? Read it again.