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Call Me By Your Name #2
Find Me
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Fiction (2019)In this spellbinding exploration of the varieties of love, the author of the worldwide bestseller Call Me by Your Name revisits its complex and beguiling characters decades after their first meeting.
No novel in recent memory has spoken more movingly to contemporary readers about the nature of love than André Aciman’s haunting Call Me by Your Name. First published in 2007, it was hailed as “a love letter, an invocation . . . an exceptionally beautiful book” (Stacey D’Erasmo, The New York Times Book Review). Nearly three quarters of a million copies have been sold, and the book became a much-loved, Academy Award–winning film starring Timothée Chalamet as the young Elio and Armie Hammer as Oliver, the graduate student with whom he falls in love.
In Find Me, Aciman shows us Elio’s father, Samuel, on a trip from Florence to Rome to visit Elio, who has become a gifted classical pianist. A chance encounter on the train with a beautiful young woman upends Sami’s plans and changes his life forever.
Elio soon moves to Paris, where he, too, has a consequential affair, while Oliver, now a New England college professor with a family, suddenly finds himself contemplating a return trip across the Atlantic.
Aciman is a master of sensibility, of the intimate details and the emotional nuances that are the substance of passion. Find Me brings us back inside the magic circle of one of our greatest contemporary romances to ask if, in fact, true love ever dies.
No novel in recent memory has spoken more movingly to contemporary readers about the nature of love than André Aciman’s haunting Call Me by Your Name. First published in 2007, it was hailed as “a love letter, an invocation . . . an exceptionally beautiful book” (Stacey D’Erasmo, The New York Times Book Review). Nearly three quarters of a million copies have been sold, and the book became a much-loved, Academy Award–winning film starring Timothée Chalamet as the young Elio and Armie Hammer as Oliver, the graduate student with whom he falls in love.
In Find Me, Aciman shows us Elio’s father, Samuel, on a trip from Florence to Rome to visit Elio, who has become a gifted classical pianist. A chance encounter on the train with a beautiful young woman upends Sami’s plans and changes his life forever.
Elio soon moves to Paris, where he, too, has a consequential affair, while Oliver, now a New England college professor with a family, suddenly finds himself contemplating a return trip across the Atlantic.
Aciman is a master of sensibility, of the intimate details and the emotional nuances that are the substance of passion. Find Me brings us back inside the magic circle of one of our greatest contemporary romances to ask if, in fact, true love ever dies.
260 pages, Hardcover
First published October 29, 2019
5553 people are currently reading
107401 people want to read
About the author
André Aciman
54 books10.3k followersAndré Aciman was born in Alexandria, Egypt and is an American memoirist, essayist, novelist, and scholar of seventeenth-century literature. He has also written many essays and reviews on Marcel Proust. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times, The Paris Review, The New Republic, Condé Nast Traveler as well as in many volumes of The Best American Essays. Aciman received his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Harvard University, has taught at Princeton and Bard and is Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature at The CUNY Graduate Center. He is currently chair of the Ph. D. Program in Comparative Literature and founder and director of The Writers' Institute at the Graduate Center.
Aciman is the author of the Whiting Award-winning memoir Out of Egypt (1995), an account of his childhood as a Jew growing up in post-colonial Egypt. Aciman has published two other books: False Papers: Essays in Exile and Memory (2001), and a novel Call Me By Your Name (2007), which was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and won the Lambda Literary Award for Men's Fiction (2008). His forthcoming novel Eight White Nights (FSG) will be published on February 14, 2010
Aciman is the author of the Whiting Award-winning memoir Out of Egypt (1995), an account of his childhood as a Jew growing up in post-colonial Egypt. Aciman has published two other books: False Papers: Essays in Exile and Memory (2001), and a novel Call Me By Your Name (2007), which was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and won the Lambda Literary Award for Men's Fiction (2008). His forthcoming novel Eight White Nights (FSG) will be published on February 14, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 10,361 reviews
November 14, 2019
Actual rating: 1.5 (rounded down)
I... don’t know what to say. I didn’t think this would ever happen. I am painedddd. This is, without doubt, one of the most disappointing literary moments of my life.
Where do I begin?
Aciman retconned many of the events from Call Me By Your Name. Some events/relationships/characterizations were changed for the better, and others for the worse. The fan service is there, but it’s so goddamn inconsequential; too little, too late.
First and foremost, let me tell you from the start how many pages are devoted to Elio x Oliver: 11 !!!! That’s right, less than a dozen pages of Elio and Oliver together. 11 out of 260. This, my friends, is fucking BULLSHIT! And to you, André Aciman... it is unforgivable.
Now, the book is chopped up into four parts. Let’s begin with the first section, Samuel Pearlman (Elio’s 50’s-60ish years old father): his story, which makes up almost half of the book, was pointless— a narrative flop. I mean, the whole ‘older man and the younger woman’ midlife crisis trope has been done to death! I didn’t find the romance endearing, believable, or necessary. “Definitely an older man’s fantasy” Mr. Pearlman thinks at one point. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. There were many moments in which you could tell Mr. Aciman was outright trying to convince the reader that this woman was Samuel’s soulmate— he was trying to push this new relationship down our throats until we either accepted it or choked to death. In other words: forced. The idea that these two would meet so randomly, and in that same day ***less than twelves hours*** become so enamored with one another, to the point of making love, having conversations of moving in together, getting matching tattoos, and having children... I find it highly— no— GODDAMN FUCKING IMPLAUSIBLE! In truth, Samuel and Miranda’s whirlwind “romance” sounded like severe mania to me, and it made ME feel manic! I can’t describe it, but I know what it’s like.
At one point, Samuel reflects on a past love-lost, wherein he and another woman were both in relationships, but got together anyways. André Aciman did much the same thing in his Enigma Variations, too— Making cheating on your significant other an almost inconsequential/innocent act. Frankly, I find it contemptible. If you’re that nonchalant and nonplussed about infidelity, then you’re someone I don’t want to know. So, this put me off Elio’s father instantly in this book, whereas in Call Me By Your Name I had been such a huge fan. Now, don’t get me wrong; I’m not sure I always agree wholeheartedly with monogamy— polyamory and open relationships are interesting, and I won’t judge or shame... as long as it’s all out in the open. I value honesty and openness in my life, and I want the same from the characters I read. André Aciman just happens to populate his novels with sexually loose characters—everyone is sleeping with everyone or having affairs— as well as characters who are quite free with their feelings, and give in to love very quickly.
Even so, after all this, the woman on the train (Miranda) sounded much more like MY soulmate than anything. One thing she said really hit close to home: “I can’t stand being by myself yet I can’t wait to be alone.” How she much prefers to talk to strangers and chat with everyone around her, rather than those closest to her... I mean, That is me to a T! Her views align with my views on relationships and “love”.
But that doesn’t make the opening section with Samuel any less unbearable. I found them all a little bit too pretentious; everyone talking in paradoxical, overtly-intellectualized, and contradictory ways. At least, I don’t know of anyone spending entire days ruminating on the depths of love, relationships, and personal/deeply-earnest reflections on the mysteries of life. No one really speaks like this ALL THE TIME.
The novel meanders along at an uncomfortably dull pace with Samuel & Miranda, until FINALLY ... 249 pages* in getting to what most (if not ALL) the readers of this sequel came for: Elio & Oliver. *Page 107. That’s when Elio first comes into the picture. Over 100-goddamned-pages of a 260 page book until we get our first glimpse of him. Mr. Aciman, dear Sir, may I ask WHAT THE FUCK?!? Section Two: Elio. It’s practically the same meaningless conversations as with Samuel and Miranda: Elio meets a much older man (25-30 years older!), and again we have to listen to the author hammer home more, “I’m half your age” blah blah blah “I’m too old for you” blah blah blah “You should be with someone your own age” blah blah blah. I can't seem to grasp the significance of including large age gaps between the romantic pairings in this book. Is this because of the criticisms to Elio and Oliver in the first book? Because that age gap was seven years, not 30!!! I hope I don’t sound ageist here— I think we have no control over who we fall in love with, age, race, religion, etc etc be damned! I simply find it... weird that we’re more than halfway through the book, and the only substantial takeaway I have is that Miranda and Elio don’t mind older men. That’s it. And maybe some various, muddled themes of regret and longing for the past. This is not the book I came for. This is not the story I’ve been waiting 10+ months for.
The characterization of Elio as a 32-year-old man is strikingly unchanged from the 17-year-old we met in Call Me By Your Name, albeit more morose/resigned/withdrawn. If we weren’t told he was an adult, I don’t think I would have been able to tell the difference. I don’t know how to feel about this. Section Three: Oliver. This was the only part that held my interest, but it was also one of the shortest. Oliver reminiscences on the past as he’s about to move from New York to New Hampshire. There’s a party. There are multiple people there Oliver wants to sleep with, and the way it’s presented, especially Oliver’s attitude, gives off such ‘Predatory Bi’ vibes. Someone plays a song on the piano that reminds him of Elio, and from there the rest is history (I won’t spoil it further).
Here’s the thing: There is a lot going on in this book. The themes that run through, I find, are ones of: remembrance and regret, missed chances, how time changes us, does love fade over time?, and the longing associated with love lost (and found). But that’s beside everything else we had to trudge through in this book, to arrive at what every reader I know who loved these characters had been waiting for: Elio and Oliver coming back together again. Let me just reiterate the fact that we receive almost NOTHING of import between the two.
To everyone I’ve been championing this book to since its existence was announced last December: I am sorry. I am sorry for hoping for something extraordinary, and hyping it up to the point of being high, high, high off the ground in giddy anticipation, only to be dropped like a stone into a freefall of disappointment. This book is essentially 260 pages of being slapped in the face for wanting more to begin with. And I’m angry. And I’m upset.
Fin.
*Initial review*, or: Before I knew what true disappointment was.
*UPDATE* 04/04/19 - THERE’S A F*CKING COVER, TOO!!! OOOOOOH MAH LORD!!!
*UPDATE* 03/21/19 - THERE’S A TITLE!! AND A SYNOPSIS!! AND A RELEASE DATE!!!!!
ATTENTION! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!
THIS IS HAPPENING!
THIS IS HAPPENING!
HOLY F*CK THIS IS HAPPENING!
*I feel like there should be more people that know about this.
I... don’t know what to say. I didn’t think this would ever happen. I am painedddd. This is, without doubt, one of the most disappointing literary moments of my life.
Where do I begin?
Aciman retconned many of the events from Call Me By Your Name. Some events/relationships/characterizations were changed for the better, and others for the worse. The fan service is there, but it’s so goddamn inconsequential; too little, too late.
First and foremost, let me tell you from the start how many pages are devoted to Elio x Oliver: 11 !!!! That’s right, less than a dozen pages of Elio and Oliver together. 11 out of 260. This, my friends, is fucking BULLSHIT! And to you, André Aciman... it is unforgivable.
Now, the book is chopped up into four parts. Let’s begin with the first section, Samuel Pearlman (Elio’s 50’s-60ish years old father): his story, which makes up almost half of the book, was pointless— a narrative flop. I mean, the whole ‘older man and the younger woman’ midlife crisis trope has been done to death! I didn’t find the romance endearing, believable, or necessary. “Definitely an older man’s fantasy” Mr. Pearlman thinks at one point. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. There were many moments in which you could tell Mr. Aciman was outright trying to convince the reader that this woman was Samuel’s soulmate— he was trying to push this new relationship down our throats until we either accepted it or choked to death. In other words: forced. The idea that these two would meet so randomly, and in that same day ***less than twelves hours*** become so enamored with one another, to the point of making love, having conversations of moving in together, getting matching tattoos, and having children... I find it highly— no— GODDAMN FUCKING IMPLAUSIBLE! In truth, Samuel and Miranda’s whirlwind “romance” sounded like severe mania to me, and it made ME feel manic! I can’t describe it, but I know what it’s like.
At one point, Samuel reflects on a past love-lost, wherein he and another woman were both in relationships, but got together anyways. André Aciman did much the same thing in his Enigma Variations, too— Making cheating on your significant other an almost inconsequential/innocent act. Frankly, I find it contemptible. If you’re that nonchalant and nonplussed about infidelity, then you’re someone I don’t want to know. So, this put me off Elio’s father instantly in this book, whereas in Call Me By Your Name I had been such a huge fan. Now, don’t get me wrong; I’m not sure I always agree wholeheartedly with monogamy— polyamory and open relationships are interesting, and I won’t judge or shame... as long as it’s all out in the open. I value honesty and openness in my life, and I want the same from the characters I read. André Aciman just happens to populate his novels with sexually loose characters—everyone is sleeping with everyone or having affairs— as well as characters who are quite free with their feelings, and give in to love very quickly.
Even so, after all this, the woman on the train (Miranda) sounded much more like MY soulmate than anything. One thing she said really hit close to home: “I can’t stand being by myself yet I can’t wait to be alone.” How she much prefers to talk to strangers and chat with everyone around her, rather than those closest to her... I mean, That is me to a T! Her views align with my views on relationships and “love”.
But that doesn’t make the opening section with Samuel any less unbearable. I found them all a little bit too pretentious; everyone talking in paradoxical, overtly-intellectualized, and contradictory ways. At least, I don’t know of anyone spending entire days ruminating on the depths of love, relationships, and personal/deeply-earnest reflections on the mysteries of life. No one really speaks like this ALL THE TIME.
The novel meanders along at an uncomfortably dull pace with Samuel & Miranda, until FINALLY ... 249 pages* in getting to what most (if not ALL) the readers of this sequel came for: Elio & Oliver. *Page 107. That’s when Elio first comes into the picture. Over 100-goddamned-pages of a 260 page book until we get our first glimpse of him. Mr. Aciman, dear Sir, may I ask WHAT THE FUCK?!? Section Two: Elio. It’s practically the same meaningless conversations as with Samuel and Miranda: Elio meets a much older man (25-30 years older!), and again we have to listen to the author hammer home more, “I’m half your age” blah blah blah “I’m too old for you” blah blah blah “You should be with someone your own age” blah blah blah. I can't seem to grasp the significance of including large age gaps between the romantic pairings in this book. Is this because of the criticisms to Elio and Oliver in the first book? Because that age gap was seven years, not 30!!! I hope I don’t sound ageist here— I think we have no control over who we fall in love with, age, race, religion, etc etc be damned! I simply find it... weird that we’re more than halfway through the book, and the only substantial takeaway I have is that Miranda and Elio don’t mind older men. That’s it. And maybe some various, muddled themes of regret and longing for the past. This is not the book I came for. This is not the story I’ve been waiting 10+ months for.
The characterization of Elio as a 32-year-old man is strikingly unchanged from the 17-year-old we met in Call Me By Your Name, albeit more morose/resigned/withdrawn. If we weren’t told he was an adult, I don’t think I would have been able to tell the difference. I don’t know how to feel about this. Section Three: Oliver. This was the only part that held my interest, but it was also one of the shortest. Oliver reminiscences on the past as he’s about to move from New York to New Hampshire. There’s a party. There are multiple people there Oliver wants to sleep with, and the way it’s presented, especially Oliver’s attitude, gives off such ‘Predatory Bi’ vibes. Someone plays a song on the piano that reminds him of Elio, and from there the rest is history (I won’t spoil it further).
Here’s the thing: There is a lot going on in this book. The themes that run through, I find, are ones of: remembrance and regret, missed chances, how time changes us, does love fade over time?, and the longing associated with love lost (and found). But that’s beside everything else we had to trudge through in this book, to arrive at what every reader I know who loved these characters had been waiting for: Elio and Oliver coming back together again. Let me just reiterate the fact that we receive almost NOTHING of import between the two.
To everyone I’ve been championing this book to since its existence was announced last December: I am sorry. I am sorry for hoping for something extraordinary, and hyping it up to the point of being high, high, high off the ground in giddy anticipation, only to be dropped like a stone into a freefall of disappointment. This book is essentially 260 pages of being slapped in the face for wanting more to begin with. And I’m angry. And I’m upset.
Fin.
*Initial review*, or: Before I knew what true disappointment was.
*UPDATE* 04/04/19 - THERE’S A F*CKING COVER, TOO!!! OOOOOOH MAH LORD!!!
*UPDATE* 03/21/19 - THERE’S A TITLE!! AND A SYNOPSIS!! AND A RELEASE DATE!!!!!
ATTENTION! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!
I would actually love a sequel to Call Me by Your Name. In fact I am writing one.
— André Aciman (@aaciman) December 3, 2018
THIS IS HAPPENING!
THIS IS HAPPENING!
HOLY F*CK THIS IS HAPPENING!
*I feel like there should be more people that know about this.
July 26, 2023
hats off to andré aciman for writing the most actively bad book ive read this whole year. like truly in terms of being extremely and painfully bad this book is a total 10/10
lmao i dont even know what i just read this book asked me to buy some of the most bizarre shit ive ever laid my eyeballs on
some bullet points because i cant be bothered to properly write a review for this (yall are lucky i read this on audiobook because otherwise i would have PAGES of receipts):
- there is one (1) female character in this book, miranda, and ohhhhhhh myyyyyyy goooooood. manic pixie dream girl doesnt even begin to cover it. miranda is THE manic pixie dream girl to end all manic pixie dream girls. it was BAD (Very Bad), but also hilarious. like has andré aciman seen a real life woman before ?
- the first part of this book was an absolute disaster. it was so absurd i literally couldnt believe what i was reading. i was honestly baffled that someone had not only written this, but edited it, MULTIPLE TIMES, and decided that yes, we are going to publish this! ive seen pixels more realistic than the straight up nonsense i was asked to believe in in part 1 (and the rest of the book, for that matter). also the sex scenes were NASTY. i never want to think about them ever again. at one point the phrase "cum and juices" was used. at another point miranda orders samuel to slap her on the face and when he does it even though he doesnt want to shes like "did it make you hard" and hes like "ya" and shes like "ok thats all matters." im sorry, but what the actual hell is going on ?????
- THE INSTALOVE. if a single person so much as glances at another person in this book, then you can be 99% sure that within the span of about 10 pages theyll end up admitting their deep and everlasting love for each other. again, i am forced to ask: what the hell is going on ??? i cannot stress how instalovey the instalove in this book was. i can say with absolute certainty that every single example of instalove you could possibly think of will pale in comparison to the instalove in find me. this book has instalove so instant itll give you whiplash.
- youve heard of instalove, now get ready for instaobjectification !!!! basically every time any man in this book so much as glances at a woman this happens:
apparently there is not a single man in this book who can keep it in their pants for 1 second to consider the woman in front of them as something more than just a thing for them to have sex with. cool. nice. very nice .
- theres like a random ass convoluted music mystery in part 2 which ??? like ok i guess this might as well happen this book is already bizarre as hell anyway go big or go home right
- im not kidding when i say that my reaction to almost every single thing the characters in this book said was "shut the fuck up." i cannot convey to you how AGONIZINGLY pretentious the writing was. not a single phrase that was uttered by anyone sounded like anything an Actual Human Being would say. in order to suspend your disbelief to believe any of it you wouldve had to basically shut your whole brain down
-and all this for what ? 10 pages in the end where we got some underwhelming shit that didnt even feel meaningful because it was so bogged down by the rest of the dumpster fire that was this book ?
- i am so confused. who is this book for ????? because this book was not anything even remotely close to fanservice. it was like the exact opposite of fanservice. a sequel/companion book should enhance its predecessor, not make it worse. find me spits on everything that people liked about CMBYN in the first place. also, i have a hard time believing that anyone wanted to read about literally anything in this book that wasnt in the last 10ish pages. unless i am sorely mistaken and someone actually had a headcanon about elio's dad running away with a woman he's known for like 5 seconds who has no personality aside from being beautiful and having a body for him to have sex with. if thats the case then whoever you are, you are in a for a treat !!
- also i HAD to mention this:
- im just gonna forget i ever read this because a) it was nasty and b) it was WEIRD and c) it was really Bad
if you want to read Actual Good Reviews of this book that get at what i meant in my review then check this one or this one
lmao i dont even know what i just read this book asked me to buy some of the most bizarre shit ive ever laid my eyeballs on
some bullet points because i cant be bothered to properly write a review for this (yall are lucky i read this on audiobook because otherwise i would have PAGES of receipts):
- there is one (1) female character in this book, miranda, and ohhhhhhh myyyyyyy goooooood. manic pixie dream girl doesnt even begin to cover it. miranda is THE manic pixie dream girl to end all manic pixie dream girls. it was BAD (Very Bad), but also hilarious. like has andré aciman seen a real life woman before ?
- the first part of this book was an absolute disaster. it was so absurd i literally couldnt believe what i was reading. i was honestly baffled that someone had not only written this, but edited it, MULTIPLE TIMES, and decided that yes, we are going to publish this! ive seen pixels more realistic than the straight up nonsense i was asked to believe in in part 1 (and the rest of the book, for that matter). also the sex scenes were NASTY. i never want to think about them ever again. at one point the phrase "cum and juices" was used. at another point miranda orders samuel to slap her on the face and when he does it even though he doesnt want to shes like "did it make you hard" and hes like "ya" and shes like "ok thats all matters." im sorry, but what the actual hell is going on ?????
- THE INSTALOVE. if a single person so much as glances at another person in this book, then you can be 99% sure that within the span of about 10 pages theyll end up admitting their deep and everlasting love for each other. again, i am forced to ask: what the hell is going on ??? i cannot stress how instalovey the instalove in this book was. i can say with absolute certainty that every single example of instalove you could possibly think of will pale in comparison to the instalove in find me. this book has instalove so instant itll give you whiplash.
- youve heard of instalove, now get ready for instaobjectification !!!! basically every time any man in this book so much as glances at a woman this happens:
female character: *exists*
male character: i wanted to caress her body. run my hands along her jawline. she crossed her legs and exposed the smooth beautiful skin of her ankles. i wanted to kiss her forehead. to whisper into her ear. i looked at her legs and thought about her opening them for me. the graceful curve of her neck was beckoning me; i wanted to stroke it.
apparently there is not a single man in this book who can keep it in their pants for 1 second to consider the woman in front of them as something more than just a thing for them to have sex with. cool. nice. very nice .
- theres like a random ass convoluted music mystery in part 2 which ??? like ok i guess this might as well happen this book is already bizarre as hell anyway go big or go home right
- im not kidding when i say that my reaction to almost every single thing the characters in this book said was "shut the fuck up." i cannot convey to you how AGONIZINGLY pretentious the writing was. not a single phrase that was uttered by anyone sounded like anything an Actual Human Being would say. in order to suspend your disbelief to believe any of it you wouldve had to basically shut your whole brain down
-and all this for what ? 10 pages in the end where we got some underwhelming shit that didnt even feel meaningful because it was so bogged down by the rest of the dumpster fire that was this book ?
- i am so confused. who is this book for ????? because this book was not anything even remotely close to fanservice. it was like the exact opposite of fanservice. a sequel/companion book should enhance its predecessor, not make it worse. find me spits on everything that people liked about CMBYN in the first place. also, i have a hard time believing that anyone wanted to read about literally anything in this book that wasnt in the last 10ish pages. unless i am sorely mistaken and someone actually had a headcanon about elio's dad running away with a woman he's known for like 5 seconds who has no personality aside from being beautiful and having a body for him to have sex with. if thats the case then whoever you are, you are in a for a treat !!
- also i HAD to mention this:
- im just gonna forget i ever read this because a) it was nasty and b) it was WEIRD and c) it was really Bad
if you want to read Actual Good Reviews of this book that get at what i meant in my review then check this one or this one
Read
April 14, 2020there's gonna be a sequel
in other words: what a great day to be gay haha convinced myself this would be a good and gay read but I'm sad to inform you that I have no intention of ever picking this book up cause I don't want to torture myself with the blabbering of an old man who starts an affair with a much younger woman which seems to be all that the book is about. no thanks.
October 28, 2019
thank you to Andre Aciman for using this sequel to confirm what I always knew in my heart: Elio is a Scorpio
October 29, 2021
Three efficiently, adroitly written but not my kind of cuppa story stars!
Sniff! My heart aches because I missed Elio and Oliver so much!!But this book is not about them!!! I can hear your screams right now!
I truly understand the frustration, disappointment and boiling anger of the readers after reading this book because most of them (partly me, too) wanted to see conclusion ( a small chance of HEA) of Elio and Oliver! We want to grab the sequel, reading their compassionate journey ( older and wiser version) so most of us really got excited for upcoming release (this time I forced my mother and sister in law to join my happy dance but both them hurt their legs. I didn’t intend to kick them! I was performing my special kickbox and kungfu figures for sharpening my dance skills. Anyway, i left them to the ER door and came back to continue my reading)
News flash my dearest friends: This is not a sequel! This is a standalone! There is a misunderstanding about the promo or because of mercury’s retrograde we all fooled and confused, postponing everything in our lives and dealing with dissatisfaction (because mercury moves back in Scorpio!) I know this is not a logical explanation but if you expect those two memorable characters’ unfinished story, you’re never gonna get it. There are only 11 pages devoted to those characters!!! Seriously?!! Yeap, I wish I was kidding!
So buckle up and get ready to read about SAMUEL PEARLMAN, Elio’s father’ s story which takes half of the book. He meets with a woman on a train journey (Sliding Doors meets Before the Sunrise kind of instalove story or let’s say “love at first train stop!”
I’m not a prude enough to judge an old man and young woman’s sudden steamy, passionate relationship. Everything shouldn’t be defined as midlife crisis and we shouldn’t criticize poor Samuel and call him: “Look at this guy is another victim of andropause!”
I didn’t find their relationship so genuine, relatable. Did they want to have rough sex, did they want to have matching tattoos or having dozens of children? That’s fine! It never bothers me! They believe in that they’re soulmates! But my concern about this story is we already know what will happen to Samuel after four years!!! This is not a spoiler because if you also read “Call Me By Your Name” and know the time lining of the book, you also know what will happen to him! So this story looks like a tribute to this character’s memory which made me sad and bothered but I can deal with it. Let’s move to the other part.
At the second part, we see Elio meets an older man ( this time he’s nearly 30 years older than him so it’s not the same 7 years age gape he had with Oliver)
And the third part we meet Oliver again, moving from New York to New Hampshire. He attends a party and saw the piano player who reminds him of Elio.
So I’m not gonna talk more, you have to read and make your own decision and face with your own demons about this book but I honestly say it was not boring, dull, suffocating reading for me. I think the author’s approach about the choices we make, regrets about the things we procrastinate , differences about our decisions when it comes to listen our hearts or own minds was delectably and meticulously described.
Instead of getting a HEA of our characters, we caught some glimpses of their future lives, how they moved on, settled in new relationships, made new career choices, aged and faced new life challenges.
It’s not my kind of stories. I’m also a little disappointed but I didn’t find it fair to give less than three stars to this book because the writing is so fantastic.
Well, farewell to my favorite characters and let’s move on to the next book journey!
Sniff! My heart aches because I missed Elio and Oliver so much!!But this book is not about them!!! I can hear your screams right now!
I truly understand the frustration, disappointment and boiling anger of the readers after reading this book because most of them (partly me, too) wanted to see conclusion ( a small chance of HEA) of Elio and Oliver! We want to grab the sequel, reading their compassionate journey ( older and wiser version) so most of us really got excited for upcoming release (this time I forced my mother and sister in law to join my happy dance but both them hurt their legs. I didn’t intend to kick them! I was performing my special kickbox and kungfu figures for sharpening my dance skills. Anyway, i left them to the ER door and came back to continue my reading)
News flash my dearest friends: This is not a sequel! This is a standalone! There is a misunderstanding about the promo or because of mercury’s retrograde we all fooled and confused, postponing everything in our lives and dealing with dissatisfaction (because mercury moves back in Scorpio!) I know this is not a logical explanation but if you expect those two memorable characters’ unfinished story, you’re never gonna get it. There are only 11 pages devoted to those characters!!! Seriously?!! Yeap, I wish I was kidding!
So buckle up and get ready to read about SAMUEL PEARLMAN, Elio’s father’ s story which takes half of the book. He meets with a woman on a train journey (Sliding Doors meets Before the Sunrise kind of instalove story or let’s say “love at first train stop!”
I’m not a prude enough to judge an old man and young woman’s sudden steamy, passionate relationship. Everything shouldn’t be defined as midlife crisis and we shouldn’t criticize poor Samuel and call him: “Look at this guy is another victim of andropause!”
I didn’t find their relationship so genuine, relatable. Did they want to have rough sex, did they want to have matching tattoos or having dozens of children? That’s fine! It never bothers me! They believe in that they’re soulmates! But my concern about this story is we already know what will happen to Samuel after four years!!! This is not a spoiler because if you also read “Call Me By Your Name” and know the time lining of the book, you also know what will happen to him! So this story looks like a tribute to this character’s memory which made me sad and bothered but I can deal with it. Let’s move to the other part.
At the second part, we see Elio meets an older man ( this time he’s nearly 30 years older than him so it’s not the same 7 years age gape he had with Oliver)
And the third part we meet Oliver again, moving from New York to New Hampshire. He attends a party and saw the piano player who reminds him of Elio.
So I’m not gonna talk more, you have to read and make your own decision and face with your own demons about this book but I honestly say it was not boring, dull, suffocating reading for me. I think the author’s approach about the choices we make, regrets about the things we procrastinate , differences about our decisions when it comes to listen our hearts or own minds was delectably and meticulously described.
Instead of getting a HEA of our characters, we caught some glimpses of their future lives, how they moved on, settled in new relationships, made new career choices, aged and faced new life challenges.
It’s not my kind of stories. I’m also a little disappointed but I didn’t find it fair to give less than three stars to this book because the writing is so fantastic.
Well, farewell to my favorite characters and let’s move on to the next book journey!
November 13, 2019
I read many angry 1 star reviews.
I’m not one of them,
yet I understand the frustration from those readers. They wanted more than 11 pages of *Elio & Oliver*.
Where some readers felt the characters were shallow -I felt the they were real.
I was totally captivated with the entire novel.
We first meet Samuel, ( Elio’s father), and the much younger witty/beautiful Miranda. They are strangers on a train.
I thought their dialogue was phenomenal- vibrantly engaging, insightful, truthful, and easily imagined.
Elio enters around 100 pages in... with Michel. We journey with their relationship.
I was reminded of the power of fiction: deep and multifaceted
as love itself....
The last part is what most of us were craving: Elio & Oliver.
We also meet little Ollie...
This last part is especially luminous- emotional - enduring & heartwarming.
Andre Aciman’s writing is sooo beautiful - so elegant - tender - intelligent - and easily imagined.
I love it!!!! Sorry other readers were disappointed...
but I was honestly satisfied.
I’m not one of them,
yet I understand the frustration from those readers. They wanted more than 11 pages of *Elio & Oliver*.
Where some readers felt the characters were shallow -I felt the they were real.
I was totally captivated with the entire novel.
We first meet Samuel, ( Elio’s father), and the much younger witty/beautiful Miranda. They are strangers on a train.
I thought their dialogue was phenomenal- vibrantly engaging, insightful, truthful, and easily imagined.
Elio enters around 100 pages in... with Michel. We journey with their relationship.
I was reminded of the power of fiction: deep and multifaceted
as love itself....
The last part is what most of us were craving: Elio & Oliver.
We also meet little Ollie...
This last part is especially luminous- emotional - enduring & heartwarming.
Andre Aciman’s writing is sooo beautiful - so elegant - tender - intelligent - and easily imagined.
I love it!!!! Sorry other readers were disappointed...
but I was honestly satisfied.
November 2, 2019
My review of Find Me can be read on the Irish Times here: https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/bo...
November 8, 2019
Find Me
was altogether different than I expected, but it was utterly, gloriously moving.
"...the magic of someone new never lasts long enough. We only want those we can’t have. It’s those we lost or who never knew we existed who leave their mark. The others barely echo."
While Find Me is, in essence, a sequel to Call Me By Your Name , for the most part it’s more a book that follows some of the characters. If you go in expecting another whole book about Oliver and Elio you’ll be disappointed.
This is a book about love, longing, all-consuming desire and the fear it might suddenly disappear. It’s also a book about what the heart wants and how strongly it clings to some people and some memories despite the passage of time.
Find Me is a novel with several parts. The first follows Samuel, Elio’s father, as he travels by train to Rome to visit his son, a pianist and teacher. He meets a much younger woman, Miranda, and the two feel a connection more powerful than anything they’ve ever felt. Can the course of your life change so completely because of a stranger?
In the second part, a few years later, Elio has moved to Paris. While attending a concert one evening he meets a much-older man and the two are instantly attracted to each other. Their connection is intense, emotional, and it reminds Elio of the one man he has held in his heart all these years.
The briefer third part follows Oliver as he and his family are preparing to leave their latest academic post. As he considers matters of the heart, he realizes there is one place he needs to be, with the one person whom he still loves completely.
I am and have always been in love with the way Aciman writes. His words are poetic, gorgeous, at times erotic, romantic, and melancholy. That mastery is once again on display in Find Me .
Did I want more Oliver and Elio? Yes. I could’ve used another 100 pages of their story. But this book in its own right is beautiful and poignant, and so worth reading, so I choose to focus on all that it is rather than what it isn’t.
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
You can follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
"...the magic of someone new never lasts long enough. We only want those we can’t have. It’s those we lost or who never knew we existed who leave their mark. The others barely echo."
While Find Me is, in essence, a sequel to Call Me By Your Name , for the most part it’s more a book that follows some of the characters. If you go in expecting another whole book about Oliver and Elio you’ll be disappointed.
This is a book about love, longing, all-consuming desire and the fear it might suddenly disappear. It’s also a book about what the heart wants and how strongly it clings to some people and some memories despite the passage of time.
Find Me is a novel with several parts. The first follows Samuel, Elio’s father, as he travels by train to Rome to visit his son, a pianist and teacher. He meets a much younger woman, Miranda, and the two feel a connection more powerful than anything they’ve ever felt. Can the course of your life change so completely because of a stranger?
In the second part, a few years later, Elio has moved to Paris. While attending a concert one evening he meets a much-older man and the two are instantly attracted to each other. Their connection is intense, emotional, and it reminds Elio of the one man he has held in his heart all these years.
The briefer third part follows Oliver as he and his family are preparing to leave their latest academic post. As he considers matters of the heart, he realizes there is one place he needs to be, with the one person whom he still loves completely.
I am and have always been in love with the way Aciman writes. His words are poetic, gorgeous, at times erotic, romantic, and melancholy. That mastery is once again on display in Find Me .
Did I want more Oliver and Elio? Yes. I could’ve used another 100 pages of their story. But this book in its own right is beautiful and poignant, and so worth reading, so I choose to focus on all that it is rather than what it isn’t.
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
You can follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
Read
April 3, 2019THIS IS NOT GOOD- THE STORY WAS PERFECT. WE DONT NEED MORE. PEOPLE NEED TO LEARN TO LET GO. WRITE A NEW ONE. A WHOLE NEW STORY. LEAVE ELIO ALONE YOU FUCKING PEOPLE.
June 25, 2021
This was not as bad as I thought it would be. I heard such bad things about this book and picked up from the library out of curiosity, more than anything.
And I was pleasantly surprised. The first section of the book follows Elio's dad and a new relationship which blossoms between him and a stranger on the train. It is beautiful, sensitive and raw. All of the things I loved about CMBYN. If the book had ended there I would have given it five stars... but it went down to three because I didn't enjoy the part with Elio so much. It feels like we're hearing about him for the mere sake of hearing about him (i.e. bc we have an affection for him from the fist book). It would have worked better as a standalone novel because the ending of Find Me totally undermines that of CMBYN (in my opinion at least).
And I was pleasantly surprised. The first section of the book follows Elio's dad and a new relationship which blossoms between him and a stranger on the train. It is beautiful, sensitive and raw. All of the things I loved about CMBYN. If the book had ended there I would have given it five stars... but it went down to three because I didn't enjoy the part with Elio so much. It feels like we're hearing about him for the mere sake of hearing about him (i.e. bc we have an affection for him from the fist book). It would have worked better as a standalone novel because the ending of Find Me totally undermines that of CMBYN (in my opinion at least).
October 9, 2019
Okay, so I want to start by addressing the big question: where does this fit into the continuity? (I know most people probably don’t care, but it’s really interesting to me.) Let’s recap the timeline: most of Call Me By Your Name takes place during the summer of 1987. Oliver visits Elio’s parents 11 years afterward (I’ll call this 11A-CMBYN, because it’s more accurate than just saying 1998—some of the time jumps aren’t exact and it could be technically 1997, etc.). Elio visits Oliver in America 15 years after the main plot (15A-CMBYN). And Oliver finally reunites with Elio at his home in Italy 20 years after (20A-CMBYN).
The basic premise of the first section, Tempo, is this: Samuel Perlman, Elio’s dad, is divorced, meets a woman on a train, and has a Before Sunrise-style day walking around and falling in love with her. It’s supposed to take place in 10A-CMBYN, but that means Oliver visits Elio’s parents one year later, which seems unlikely if Samuel and his wife are already divorced. I mean, I guess you can make it fit if you really want to—Samuel still lives in the same house and there are references to he and his wife still being friends, so maybe they all hung out together. Still, Samuel’s divorce is a clear retcon, and it’s kind of distracting.
It’s also distracting because we know that by 15A-CMBYN, Samuel will have died already. So we know, reading it, that he’ll die, at most, four years after the events of Tempo. I guess Aciman does this intentionally, and there’s dramatic irony in knowing Samuel’s going to die soon after this wonderful new development in his life. In theory that makes the story both heartbreaking and joyful; it’s sad that this relationship won’t last very long, but it’s beautiful that Samuel and Miranda were at least able to find their person, even for just a limited period of time. But…I don’t know. Aciman doesn’t really do much with that tragic irony, and instead it kind of feels like he’s just shoehorning this story in.
Similarly, the second section, Cadenza, takes place in 15A-CMBYN, a few months before Elio visits Oliver in America. The third section, Capriccio, takes place in 20A-CMBYN, shortly before Oliver visits Elio in Italy. And the final section, Da Capo, takes place in 20A-CMBYN directly after the final pages of CMBYN. These all sort of fit with the chronology, if you squint: Samuel is still alive during Cadenza, which must mean he dies in the few months between that section and Elio’s visit to America. And in Da Capo, Samuel is dead, while Miranda and her son Little Ollie are living at Samuel’s old house with Elio’s mom. It’s a weird arrangement, but I guess it works.
It’s not that there are specific things that definitely don’t fit. But it’s still clear that Aciman (or the book’s proofreader) bent over backwards to make these things just barely work, and as a result the product feels hastily assembled, kind of like fan fiction. Aciman is essentially filling in little unimportant side stories that occurred between the main events of the first book’s last 20 pages, and as a result this all feels kind of slight and meaningless. I can’t imagine someone reading both books and preferring this book.
But let’s dig deeper into the four different stories.
I. Tempo: 2.5–3 stars.
Part of me admires Andre Aciman’s almost perverse willingness to delay gratification by totally depriving readers of Elio and Oliver for half the book. Okay, sure, Elio shows up toward the end of this section and reminisces about Oliver with his dad, but besides some vague references, the first half of this book is totally divorced from the plot of Call Me By Your Name. It’s about Samuel Perlman, Elio’s dad, but really it could be about any aging man. And honestly, I think Tempo might’ve worked better if it didn’t use the same characters as CMBYN, especially because of the distracting aforementioned continuity confusion.
The love story itself didn’t work great for me. The train conversation between Samuel and Miranda kind of repeats the same pattern over and over: one character predicts something surprisingly accurate about the other, proving they have some almost chemical connection. Miranda playfully teases, which Samuel loves. Many of the conclusions they come to about each other really aren’t that impossible to predict; they’re not shallow observations, but they’re also not incredible to the point that I’d think of them as soul mates. Did they have one magnificent, magical date over the course of this day and night? Sure. But does that mean they’re meant to be together for the rest of their lives? No. This storyline lacks the realism of Before Sunrise, the characters’ tentative feelings of I’m not sure I’m allowed to say I feel this way yet, because it’s only been a day. It’d be nice as a story about Samuel finally learning to feel something again after his divorce, but ‘epic love story’ feels like too much.
That said…oddly, there’s one section I quite liked, when Samuel and Miranda finally start their physical relationship and Samuel starts to wonder if they’re meant to be together. I didn’t find the connection totally believable (also, to be honest, the big age gap made it feel more cliché and Woody Allen-y to me), but accepting the premise that they’re soul mates, I was swayed by the romance of it. I do like the way the title ‘find me’ comes into play, and the way the characters muse about how miraculous it is that they found each other, that after all this time searching for the one they ended up sitting together on a train. And I like how that idea scares Samuel, how he’s terrified by how close they came to never meeting at all. A decent amount of the language in this section is kind of cheesy and overwrought, and the characters articulate their feelings a little too eloquently. But it’s at least kind of hot and offbeat in a way reminiscent of CMBYN, and if you overlook the fact that these characters have only known each other for a day, the feelings and philosophical musings are rendered well.
So yeah. Some nice language in places, but mixed feelings on the romance, and as a whole I really didn’t feel like this needed to be about Elio’s dad. Making this a Call Me By Your Name sequel places the burden on the author to live up to the first one, and I might’ve liked this a bit more if it wasn’t even connected.
II. Cadenza: 3.5 stars.
I like Elio’s story in this book a lot more, because it’s humble and realistic. Elio forms a real, deep connection with Michel, probably the second deepest romantic relationship he’s ever had, but it still pales in comparison to what he experienced that summer with Oliver so long ago. And Michel himself knows that, which makes the ending of this story sweet and sad.
The courting period also has a lot more tension than Samuel and Miranda’s, because Elio and Michel are constantly unsure what each other is thinking, so they’re constantly modulating what they say and trying to play it cool. It feels reminiscent of the first book, when Elio never knew how far he could take things with Oliver, so he always tried to hide how desperately he wanted to embrace him. The sexual tension is a lot more palpable in this section than Tempo, and it’s partly because of that unsureness, that paranoia that what Elio’s sensing might not be real. Also, as weird as it seems, it might be stronger because it’s two men. There’s often an added dimension of mystery and sexual playfulness when two men (or two women) are attracted to each other, because the question isn’t just Is he attracted to me? but Is he attracted to men at all? It’s always satisfying in stories like this when the characters finally confirm their sexualities to each other, and they kind of share a smile, reassured about the possibility of their connection. What makes Aciman’s writing so sexy is how characters leave things unsaid, how they communicate with body language, and that’s much more prevalent in this story than Tempo.
I really liked how this story developed, how there’s a fun little detective story element as Elio and Michel try to unravel the mystery of Léon, a man Michel’s father may have had a relationship with. I like the focus on the music score Michel found that he wants Elio to figure out, and how the book starts to use music as a metaphor for passion and love (a theme that carries over to the next section). And I like that the whole time, there’s the tension of knowing Elio will never love Michel the same way he loved Oliver, which gives their relationship a limited shelf life. It gives every dialogue they have an element of danger—neither wants to bring up the future, because neither wants to acknowledge that this is only going to last so long.
III. Capriccio: 4 stars.
The Oliver story is easily my favorite in the book. I like that it’s so short and contained: it’s basically a fun and introspective short story set during a man’s going-away party, an event that makes him reconsider all his relationships. Oliver’s New York City sabbatical is coming to an end, and soon he has to return to New Hampshire, to his boring life with his wife Micol.
My favorite part of this story isn’t Oliver being haunted by Elio; my favorite part is his weird little flirtation with Erica and Paul, two guests he doesn’t know very well. The two of them meet each other, then he joins them and the three become their own little unit, talking and laughing together the whole party. There’s this unspoken charged sexual connection among the three of them, and it becomes almost unbearable; you just want them to have a threesome, or even to become a full-blown polyamorous trio, but the power of the story partly comes from knowing that this connection is ultimately doomed, that none of them will betray their respective partners.
This story takes advantage of Aciman’s greatest strength, which I’ve already mentioned: his ability to dissect body language and unspoken sexual energy. The story has the least amount of sex in all of them, but it’s so sexy in a way the others aren’t. It’s palpable and thrilling, and all their partners being there means it’s going to remain in this realm of fantasy forever, this one weird and magical night when something chemical existed between all three of these people.
I also like how it continues the theme of music: the capriccio Paul plays is a way of expressing his desire for Oliver without using words or outwardly betraying his boyfriend. It makes Oliver’s desire for him even stronger, but it also brings him back to Elio playing it for him years ago, and suddenly Elio is all he can think about. I like this passage: “What had I wanted from them? For them to like each other so I could sit, sip more prosecco, and then decide whether or not to join their party? Or had I liked them both and couldn’t decide which of the two I wanted more? Or did I want neither but needed to think I did because otherwise I’d have to look into my life and find huge, bleak craters everywhere going back to that scuttled, damaged love I’d told them about earlier that evening.”
Here’s my one issue with this story: it kind of rewrites the ending of CMBYN from a character standpoint. One of the things I loved about that book’s ending was how the power dynamic is a bit uneven: yes, maybe Elio and Oliver are ‘soul mates’ and neither will ever find someone who they love as much as each other, but Elio was the one who felt a little bit more haunted by this than Oliver. Oliver got married shortly after leaving Elio; while Elio stayed stuck in the past, Oliver was able to build a whole life for himself and his family. He stresses that while seeing Elio now is like waking up from a coma, “I prefer to call it a parallel life. It sounds better. Problem is that most of us have—live, that is—more than two parallel lives.”
What’s sad and complicated about the end of the first book is that Elio and Oliver will likely both be haunted by their love for each other forever, but Oliver has found a semblance of stability, a more humble, grateful form of happiness that doesn’t require torrid sex and grand operatic romance. His life without Elio isn’t necessarily a better or worse one. It’s just a different one. But Oliver’s story in Find Me implies he’s really bored and unhappy with life, that he feels exactly the same as Elio…which kind of flattens out the fascinating, uneven dynamic of the first book.
IV. Da Capo: 2.5 stars.
I don’t know, man. This section should be electric. It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for: the direct continuation to the end of Call Me By Your Name, the 20A-CMBYN Elio-Oliver reunion in Italy. But it just feels kind of limp and undercooked.
To be fair, Aciman kind of hangs a lampshade on the inevitability of anticlimax by making Elio and Oliver’s first night in bed together kind of anticlimactic. Neither really wants to have sex; they’re awkward, and they feel the weight of time too acutely. But the old feelings are still there, and they sort of gradually transition back into their old relationship, learning how to be themselves around each other again.
That could make for a fascinating story, if Aciman wanted to devote a whole book to that. It’d probably be far better than what we get. But instead we get 13 pages, which I don’t really understand. I definitely didn’t need a whole book devoted to Elio and Oliver being together—I didn’t need anything of them at all!—but giving them this small little story together feels strange. What we get is basically an epilogue to an epilogue we already got in the first book. And it undoes the complexity and beauty of that ending by giving Elio and Oliver an unambiguously happy ending. It feels like 12 years later, after seeing the success of the movie, Aciman decided to…give fans the ending they want?
I’m not against happy endings. Sad endings can be just as overly simplistic as happy ones. But what we got at the end of Call Me By Your Name wasn’t unsatisfying. Maybe my central issue with this book is its inherent existence—why mess with a perfect ending? And while I admire the attempt to do something different with these characters, I can’t help but feel like I just read a disjointed collection of deleted scenes.
The basic premise of the first section, Tempo, is this: Samuel Perlman, Elio’s dad, is divorced, meets a woman on a train, and has a Before Sunrise-style day walking around and falling in love with her. It’s supposed to take place in 10A-CMBYN, but that means Oliver visits Elio’s parents one year later, which seems unlikely if Samuel and his wife are already divorced. I mean, I guess you can make it fit if you really want to—Samuel still lives in the same house and there are references to he and his wife still being friends, so maybe they all hung out together. Still, Samuel’s divorce is a clear retcon, and it’s kind of distracting.
It’s also distracting because we know that by 15A-CMBYN, Samuel will have died already. So we know, reading it, that he’ll die, at most, four years after the events of Tempo. I guess Aciman does this intentionally, and there’s dramatic irony in knowing Samuel’s going to die soon after this wonderful new development in his life. In theory that makes the story both heartbreaking and joyful; it’s sad that this relationship won’t last very long, but it’s beautiful that Samuel and Miranda were at least able to find their person, even for just a limited period of time. But…I don’t know. Aciman doesn’t really do much with that tragic irony, and instead it kind of feels like he’s just shoehorning this story in.
Similarly, the second section, Cadenza, takes place in 15A-CMBYN, a few months before Elio visits Oliver in America. The third section, Capriccio, takes place in 20A-CMBYN, shortly before Oliver visits Elio in Italy. And the final section, Da Capo, takes place in 20A-CMBYN directly after the final pages of CMBYN. These all sort of fit with the chronology, if you squint: Samuel is still alive during Cadenza, which must mean he dies in the few months between that section and Elio’s visit to America. And in Da Capo, Samuel is dead, while Miranda and her son Little Ollie are living at Samuel’s old house with Elio’s mom. It’s a weird arrangement, but I guess it works.
It’s not that there are specific things that definitely don’t fit. But it’s still clear that Aciman (or the book’s proofreader) bent over backwards to make these things just barely work, and as a result the product feels hastily assembled, kind of like fan fiction. Aciman is essentially filling in little unimportant side stories that occurred between the main events of the first book’s last 20 pages, and as a result this all feels kind of slight and meaningless. I can’t imagine someone reading both books and preferring this book.
But let’s dig deeper into the four different stories.
I. Tempo: 2.5–3 stars.
Part of me admires Andre Aciman’s almost perverse willingness to delay gratification by totally depriving readers of Elio and Oliver for half the book. Okay, sure, Elio shows up toward the end of this section and reminisces about Oliver with his dad, but besides some vague references, the first half of this book is totally divorced from the plot of Call Me By Your Name. It’s about Samuel Perlman, Elio’s dad, but really it could be about any aging man. And honestly, I think Tempo might’ve worked better if it didn’t use the same characters as CMBYN, especially because of the distracting aforementioned continuity confusion.
The love story itself didn’t work great for me. The train conversation between Samuel and Miranda kind of repeats the same pattern over and over: one character predicts something surprisingly accurate about the other, proving they have some almost chemical connection. Miranda playfully teases, which Samuel loves. Many of the conclusions they come to about each other really aren’t that impossible to predict; they’re not shallow observations, but they’re also not incredible to the point that I’d think of them as soul mates. Did they have one magnificent, magical date over the course of this day and night? Sure. But does that mean they’re meant to be together for the rest of their lives? No. This storyline lacks the realism of Before Sunrise, the characters’ tentative feelings of I’m not sure I’m allowed to say I feel this way yet, because it’s only been a day. It’d be nice as a story about Samuel finally learning to feel something again after his divorce, but ‘epic love story’ feels like too much.
That said…oddly, there’s one section I quite liked, when Samuel and Miranda finally start their physical relationship and Samuel starts to wonder if they’re meant to be together. I didn’t find the connection totally believable (also, to be honest, the big age gap made it feel more cliché and Woody Allen-y to me), but accepting the premise that they’re soul mates, I was swayed by the romance of it. I do like the way the title ‘find me’ comes into play, and the way the characters muse about how miraculous it is that they found each other, that after all this time searching for the one they ended up sitting together on a train. And I like how that idea scares Samuel, how he’s terrified by how close they came to never meeting at all. A decent amount of the language in this section is kind of cheesy and overwrought, and the characters articulate their feelings a little too eloquently. But it’s at least kind of hot and offbeat in a way reminiscent of CMBYN, and if you overlook the fact that these characters have only known each other for a day, the feelings and philosophical musings are rendered well.
So yeah. Some nice language in places, but mixed feelings on the romance, and as a whole I really didn’t feel like this needed to be about Elio’s dad. Making this a Call Me By Your Name sequel places the burden on the author to live up to the first one, and I might’ve liked this a bit more if it wasn’t even connected.
II. Cadenza: 3.5 stars.
I like Elio’s story in this book a lot more, because it’s humble and realistic. Elio forms a real, deep connection with Michel, probably the second deepest romantic relationship he’s ever had, but it still pales in comparison to what he experienced that summer with Oliver so long ago. And Michel himself knows that, which makes the ending of this story sweet and sad.
The courting period also has a lot more tension than Samuel and Miranda’s, because Elio and Michel are constantly unsure what each other is thinking, so they’re constantly modulating what they say and trying to play it cool. It feels reminiscent of the first book, when Elio never knew how far he could take things with Oliver, so he always tried to hide how desperately he wanted to embrace him. The sexual tension is a lot more palpable in this section than Tempo, and it’s partly because of that unsureness, that paranoia that what Elio’s sensing might not be real. Also, as weird as it seems, it might be stronger because it’s two men. There’s often an added dimension of mystery and sexual playfulness when two men (or two women) are attracted to each other, because the question isn’t just Is he attracted to me? but Is he attracted to men at all? It’s always satisfying in stories like this when the characters finally confirm their sexualities to each other, and they kind of share a smile, reassured about the possibility of their connection. What makes Aciman’s writing so sexy is how characters leave things unsaid, how they communicate with body language, and that’s much more prevalent in this story than Tempo.
I really liked how this story developed, how there’s a fun little detective story element as Elio and Michel try to unravel the mystery of Léon, a man Michel’s father may have had a relationship with. I like the focus on the music score Michel found that he wants Elio to figure out, and how the book starts to use music as a metaphor for passion and love (a theme that carries over to the next section). And I like that the whole time, there’s the tension of knowing Elio will never love Michel the same way he loved Oliver, which gives their relationship a limited shelf life. It gives every dialogue they have an element of danger—neither wants to bring up the future, because neither wants to acknowledge that this is only going to last so long.
III. Capriccio: 4 stars.
The Oliver story is easily my favorite in the book. I like that it’s so short and contained: it’s basically a fun and introspective short story set during a man’s going-away party, an event that makes him reconsider all his relationships. Oliver’s New York City sabbatical is coming to an end, and soon he has to return to New Hampshire, to his boring life with his wife Micol.
My favorite part of this story isn’t Oliver being haunted by Elio; my favorite part is his weird little flirtation with Erica and Paul, two guests he doesn’t know very well. The two of them meet each other, then he joins them and the three become their own little unit, talking and laughing together the whole party. There’s this unspoken charged sexual connection among the three of them, and it becomes almost unbearable; you just want them to have a threesome, or even to become a full-blown polyamorous trio, but the power of the story partly comes from knowing that this connection is ultimately doomed, that none of them will betray their respective partners.
This story takes advantage of Aciman’s greatest strength, which I’ve already mentioned: his ability to dissect body language and unspoken sexual energy. The story has the least amount of sex in all of them, but it’s so sexy in a way the others aren’t. It’s palpable and thrilling, and all their partners being there means it’s going to remain in this realm of fantasy forever, this one weird and magical night when something chemical existed between all three of these people.
I also like how it continues the theme of music: the capriccio Paul plays is a way of expressing his desire for Oliver without using words or outwardly betraying his boyfriend. It makes Oliver’s desire for him even stronger, but it also brings him back to Elio playing it for him years ago, and suddenly Elio is all he can think about. I like this passage: “What had I wanted from them? For them to like each other so I could sit, sip more prosecco, and then decide whether or not to join their party? Or had I liked them both and couldn’t decide which of the two I wanted more? Or did I want neither but needed to think I did because otherwise I’d have to look into my life and find huge, bleak craters everywhere going back to that scuttled, damaged love I’d told them about earlier that evening.”
Here’s my one issue with this story: it kind of rewrites the ending of CMBYN from a character standpoint. One of the things I loved about that book’s ending was how the power dynamic is a bit uneven: yes, maybe Elio and Oliver are ‘soul mates’ and neither will ever find someone who they love as much as each other, but Elio was the one who felt a little bit more haunted by this than Oliver. Oliver got married shortly after leaving Elio; while Elio stayed stuck in the past, Oliver was able to build a whole life for himself and his family. He stresses that while seeing Elio now is like waking up from a coma, “I prefer to call it a parallel life. It sounds better. Problem is that most of us have—live, that is—more than two parallel lives.”
What’s sad and complicated about the end of the first book is that Elio and Oliver will likely both be haunted by their love for each other forever, but Oliver has found a semblance of stability, a more humble, grateful form of happiness that doesn’t require torrid sex and grand operatic romance. His life without Elio isn’t necessarily a better or worse one. It’s just a different one. But Oliver’s story in Find Me implies he’s really bored and unhappy with life, that he feels exactly the same as Elio…which kind of flattens out the fascinating, uneven dynamic of the first book.
IV. Da Capo: 2.5 stars.
I don’t know, man. This section should be electric. It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for: the direct continuation to the end of Call Me By Your Name, the 20A-CMBYN Elio-Oliver reunion in Italy. But it just feels kind of limp and undercooked.
To be fair, Aciman kind of hangs a lampshade on the inevitability of anticlimax by making Elio and Oliver’s first night in bed together kind of anticlimactic. Neither really wants to have sex; they’re awkward, and they feel the weight of time too acutely. But the old feelings are still there, and they sort of gradually transition back into their old relationship, learning how to be themselves around each other again.
That could make for a fascinating story, if Aciman wanted to devote a whole book to that. It’d probably be far better than what we get. But instead we get 13 pages, which I don’t really understand. I definitely didn’t need a whole book devoted to Elio and Oliver being together—I didn’t need anything of them at all!—but giving them this small little story together feels strange. What we get is basically an epilogue to an epilogue we already got in the first book. And it undoes the complexity and beauty of that ending by giving Elio and Oliver an unambiguously happy ending. It feels like 12 years later, after seeing the success of the movie, Aciman decided to…give fans the ending they want?
I’m not against happy endings. Sad endings can be just as overly simplistic as happy ones. But what we got at the end of Call Me By Your Name wasn’t unsatisfying. Maybe my central issue with this book is its inherent existence—why mess with a perfect ending? And while I admire the attempt to do something different with these characters, I can’t help but feel like I just read a disjointed collection of deleted scenes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 7, 2020
-so Aciman, what motivated you to write Find Me?
-...
-...
February 7, 2020
HIDE YOUR PEACHES!!!!!!🍑
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NOT WHAT I EXPECTED... but still worth the read.
I loved and hated parts of this book. And I read this book because I desperately wanted to find out what happened with Elio, and Oliver. If you expected a sequel, this isn’t what this is necessarily.
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NOT WHAT I EXPECTED... but still worth the read.
I loved and hated parts of this book. And I read this book because I desperately wanted to find out what happened with Elio, and Oliver. If you expected a sequel, this isn’t what this is necessarily.
May 17, 2025
As the French poet says, Le temps d’apprendre à vivre il est déjà trop tard, by the time we learn to live, it’s already too late.
Find Me ~~~ André Aciman
Waaaah! Waaaah! (cue helpless wailing) This is the sound of so many people throwing temper tantrums for not getting the sequel to Call Me By Your Name they wanted. The cries have been deafening. To be honest, my fear was this sequel would read like fan fiction. It did and it didn’t. Thankfully it was not Call Me By Your Name Part Deux
With that being said, I'm certain by now you've guessed I didn't love Find Me. I appreciated it, but I didn't love it; I'm not certain I even liked Find Me, but I am glad I read it ~~ devoured it actually. I'm normally a slow reader, but I read Find Me in less than an a few hours. This surprises me since I'm still not certain a sequel was warranted. I believe that both the novel and film version of Call Me By Your Name ended perfectly. The novel provided a wonderful view in the future, and the final scene in the film of Elio was ideal.
The first 50% of the book is dedicated to Sami Perlman, Elio's father ~~ a very minor character in the original book. This section was utterly ridiculous. Good God, if I met a woman on a train and in the span of 12 hours she wanted to go out and get matching tattoos, told me she desperately wanted to have my child, fucked me and told me she tried to seduce her brother and fuck him I would run away in horror. For those of you who think I maybe embellishing any of this, I'm not.
Sami does indeed meet Miranda while on a train and in less than 12 hours, gets a second chance at love with a precocious and fucked up woman. Oh, did I mention that Miranda is younger then Elio?
For more than 100 pages we wander through with a day in the life of Sami & Miranda where she nonchalantly mentions she tried to seduce her -- did I mention this was in front of his best friend?
Neither Sami or Miranda are interesting or strong enough to anchor a novel. Sami was a very minor character in the original novel, and should have remained so. Also, Sami was the most grounded character in Call Me By Your Name; in Find Me he is anything but ground. His behavior is unbelievable.
I understand why other readers were upset about this section. Sami and Miranda get over 100+ pages together. Oliver and Elio, 12. Go figure.
By far, the most interesting section of Find Me was Elio's. But I also found him to be the most interesting character in Call Me By Your Name as well. What I really wanted here was a novel about Elio. I would have liked to have learned more about his life post Oliver, his schooling, his early career in music and everything that happened to him leading up to his time in Paris and his adventure with Michael. I really wanted to learn how the 37 year old Elio became the man he was. Sadly, we got none of this. But Elio's time in Paris with Michael was a wonderful read be it too short.
Lastly, we encounter Oliver, post Elio, 20 years later. There is not much to say about this section. Oliver, who I felt and still feel, was the saddest character in Call Me By Your Name, lacks self awareness. He lived in self-denial of who he was, and still does. Oliver, now a professor, married, and a father of two, living a “humdrum, ever-so-boring day-to-day life," is still self-centered, selfish and to a degree, manipulative.
In the last 12 pages of Find Me Oliver abandons his family to seek out Elio. Oliver, the father, now becomes Oliver, the daddy. The only person that matters to Oliver is Oliver. Nothing matters to him as long as his desires are being met. 20 years later, Oliver has not grown, and still easily discards people at will.
So, I did not get the sequel I wanted either. But that's OK, this is André Aciman's world, and it is his right to tell it any way he sees fit. All I ask is that when the film of Find Me comes out, they ignore the idiotic tale of Miranda and Sami, and focus on Elio and hopefully bring about some redemption for Oliver.
Yes, Find Me is a terrible disappointment. Should you chose to read this, do yourself a favor. Skip the vapid preamble, and go right to the main course.
Find Me ~~~ André Aciman
Waaaah! Waaaah! (cue helpless wailing) This is the sound of so many people throwing temper tantrums for not getting the sequel to Call Me By Your Name they wanted. The cries have been deafening. To be honest, my fear was this sequel would read like fan fiction. It did and it didn’t. Thankfully it was not Call Me By Your Name Part Deux
With that being said, I'm certain by now you've guessed I didn't love Find Me. I appreciated it, but I didn't love it; I'm not certain I even liked Find Me, but I am glad I read it ~~ devoured it actually. I'm normally a slow reader, but I read Find Me in less than an a few hours. This surprises me since I'm still not certain a sequel was warranted. I believe that both the novel and film version of Call Me By Your Name ended perfectly. The novel provided a wonderful view in the future, and the final scene in the film of Elio was ideal.
The first 50% of the book is dedicated to Sami Perlman, Elio's father ~~ a very minor character in the original book. This section was utterly ridiculous. Good God, if I met a woman on a train and in the span of 12 hours she wanted to go out and get matching tattoos, told me she desperately wanted to have my child, fucked me and told me she tried to seduce her brother and fuck him I would run away in horror. For those of you who think I maybe embellishing any of this, I'm not.
Sami does indeed meet Miranda while on a train and in less than 12 hours, gets a second chance at love with a precocious and fucked up woman. Oh, did I mention that Miranda is younger then Elio?
For more than 100 pages we wander through with a day in the life of Sami & Miranda where she nonchalantly mentions she tried to seduce her -- did I mention this was in front of his best friend?
Neither Sami or Miranda are interesting or strong enough to anchor a novel. Sami was a very minor character in the original novel, and should have remained so. Also, Sami was the most grounded character in Call Me By Your Name; in Find Me he is anything but ground. His behavior is unbelievable.
I understand why other readers were upset about this section. Sami and Miranda get over 100+ pages together. Oliver and Elio, 12. Go figure.
By far, the most interesting section of Find Me was Elio's. But I also found him to be the most interesting character in Call Me By Your Name as well. What I really wanted here was a novel about Elio. I would have liked to have learned more about his life post Oliver, his schooling, his early career in music and everything that happened to him leading up to his time in Paris and his adventure with Michael. I really wanted to learn how the 37 year old Elio became the man he was. Sadly, we got none of this. But Elio's time in Paris with Michael was a wonderful read be it too short.
Lastly, we encounter Oliver, post Elio, 20 years later. There is not much to say about this section. Oliver, who I felt and still feel, was the saddest character in Call Me By Your Name, lacks self awareness. He lived in self-denial of who he was, and still does. Oliver, now a professor, married, and a father of two, living a “humdrum, ever-so-boring day-to-day life," is still self-centered, selfish and to a degree, manipulative.
In the last 12 pages of Find Me Oliver abandons his family to seek out Elio. Oliver, the father, now becomes Oliver, the daddy. The only person that matters to Oliver is Oliver. Nothing matters to him as long as his desires are being met. 20 years later, Oliver has not grown, and still easily discards people at will.
So, I did not get the sequel I wanted either. But that's OK, this is André Aciman's world, and it is his right to tell it any way he sees fit. All I ask is that when the film of Find Me comes out, they ignore the idiotic tale of Miranda and Sami, and focus on Elio and hopefully bring about some redemption for Oliver.
Yes, Find Me is a terrible disappointment. Should you chose to read this, do yourself a favor. Skip the vapid preamble, and go right to the main course.
November 1, 2019
Well, this is the most heartbreaking one-star rating I’ve ever doled out.
I should preface this by saying I was firmly in the no-sequel camp from the second I heard of this novel being a possibility. CMBYN had one of the best-executed endings I’ve ever read, and any sequel charting that love story again would ruin the tense, bittersweet longing Aciman created in that novel. However, I felt a little better about Find Me once the synopsis surfaced - not necessarily a sequel, but a series of vignettes charting the lives of Samuel, Elio, and Oliver at later points in their lives.
What this should’ve been called is Instalove: A Short Story Collection. The first third of the novel follows Samuel who, on a train to visit his son, meets Wish Fulfillment Love Interest Exhibit A, and readers are forced to see the first twenty-four hours of this love affair unfold. I actually thought this was meant to be a parody and waited about seventy pages for the other shoe to drop - Sami and Miranda speak to each other like freshman Philosophy majors who just spent the evening carousing writing blogs on Tumblr, and this banter goes back and forth the entire duration of the story. When Miranda is finally given a backstory, it sounds like it was pulled straight from the melodramatic horrors of A Little Life without any of the nuance of that novel, and Aciman would’ve been better off not including it at all. While I thought it was a bold and almost tongue-in-cheek choice to begin Find Me with a story about Elio’s father, a mostly supporting character in CMBYN, and make readers wait for any follow-up on the two characters they came for, this story does nothing to advance the tone of the story nor develop Samuel’s character.
It’s much of the same once we get to Elio’s story, with him falling suddenly in love with an older man and the subsequent week they spend together at his apartment, doing a whole lot of nothing for a hundred pages. By this point, I couldn’t help but wonder - what did Aciman hope to accomplish with this novel? Were all these flings supposed to make the buildup to a Elio/Oliver reunion that much more fervent? I have no idea.
Oliver’s story is the closest we get to the tone of the previous novel and the closest I came to enjoying this work. We get glimpses of that tone of omnipresent longing on full display in the final pages of CMBYN, but it’s interesting we see this more from Oliver than Elio, since Oliver was the one that had the other life in America, never came back for Elio, etc. The final chapter (eleven whole pages, folks) is what you actually came for and, well, I think I would’ve been better off if those pages didn’t exist because it was so oddly executed.
I’m never one to say a sequel outright shouldn’t exist, but I’m saying it with this one. Find Me manages to muddy the canon of this world that is almost poorly executed enough to affect my enjoyment of CMBYN, which is saying something given how much I adore that novel. This reads like four separate pieces of fanfiction compiled into a novel; none of it flows or upholds the tone of its predecessor. I know I was setting myself up for failure by reading this, but I couldn’t have imagined anything this disappointing.
I should preface this by saying I was firmly in the no-sequel camp from the second I heard of this novel being a possibility. CMBYN had one of the best-executed endings I’ve ever read, and any sequel charting that love story again would ruin the tense, bittersweet longing Aciman created in that novel. However, I felt a little better about Find Me once the synopsis surfaced - not necessarily a sequel, but a series of vignettes charting the lives of Samuel, Elio, and Oliver at later points in their lives.
What this should’ve been called is Instalove: A Short Story Collection. The first third of the novel follows Samuel who, on a train to visit his son, meets Wish Fulfillment Love Interest Exhibit A, and readers are forced to see the first twenty-four hours of this love affair unfold. I actually thought this was meant to be a parody and waited about seventy pages for the other shoe to drop - Sami and Miranda speak to each other like freshman Philosophy majors who just spent the evening carousing writing blogs on Tumblr, and this banter goes back and forth the entire duration of the story. When Miranda is finally given a backstory, it sounds like it was pulled straight from the melodramatic horrors of A Little Life without any of the nuance of that novel, and Aciman would’ve been better off not including it at all. While I thought it was a bold and almost tongue-in-cheek choice to begin Find Me with a story about Elio’s father, a mostly supporting character in CMBYN, and make readers wait for any follow-up on the two characters they came for, this story does nothing to advance the tone of the story nor develop Samuel’s character.
It’s much of the same once we get to Elio’s story, with him falling suddenly in love with an older man and the subsequent week they spend together at his apartment, doing a whole lot of nothing for a hundred pages. By this point, I couldn’t help but wonder - what did Aciman hope to accomplish with this novel? Were all these flings supposed to make the buildup to a Elio/Oliver reunion that much more fervent? I have no idea.
Oliver’s story is the closest we get to the tone of the previous novel and the closest I came to enjoying this work. We get glimpses of that tone of omnipresent longing on full display in the final pages of CMBYN, but it’s interesting we see this more from Oliver than Elio, since Oliver was the one that had the other life in America, never came back for Elio, etc. The final chapter (eleven whole pages, folks) is what you actually came for and, well, I think I would’ve been better off if those pages didn’t exist because it was so oddly executed.
I’m never one to say a sequel outright shouldn’t exist, but I’m saying it with this one. Find Me manages to muddy the canon of this world that is almost poorly executed enough to affect my enjoyment of CMBYN, which is saying something given how much I adore that novel. This reads like four separate pieces of fanfiction compiled into a novel; none of it flows or upholds the tone of its predecessor. I know I was setting myself up for failure by reading this, but I couldn’t have imagined anything this disappointing.
August 22, 2019
The sequel to Call Me By Your Name is probably one of the most anticipated books in the literary world, and yes, it was worth the wait. The continuation of the story of Elio and Oliver examines the lives they've lived separately for the past twenty years, and it's genius how well Aciman re-captures the essence of these two. Untangling themes of loneliness, love, commitment, and the intangible idea of soul mates, Aciman writes a story that leaves his lovers.... well, you'll see. A haunting closure for a love story for the ages, Find Me is the poignant depiction of existing in a half-life, and the plea to end the unbearable solitariness. Gorgeous.
August 16, 2025
Like Frozen for adults: Saccharin romance, glossed with some quasi intellectual reflections on existential loneliness, with dreams of meeting someone who truly understands and gets you, woven into a rather drab story
Everything in my life was merely prologue until now, merely delay, merely pastime, merely waste of time until I came to know you.
Some comments on premise and dialogue
I have a lot of thoughts about this one, a loose continuation of one of my all time favorites Call Me By Your Name, mainly focussed on two feelings and doubts I had while reading:
1) Can people be truly the same as in some lost (personal) golden age? I think this is almost as a dangerous delusion (at least as unproductive) as nationalistic golden age reverence.
2) One’s happiness does not, in my view, purely comes from one singular person, nor is it healthy to project or expect something like that from another human.
Find Me in itself is rather depressing, with a lot of people who feel scarred by life and think they can never find true love. This rather sad feeling is compounded by very constructed dialogues (but maybe I am just a bit jaded); there is so much dialogue in general, and it is hard not to make characters too savvy or speech like in my opinion. It doesn’t feel natural.
I mean who says something like this to someone on a second date?:
Perhaps, says the genius, music doesn't change us that much, nor does great art change us. Instead, it reminds us of who, despite all our claims or denials, we've always known we were and are destined to remain. It reminds us of the mileposts we've buried and hidden and then lost, of the people and things that mattered despite our lies, despite the years. Music is no more than the sound of our regrets put to a cadence that stirs the illusion of pleasure and hope. It's the surest reminder that we're here for a very short while and that we've neglected or cheated or, worse yet, failed to live our lives. Music is the unlived life. You've lived the wrong life, my friend, and almost defaced the one you were given to live.
Or maybe less sweeping but equally grand:
Maybe what you need is less pride and more courage. Pride is the nickname we give fear.
This just reminds me of the bombastic things I used to think as a teenager in the dead of night chatting with friends on MSN. Not something to say to a near stranger on the train when you’re middle-aged.
Story and main themes
Some people may be brokenhearted not because they’ve been hurt but because they’ve never found someone who mattered enough to hurt them.
The first chapter, about Elio's divorced father, is like an aging man’s sexual fantasy. Some of the strangeness of the sudden attraction between Miranda and Samuel is reflected upon but relegated to serendipity.
The Samuel in this book is so different to the version of the father I remember from Call Me By Your Name
The focus on age differences in relations, and on people disengaging themselves to just not be disappointed by others, continues with Elio and his older lover who he meets in a church.
Love tinted with regrets and overthinking/too much reflecting about ageing fill the rest of the book, with Olivers section a sad depth in how one apparently feels as a bisexual (lusting for everyone during a party). Why are people in Aciman's view so introspective and highbrow, but despite this layering do not feel like real characters at all? And why do they not accept one can not have everything, and realise they can choose to be content with the person right in front of them?
People are not just a means to satisfaction.
Idealisation of missed opportunities is rather dangerous would be my takeaway from all this, even if there is a sweet if far to brief final chapter.
One thing I must give André Aciman, he does sensual writing well, you do start to long for love (or sex, or going to a restaurant in lockdown to reflect my experience when I first read the book) while reading. And the awkwardness of getting to know a new person is well captured.
Still there are baffling choices, like half a music theory college in chapter 2 and chapter 3 being very confusing in my view, who is Paul, Erica, the wife and friend of them? How should I care for these people just dropped into the book?
Regret and music permeate the book, as does the fear of being untrue to oneself, being dead inside while living and a seemingly endless existential struggle with dissatisfaction.
Aciman seems to say: new paths is hard, but one can return to a golden age of one's youth or an idealised version of what one imagined this should have been, if one is just able to burn some bridges along the way.
I feel this is a callous message from the author, and this book did not convince me, despite some pretty quotes.
1,5 stars rounded up.
Quotes:
It’s just that the magic of someone new never lasts long enough. We only want those we can’t have. It’s those we lost or who never knew we existed who leave their mark. The others barely echo.
..time is always the price we pay for the unlived life.
Each of us is like a moon that shows only a few facets to earth, but never its full sphere. Most of us never meet those who'll understand our full rounded self. I show people only that sliver of me I think they'll grasp.
Is it that you don’t like people, or that you just grow tired of them and can’t for the life of you remember why you ever found them interesting?
Everything in my life was merely prologue until now, merely delay, merely pastime, merely waste of time until I came to know you.
Some comments on premise and dialogue
I have a lot of thoughts about this one, a loose continuation of one of my all time favorites Call Me By Your Name, mainly focussed on two feelings and doubts I had while reading:
1) Can people be truly the same as in some lost (personal) golden age? I think this is almost as a dangerous delusion (at least as unproductive) as nationalistic golden age reverence.
2) One’s happiness does not, in my view, purely comes from one singular person, nor is it healthy to project or expect something like that from another human.
Find Me in itself is rather depressing, with a lot of people who feel scarred by life and think they can never find true love. This rather sad feeling is compounded by very constructed dialogues (but maybe I am just a bit jaded); there is so much dialogue in general, and it is hard not to make characters too savvy or speech like in my opinion. It doesn’t feel natural.
I mean who says something like this to someone on a second date?:
Perhaps, says the genius, music doesn't change us that much, nor does great art change us. Instead, it reminds us of who, despite all our claims or denials, we've always known we were and are destined to remain. It reminds us of the mileposts we've buried and hidden and then lost, of the people and things that mattered despite our lies, despite the years. Music is no more than the sound of our regrets put to a cadence that stirs the illusion of pleasure and hope. It's the surest reminder that we're here for a very short while and that we've neglected or cheated or, worse yet, failed to live our lives. Music is the unlived life. You've lived the wrong life, my friend, and almost defaced the one you were given to live.
Or maybe less sweeping but equally grand:
Maybe what you need is less pride and more courage. Pride is the nickname we give fear.
This just reminds me of the bombastic things I used to think as a teenager in the dead of night chatting with friends on MSN. Not something to say to a near stranger on the train when you’re middle-aged.
Story and main themes
Some people may be brokenhearted not because they’ve been hurt but because they’ve never found someone who mattered enough to hurt them.
The first chapter, about Elio's divorced father, is like an aging man’s sexual fantasy. Some of the strangeness of the sudden attraction between Miranda and Samuel is reflected upon but relegated to serendipity.
The Samuel in this book is so different to the version of the father I remember from Call Me By Your Name
The focus on age differences in relations, and on people disengaging themselves to just not be disappointed by others, continues with Elio and his older lover who he meets in a church.
Love tinted with regrets and overthinking/too much reflecting about ageing fill the rest of the book, with Olivers section a sad depth in how one apparently feels as a bisexual (lusting for everyone during a party). Why are people in Aciman's view so introspective and highbrow, but despite this layering do not feel like real characters at all? And why do they not accept one can not have everything, and realise they can choose to be content with the person right in front of them?
People are not just a means to satisfaction.
Idealisation of missed opportunities is rather dangerous would be my takeaway from all this, even if there is a sweet if far to brief final chapter.
One thing I must give André Aciman, he does sensual writing well, you do start to long for love (or sex, or going to a restaurant in lockdown to reflect my experience when I first read the book) while reading. And the awkwardness of getting to know a new person is well captured.
Still there are baffling choices, like half a music theory college in chapter 2 and chapter 3 being very confusing in my view, who is Paul, Erica, the wife and friend of them? How should I care for these people just dropped into the book?
Regret and music permeate the book, as does the fear of being untrue to oneself, being dead inside while living and a seemingly endless existential struggle with dissatisfaction.
Aciman seems to say: new paths is hard, but one can return to a golden age of one's youth or an idealised version of what one imagined this should have been, if one is just able to burn some bridges along the way.
I feel this is a callous message from the author, and this book did not convince me, despite some pretty quotes.
1,5 stars rounded up.
Quotes:
It’s just that the magic of someone new never lasts long enough. We only want those we can’t have. It’s those we lost or who never knew we existed who leave their mark. The others barely echo.
..time is always the price we pay for the unlived life.
Each of us is like a moon that shows only a few facets to earth, but never its full sphere. Most of us never meet those who'll understand our full rounded self. I show people only that sliver of me I think they'll grasp.
Is it that you don’t like people, or that you just grow tired of them and can’t for the life of you remember why you ever found them interesting?
November 5, 2019
OK, so obviously I wasn't a fan. I finished it and simply thought, "Why?"
I mean, like, why? What was that all about?
The book is divided into three sections. The first, from Samuel's point of view, was ridiculous. The second, from Elio's was better but ended up being pointless because it was followed by Oliver's section, which was... what?
I don't know. Aciman is a brilliant writer and I love some of his turns of phrase and insights. But the book just seemed a three-movement concerto in the key of men being pretentious (Sami, where the insta-love and objectification was pretty gross), brooding (Elio, please grow up) and irresponsible (Oliver, WTF?!).
A swing and a miss for me, Andre. But I still love your others.
I mean, like, why? What was that all about?
The book is divided into three sections. The first, from Samuel's point of view, was ridiculous. The second, from Elio's was better but ended up being pointless because it was followed by Oliver's section, which was... what?
I don't know. Aciman is a brilliant writer and I love some of his turns of phrase and insights. But the book just seemed a three-movement concerto in the key of men being pretentious (Sami, where the insta-love and objectification was pretty gross), brooding (Elio, please grow up) and irresponsible (Oliver, WTF?!).
A swing and a miss for me, Andre. But I still love your others.
November 4, 2019
I hated this.
Don't read it.
Alternatively, if you need a satisfying ending to CMBYN, buy this and skip the first half of the book.
Authors should not be allowed to be misogynistic assholes in this day and age. Having one named female character be essentially a cliche and a babymaker made me hate this book.
I will never read another Andre Aciman novel.
Now I gotta go brush my teeth and get this bad taste out of my mouth.
⭐Edit⭐
Here is the reading vlog where I review this book: Find Me Reading Vlog
*Note: There are timecodes in the description to help you jump around the long video!!!
Don't read it.
Alternatively, if you need a satisfying ending to CMBYN, buy this and skip the first half of the book.
Authors should not be allowed to be misogynistic assholes in this day and age. Having one named female character be essentially a cliche and a babymaker made me hate this book.
I will never read another Andre Aciman novel.
Now I gotta go brush my teeth and get this bad taste out of my mouth.
⭐Edit⭐
Here is the reading vlog where I review this book: Find Me Reading Vlog
*Note: There are timecodes in the description to help you jump around the long video!!!
September 1, 2020
”It’s just that the magic of someone new never lasts long enough. We only want those we can’t have. It’s those we lost or who never knew we existed who leave their mark. The others barely echo”.
Cuando te dicen que un libro va a ser la secuela de Call Me By Your Name te esperas una historia súper trágica y apasionada entre Elio y Oliver, ¿verdad? El problema es que lo que me encontré aquí fue una historia con frases muy lindas, eso sí, pero que no sé qué motivo tiene.
Se los pongo así, las primeras 107 páginas van sobre el papá de Elio y un romance que tiene. Pero Elio no aparece ni asomado por esas páginas. Luego, de la página 108 a la 215, por fin aparece Elio narrándonos un romance alocado que tiene con otra persona mayor que él. ¿Y Oliver? Pues bien, muchas gracias, pero vamos 215 páginas de un libro de 260 y él no ha asomado su preciosa cara por allí. Cuando Oliver por fin tiene protagonismo ya estamos en la página 216 y, en realidad, lo que cuentan de él tampoco nos dice mucho. ¿Y quieren saber cuántas páginas les dedicó André Aciman a Elio y Oliver estando juntos? ONCE. Once páginas de 260. Esto no es ser vanguardista ni arriesgado ni una movida para dejar a los lectores enganchados, es sencillamente un despropósito.
¿Saben qué es lo peor de todo? Que sentí que Elio y Oliver perdieron todo su encanto. Sus capítulos, sus partes del libro, me parecieron bastante planas y mal desarrolladas. Es decir, se supone que han pasado muchísimos años desde ese verano en Italia, pero André Aciman les da las mismas voces y las mismas reflexiones que tenían cuando eran adolescentes y jóvenes adultos. Es una barbaridad. ¡Tan barbaridad que me gustó más la parte del libro que hablaba del papá de Elio que la de la pareja que, en teoría, me iba a interesar más!
Terminé de leer este libro hace unos diez días y sigo sin entender qué sucedió, cómo todo pudo salir tan mal. Vaya fiasco.
Cuando te dicen que un libro va a ser la secuela de Call Me By Your Name te esperas una historia súper trágica y apasionada entre Elio y Oliver, ¿verdad? El problema es que lo que me encontré aquí fue una historia con frases muy lindas, eso sí, pero que no sé qué motivo tiene.
Se los pongo así, las primeras 107 páginas van sobre el papá de Elio y un romance que tiene. Pero Elio no aparece ni asomado por esas páginas. Luego, de la página 108 a la 215, por fin aparece Elio narrándonos un romance alocado que tiene con otra persona mayor que él. ¿Y Oliver? Pues bien, muchas gracias, pero vamos 215 páginas de un libro de 260 y él no ha asomado su preciosa cara por allí. Cuando Oliver por fin tiene protagonismo ya estamos en la página 216 y, en realidad, lo que cuentan de él tampoco nos dice mucho. ¿Y quieren saber cuántas páginas les dedicó André Aciman a Elio y Oliver estando juntos? ONCE. Once páginas de 260. Esto no es ser vanguardista ni arriesgado ni una movida para dejar a los lectores enganchados, es sencillamente un despropósito.
¿Saben qué es lo peor de todo? Que sentí que Elio y Oliver perdieron todo su encanto. Sus capítulos, sus partes del libro, me parecieron bastante planas y mal desarrolladas. Es decir, se supone que han pasado muchísimos años desde ese verano en Italia, pero André Aciman les da las mismas voces y las mismas reflexiones que tenían cuando eran adolescentes y jóvenes adultos. Es una barbaridad. ¡Tan barbaridad que me gustó más la parte del libro que hablaba del papá de Elio que la de la pareja que, en teoría, me iba a interesar más!
Terminé de leer este libro hace unos diez días y sigo sin entender qué sucedió, cómo todo pudo salir tan mal. Vaya fiasco.
September 30, 2024
2 Stars
Well, I’m not sure what to say.
Call Me By Your Name is one of the most stunningly composed and profoundly affecting stories I’ve ever read, and this sequel.... well, let’s just say it left a lot to be desired.
BEWARE: Spoilers ahead!...
Spanning the course of the twenty years after Elio and Oliver’s life-changing summer together, this story is broken into three main sections, each narrated by a different character.
The first section sees Elio’s father Samuel, as he travels to Rome to visit a twenty-something Elio, serendipitously meeting a new love on his travels and subsequently sparking within him a new appreciation of life.
The second part, some five years later, follows Elio through the beginnings of a new and meaningful relationship with an older man — the first real connection he’s had romantically since Oliver himself. This section is heavily ensconced in music speak and history talk, some of which went well over my clueless head, and there’s also a slight mystery element at the centre of it all.
The third section, which is much briefer and a little more chaotic than the rest, shows Oliver, coming to the end of his tenure living and working in New York, as he throws a going away party and finally comes to terms with his life choices and the changes he now feels he owes himself to make his life whole.
There’s one final section after all of this which I won’t disclose the contents of too deeply, but I will say, however brief, it mildly satisfied my long-time wishes for these characters.
When I started this, I was very excited. Although the first novel had a bittersweet ending, I had high hopes that even just being back in the presence of Elio and Oliver (and even Samuel, the inspiring speech-giving father) would be enough to ensure another deeply affecting read. Sadly, this was not my experience.
There were a few instances that a line or passage connected with me on a soul-deep level, but other than those moments, the happenings within the story itself left me feeling flat and disappointed. In truth, I didn’t much see the point in the majority of the things that transpired here, and I’d go as far as saying that most of it was gratuitous and even downright strange and uncomfortable at times.
Although I liked Samuel in book one, and looked forward to reading his POV here, I found his love interest, Miranda, to be highly annoying. She came across as kind of unhinged to me, so reading about them lost its appeal the more I read on, watching their conversations became more and more outlandish. Then, it didn’t help that Elio’s friendship/romance in section two was completely unwanted by me, for obvious reasons, so I found it a strain to read. And what was with the massive age gap between both pairings? Was there a message or life lesson I was meant to take away from this? Because all I gleaned from this was that Miranda and Elio love older men... like, twice their age plus some, older men.
And Oliver’s section? Well, I’m not really certain what happened there. I’ve seen many reviewers say this was their favourite section of the book, but that was far from the case for me. I personally found this part fairly incoherent; I literally didn’t see the point of any of the characters or conversations that were had here. I’m sure it was meant to be intellectually and philosophically significant, lamenting on times past and what the future may hold, but it simply went over my head and left me bored and confused by it all. Honestly, all I took away from this section was that while longing to f*ck half the people at the party, Oliver still pined for Elio and basically regretted the last twenty years of his life... which was all pretty sad (and sketchy) considering his wife and kids.
In spite of the fact I was ultimately disappointed with this as a sequel to a much beloved story, the ending — and I literally mean the final 12 pages — make me think that maybe, just maybe, it was still worth it.
Well, I’m not sure what to say.
Call Me By Your Name is one of the most stunningly composed and profoundly affecting stories I’ve ever read, and this sequel.... well, let’s just say it left a lot to be desired.
BEWARE: Spoilers ahead!...
Spanning the course of the twenty years after Elio and Oliver’s life-changing summer together, this story is broken into three main sections, each narrated by a different character.
The first section sees Elio’s father Samuel, as he travels to Rome to visit a twenty-something Elio, serendipitously meeting a new love on his travels and subsequently sparking within him a new appreciation of life.
The second part, some five years later, follows Elio through the beginnings of a new and meaningful relationship with an older man — the first real connection he’s had romantically since Oliver himself. This section is heavily ensconced in music speak and history talk, some of which went well over my clueless head, and there’s also a slight mystery element at the centre of it all.
The third section, which is much briefer and a little more chaotic than the rest, shows Oliver, coming to the end of his tenure living and working in New York, as he throws a going away party and finally comes to terms with his life choices and the changes he now feels he owes himself to make his life whole.
There’s one final section after all of this which I won’t disclose the contents of too deeply, but I will say, however brief, it mildly satisfied my long-time wishes for these characters.
When I started this, I was very excited. Although the first novel had a bittersweet ending, I had high hopes that even just being back in the presence of Elio and Oliver (and even Samuel, the inspiring speech-giving father) would be enough to ensure another deeply affecting read. Sadly, this was not my experience.
There were a few instances that a line or passage connected with me on a soul-deep level, but other than those moments, the happenings within the story itself left me feeling flat and disappointed. In truth, I didn’t much see the point in the majority of the things that transpired here, and I’d go as far as saying that most of it was gratuitous and even downright strange and uncomfortable at times.
Although I liked Samuel in book one, and looked forward to reading his POV here, I found his love interest, Miranda, to be highly annoying. She came across as kind of unhinged to me, so reading about them lost its appeal the more I read on, watching their conversations became more and more outlandish. Then, it didn’t help that Elio’s friendship/romance in section two was completely unwanted by me, for obvious reasons, so I found it a strain to read. And what was with the massive age gap between both pairings? Was there a message or life lesson I was meant to take away from this? Because all I gleaned from this was that Miranda and Elio love older men... like, twice their age plus some, older men.
And Oliver’s section? Well, I’m not really certain what happened there. I’ve seen many reviewers say this was their favourite section of the book, but that was far from the case for me. I personally found this part fairly incoherent; I literally didn’t see the point of any of the characters or conversations that were had here. I’m sure it was meant to be intellectually and philosophically significant, lamenting on times past and what the future may hold, but it simply went over my head and left me bored and confused by it all. Honestly, all I took away from this section was that while longing to f*ck half the people at the party, Oliver still pined for Elio and basically regretted the last twenty years of his life... which was all pretty sad (and sketchy) considering his wife and kids.
In spite of the fact I was ultimately disappointed with this as a sequel to a much beloved story, the ending — and I literally mean the final 12 pages — make me think that maybe, just maybe, it was still worth it.
June 24, 2020
RESEÑA CON SPOILERS:
Quiero empezar esta reseña dejando claro que llevaba esperando esta novela desde que se habló de su proyecto, y que la he anhelado con tanto cariño que incluso he vuelto a leer la primera parte, 'Llámame por tu nombre', para así poder disfrutarla con conciencia plena, sin haber olvidado detalles o personajes.
Pues estoy absolutamente decepcionado y triste. Creo que este libro carece de interés y que es irrespetuoso con los fans del primero (e incluso con los personajes). Además, no es realmente una novela: son tres relatos, dos medianos y uno breve, y un epílogo de diez páginas. Me siento muy estafado y no entiendo porqué este autor ha hecho esto con esta historia.
La primera vez que leí 'Llámame por tu nombre' me gustó todo de su historia menos el epílogo final: me parecía apresurado y creía que esa historia futurible, ese encuentro, que se resuelve en veinte o treinta páginas, habría dado perfectamente para una segunda parte de 300 páginas que pusiera el broche final a la historia de Elio y Oliver. En la segunda lectura, sin embargo, me pareció un final redondo: una guinda melancólica que avanza una década en el tiempo y que te servía para echar un vistazo a cómo eran las vidas de los protagonistas después de aquel verano que les marcó. Pues ojalá se hubiese quedado en eso, la verdad.
'Encuéntrame' tiene el mismo fallo que le vi a 'Variaciones enigma': no es una novela, son varios relatos hilados en los que el autor decide, unilateralmente, que el protagonista de esas historias es siempre el mismo, aunque el lector realmente no pueda identificar muy bien que esas vidas tan diferentes pertenezcan a la misma persona. En 'Variaciones enigma' te lo podías tragar, más o menos, porque al fin y al cabo no conocías al personaje principal y los avatares de su vida pues serían simplemente los que el autor decidiese. Pero en 'Encuéntrame' no es lo mismo: conocemos perfectamente a los protagonistas e, incluso desde la portada, se nos promete la continuación de su historia... pero este libro no es lo que pasó con Elio y Oliver después de aquel encuentro en Estados Unidos diez años después de que acabase el primer libro. Este libro son tres relatos absolutamente independientes, y los tres son de interés relativo o escaso, y están prácticamente desconectados de su obra matriz.
El primer relato es absolutamente desconcertante: durante las primeras cincuenta páginas el lector no tiene ni pajolera idea de quién es ese hombre maduro que está viviendo un 'Antes del amanecer' con una fotógrafa americana a la que dobla la edad. Ni la más remota idea. Podría ser un Elio maduro... pero no. En la página 50 descubres que llevas 50 páginas leyendo un encuentro amoroso DEL PADRE DE ELIO. Y no acaba ahí. La escena sigue y sigue y sigue, y se alarga 130 páginas.
Lo repito, por si no se ha entendido: la primera mitad de este libro es sobre un romance del padre de Elio con una joven en un tren. O sea es que literalmente no podría empezar de una forma más random.
A Elio se le nombra en la página 115 y se nos dice que tiene veintipico y que es pianista en Roma y que ve a su padre de vez en cuando, los findes. Punto. Todo esto está contado desde el punto de vista del padre.
En la página 130 empieza el segundo relato aleatorio de este libro, y el prota, por fin, es Elio. Tiene cerca de 30 y es profesor de conservatorio en París. Guay. Pues un domingo en un concierto en una iglesia conoce a un abogado maduro, y se hacen otro 'Antes del amanecer' y se van a pasear y a cenar, y empiezan a salir. Bueno, pues se pasan el día hablando de música clásica y bebiendo vino. Ya está. En un momento dado se van de finde a una casa de campo del abogado, que es muy rico, y allí por la cara descubren unas partituras de un pianista judío de los años 30, y se ponen a investigar sobre quién era ese hombre que estaba de alguna forma relacionado con el padre del abogado COMO SI ESO LE INTERESASE A ALGUIEN. Una vez en todo el relato, y sin decir si quiera el nombre de Oliver, se refieren a él porque Elio reconoce que aquel fue el amor que más le marcó. PUNTO.
Pero lo peor viene en el tercero. Oliver es cuarentón y está haciendo una fiesta en su casa porque se muda, junto a su mujer, a otro Estado. E invita a la fiesta a un joven profesor de su facultad y a una compañera suya de yoga (es que es todo super random) porque, claro, como es bisexual pues no puede decidirse, e invita a los dos a una fiesta de despedida en la que está su mujer y tontea con ambos como si fueran a hacer un trío. Pero acaba la fiesta y Oliver se acuerda de lo mucho que quería a Elio, y nos dice que lleva pensando en él veinte años, cada vez que suena un piano. Y ACABA EL RELATO.
Y al final hay un epílogo DE DOCE PÁGINAS que es lo único que remotamente merece la pena del libro. Oliver ha dejado a su mujer y Elio ha dejado al abogado, y ahora (ambos con más de cuarenta) viven en la casa de Italia CON LA NOVIA DEL PADRE MUERTO, QUE ES LA MUCHACHA DEL TREN, CON LA QUE TUVO UN NIÑO A QUIEN LE PUSO DE NOMBRE OLIVER, POR LA CARA. Y nada, están allí a gustísimo, viviendo los cuatro. Y entonces Elio y Oliver se van de crucero por el Mediterráneo, como dos amigas jubiladas, y visitan la casa de Kavafis. FIN.
De verdad, es que me siento estafadísimo. Es que tengo la sensación de que a este hombre no se le ocurría como avanzar, y se le ocurrieron dos relatitos así random, y se los otorgó uno a cada uno de los protas... y como el libro se le quedaba corto pues metió otro sobre el padre. Es que es un sinsentido, una afrenta.
Yo entiendo que un escritor no está obligado a hacer fan service, que no tiene que contentarnos. Pero... creo que tampoco debe estafarnos. Tú no puedes vender tu nuevo libro como "la continuación de 'Llámame por tu nombre'" y dedicarle la mitad de las páginas a un fanfic (levemente espeluznante) de un personaje secundario, crear dos relatos inconexos sobre los personajes y resolver el libro en doce páginas finales. Doce páginas no valen veinte euros, André Aciman.
Personalmente acabo de decidir que 'Llámame por tu nombre' no tiene continuación. Imagino además que la segunda película, cuando se haga, se centrará en el epílogo del primer libro y el del segundo, porque los tres relatos del segundo dan para tres escenas y poco más.
En fin, que siempre es una pena que un libro te decepcione... pero aún lo es más cuando es una historia tan importante para ti.
EMOSIDO ENGAÑADO.
Quiero empezar esta reseña dejando claro que llevaba esperando esta novela desde que se habló de su proyecto, y que la he anhelado con tanto cariño que incluso he vuelto a leer la primera parte, 'Llámame por tu nombre', para así poder disfrutarla con conciencia plena, sin haber olvidado detalles o personajes.
Pues estoy absolutamente decepcionado y triste. Creo que este libro carece de interés y que es irrespetuoso con los fans del primero (e incluso con los personajes). Además, no es realmente una novela: son tres relatos, dos medianos y uno breve, y un epílogo de diez páginas. Me siento muy estafado y no entiendo porqué este autor ha hecho esto con esta historia.
La primera vez que leí 'Llámame por tu nombre' me gustó todo de su historia menos el epílogo final: me parecía apresurado y creía que esa historia futurible, ese encuentro, que se resuelve en veinte o treinta páginas, habría dado perfectamente para una segunda parte de 300 páginas que pusiera el broche final a la historia de Elio y Oliver. En la segunda lectura, sin embargo, me pareció un final redondo: una guinda melancólica que avanza una década en el tiempo y que te servía para echar un vistazo a cómo eran las vidas de los protagonistas después de aquel verano que les marcó. Pues ojalá se hubiese quedado en eso, la verdad.
'Encuéntrame' tiene el mismo fallo que le vi a 'Variaciones enigma': no es una novela, son varios relatos hilados en los que el autor decide, unilateralmente, que el protagonista de esas historias es siempre el mismo, aunque el lector realmente no pueda identificar muy bien que esas vidas tan diferentes pertenezcan a la misma persona. En 'Variaciones enigma' te lo podías tragar, más o menos, porque al fin y al cabo no conocías al personaje principal y los avatares de su vida pues serían simplemente los que el autor decidiese. Pero en 'Encuéntrame' no es lo mismo: conocemos perfectamente a los protagonistas e, incluso desde la portada, se nos promete la continuación de su historia... pero este libro no es lo que pasó con Elio y Oliver después de aquel encuentro en Estados Unidos diez años después de que acabase el primer libro. Este libro son tres relatos absolutamente independientes, y los tres son de interés relativo o escaso, y están prácticamente desconectados de su obra matriz.
El primer relato es absolutamente desconcertante: durante las primeras cincuenta páginas el lector no tiene ni pajolera idea de quién es ese hombre maduro que está viviendo un 'Antes del amanecer' con una fotógrafa americana a la que dobla la edad. Ni la más remota idea. Podría ser un Elio maduro... pero no. En la página 50 descubres que llevas 50 páginas leyendo un encuentro amoroso DEL PADRE DE ELIO. Y no acaba ahí. La escena sigue y sigue y sigue, y se alarga 130 páginas.
Lo repito, por si no se ha entendido: la primera mitad de este libro es sobre un romance del padre de Elio con una joven en un tren. O sea es que literalmente no podría empezar de una forma más random.
A Elio se le nombra en la página 115 y se nos dice que tiene veintipico y que es pianista en Roma y que ve a su padre de vez en cuando, los findes. Punto. Todo esto está contado desde el punto de vista del padre.
En la página 130 empieza el segundo relato aleatorio de este libro, y el prota, por fin, es Elio. Tiene cerca de 30 y es profesor de conservatorio en París. Guay. Pues un domingo en un concierto en una iglesia conoce a un abogado maduro, y se hacen otro 'Antes del amanecer' y se van a pasear y a cenar, y empiezan a salir. Bueno, pues se pasan el día hablando de música clásica y bebiendo vino. Ya está. En un momento dado se van de finde a una casa de campo del abogado, que es muy rico, y allí por la cara descubren unas partituras de un pianista judío de los años 30, y se ponen a investigar sobre quién era ese hombre que estaba de alguna forma relacionado con el padre del abogado COMO SI ESO LE INTERESASE A ALGUIEN. Una vez en todo el relato, y sin decir si quiera el nombre de Oliver, se refieren a él porque Elio reconoce que aquel fue el amor que más le marcó. PUNTO.
Pero lo peor viene en el tercero. Oliver es cuarentón y está haciendo una fiesta en su casa porque se muda, junto a su mujer, a otro Estado. E invita a la fiesta a un joven profesor de su facultad y a una compañera suya de yoga (es que es todo super random) porque, claro, como es bisexual pues no puede decidirse, e invita a los dos a una fiesta de despedida en la que está su mujer y tontea con ambos como si fueran a hacer un trío. Pero acaba la fiesta y Oliver se acuerda de lo mucho que quería a Elio, y nos dice que lleva pensando en él veinte años, cada vez que suena un piano. Y ACABA EL RELATO.
Y al final hay un epílogo DE DOCE PÁGINAS que es lo único que remotamente merece la pena del libro. Oliver ha dejado a su mujer y Elio ha dejado al abogado, y ahora (ambos con más de cuarenta) viven en la casa de Italia CON LA NOVIA DEL PADRE MUERTO, QUE ES LA MUCHACHA DEL TREN, CON LA QUE TUVO UN NIÑO A QUIEN LE PUSO DE NOMBRE OLIVER, POR LA CARA. Y nada, están allí a gustísimo, viviendo los cuatro. Y entonces Elio y Oliver se van de crucero por el Mediterráneo, como dos amigas jubiladas, y visitan la casa de Kavafis. FIN.
De verdad, es que me siento estafadísimo. Es que tengo la sensación de que a este hombre no se le ocurría como avanzar, y se le ocurrieron dos relatitos así random, y se los otorgó uno a cada uno de los protas... y como el libro se le quedaba corto pues metió otro sobre el padre. Es que es un sinsentido, una afrenta.
Yo entiendo que un escritor no está obligado a hacer fan service, que no tiene que contentarnos. Pero... creo que tampoco debe estafarnos. Tú no puedes vender tu nuevo libro como "la continuación de 'Llámame por tu nombre'" y dedicarle la mitad de las páginas a un fanfic (levemente espeluznante) de un personaje secundario, crear dos relatos inconexos sobre los personajes y resolver el libro en doce páginas finales. Doce páginas no valen veinte euros, André Aciman.
Personalmente acabo de decidir que 'Llámame por tu nombre' no tiene continuación. Imagino además que la segunda película, cuando se haga, se centrará en el epílogo del primer libro y el del segundo, porque los tres relatos del segundo dan para tres escenas y poco más.
En fin, que siempre es una pena que un libro te decepcione... pero aún lo es más cuando es una historia tan importante para ti.
EMOSIDO ENGAÑADO.
October 31, 2019
Literary sequels are definitely a trend this year with the recent massive release of “The Testaments” and now the forthcoming publication of André Aciman’s much-anticipated sequel to his novel “Call Me by Your Name”. Readers naturally have a lot of scepticism about these beloved stories being extended. The very popular film adaptation of “Call Me by Your Name” brought the romantic story of sensitive teenager Elio and older graduate student Oliver to a much wider audience. This not only prompted fans to clamour to know what happened next between these lovers but it also encouraged Aciman to revisit their story as he said in an interview “The film made me realize that I wanted to be back with them and watch them over the years.” Many will instantly dismiss the creation of “Find Me” as a money-grabbing opportunity given the new-found popularity of the original book. Whatever the motivation for writing it, I can assure you this new novel doesn’t kowtow to fans. Rather, it thoughtfully explores the deeper meaning of desire when stretched over time and juxtaposes a few different kinds of romantic encounters which turn into profound life-changing events. That’s not to say this new novel is without its problems and it’s likely to delight and frustrate fans in equal measure.
I read “Call Me by Your Name” shortly after it was originally published in 2007 and swooned. Revisiting Elio and Oliver’s story by watching the film adaptation a couple of years ago reawakened my love for their story. But there’s an important difference between the book and film. The film ends with Elio receiving the news that Oliver is going to be married which prompts him to mournfully stare into a fireplace. However, the original novel ends with a flash forward far into the future when Elio and Oliver reunite in Italy and we learn the news that Elio’s father Samuel has died at a relatively young age. Whether their passion is reignited or not is left vague, but their reconnection is cemented. This poses an interesting dilemma for the sequel because it needs to either fill readers in on what happened up to this point or follow them after it. “Find Me” manages to do both in a way which is unique and clever.
Read my full review of Find Me by André Aciman on LonesomeReader and you can watch my video review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKWDJxKAJs0
I read “Call Me by Your Name” shortly after it was originally published in 2007 and swooned. Revisiting Elio and Oliver’s story by watching the film adaptation a couple of years ago reawakened my love for their story. But there’s an important difference between the book and film. The film ends with Elio receiving the news that Oliver is going to be married which prompts him to mournfully stare into a fireplace. However, the original novel ends with a flash forward far into the future when Elio and Oliver reunite in Italy and we learn the news that Elio’s father Samuel has died at a relatively young age. Whether their passion is reignited or not is left vague, but their reconnection is cemented. This poses an interesting dilemma for the sequel because it needs to either fill readers in on what happened up to this point or follow them after it. “Find Me” manages to do both in a way which is unique and clever.
Read my full review of Find Me by André Aciman on LonesomeReader and you can watch my video review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKWDJxKAJs0
September 18, 2019
“it’s just that the magic of someone new never last long enough. We only want those we can’t have. It’s those we lost or who never knew we existed who leave their mark. The others barely echo.”
.
Find me isn’t necessarily a sequel to call me by your name as much a revelatory continuation of the beautiful feeling that I harbored while reading, and long after reading CMBYN. Andre Aciman writes about love and longing unlike any other, his ability to capture an intangible sense of dire heartache echos throughout this novel like a love letter kept forever in your drawer, sent from a lover no longer corporeal within your life. Find me reads more like three separate novellas each expanding the boundaries of love, without confining them to any boundaries. In the first part ( and probably my favorite) we find Samuel ( Elio’s father) ten years after CMBYN ends, swiftly falling in love with a woman half his age that he meets on a train, expanding on the sadness and loss he has experienced not just in the timeframe since we last saw him but upon seeing the love between Oliver and Elio, he realizes his life has been devoid of true love possibly forever. The second part is Elio fifteen years after CMBYN ends and he is now a famous pianist who falls for a man twice his age, he has experienced brief loves here and there but the sting of Olivers loss still hangs over his head, even upon finding this new thrall of passion in such an unlikely place. The third part is Oliver twenty years after CMBYN and moving from New York back to New Hampshire, throwing a party but all the while still ruminating over Elio and his time in Italy even two decades past, he seems trapped by an unending dread and sense of “what if” replaying in his mind. The fourth and shortest part I shall leave undocumented in this review. I wasn’t sure what to expect coming into this book but I will say that it was not what was imagined but it was a true testament to the fact that there are just some people we will always love and no matter time nor distance we shall never forget them.
.
Find me isn’t necessarily a sequel to call me by your name as much a revelatory continuation of the beautiful feeling that I harbored while reading, and long after reading CMBYN. Andre Aciman writes about love and longing unlike any other, his ability to capture an intangible sense of dire heartache echos throughout this novel like a love letter kept forever in your drawer, sent from a lover no longer corporeal within your life. Find me reads more like three separate novellas each expanding the boundaries of love, without confining them to any boundaries. In the first part ( and probably my favorite) we find Samuel ( Elio’s father) ten years after CMBYN ends, swiftly falling in love with a woman half his age that he meets on a train, expanding on the sadness and loss he has experienced not just in the timeframe since we last saw him but upon seeing the love between Oliver and Elio, he realizes his life has been devoid of true love possibly forever. The second part is Elio fifteen years after CMBYN ends and he is now a famous pianist who falls for a man twice his age, he has experienced brief loves here and there but the sting of Olivers loss still hangs over his head, even upon finding this new thrall of passion in such an unlikely place. The third part is Oliver twenty years after CMBYN and moving from New York back to New Hampshire, throwing a party but all the while still ruminating over Elio and his time in Italy even two decades past, he seems trapped by an unending dread and sense of “what if” replaying in his mind. The fourth and shortest part I shall leave undocumented in this review. I wasn’t sure what to expect coming into this book but I will say that it was not what was imagined but it was a true testament to the fact that there are just some people we will always love and no matter time nor distance we shall never forget them.
May 30, 2020
'NA CIOFECA. La mia recensione su YouTube: https://youtu.be/6iU5WrGFm0E
June 20, 2020
Much of what I loved about Call Me By Your Name I also loved here. The prose was lush, the characters - although perhaps a little pretentious - were often involved in conversations of a philosophical nature, and this had an underlying current of deeper themes than were presented and explored.
However some of the other aspects I also loved were prevalent and I appreciated them far less. The young age of the characters in the former series instalment made their romantic infatuations and obsessive emotions understandable. Here, with the characters advanced ages they felt like a hasty case of insta-love.
I found the preoccupation with romance a bit of a bore, much of the contents seemingly irrelevant in nature, and the earlier portions following characters I didn't care for. All I did come here for was resolved in a mere handful of pages and so the surrounding hundreds were not of any appeal, plot-wise.
However some of the other aspects I also loved were prevalent and I appreciated them far less. The young age of the characters in the former series instalment made their romantic infatuations and obsessive emotions understandable. Here, with the characters advanced ages they felt like a hasty case of insta-love.
I found the preoccupation with romance a bit of a bore, much of the contents seemingly irrelevant in nature, and the earlier portions following characters I didn't care for. All I did come here for was resolved in a mere handful of pages and so the surrounding hundreds were not of any appeal, plot-wise.
November 5, 2019
Εγώ φταίω.Όταν είδα οτι βγαίνει συνέχεια του "Να με φωνάζεις με το όνομά σου" το πρώτο πράγμα που σκέφτηκα ήταν "ωχ,αρπαχτή λόγω της επιτυχίας της ταινίας".Αυτό δυστυχώς δεν με σταμάτησε απο το να μπω στον πειρασμό να το διαβάσω παρόλο που πίστευα οτι όλα ειπώθηκαν στο πρώτο βιβλίο και δεν υπήρχε λόγος να συνεχιστεί η ιστορία.
Οι προσδοκίες μου ήταν χαμηλές αλλά σε καμία περίπτωση δεν περίμενα να διαβάσω ένα τόσο άθλιο βιβλίο.Τόσο άθλιο που μου χαλάει την γλυκιά αίσθηση που μου άφησε το προηγούμενο.Τόσο άθλιο που αν μου έλεγαν οτι θα πατήσω ένα κουμπί και όλα τα αντίτυπα θα αυτοκαταστραφούν και το βιβλίο θα ξεχαστεί απο όλους ,θα το πάταγα χωρίς δεύτερη σκέψη.
Η ιστορία αποτελείται απο τρία μέρη και έναν επίλογο.Στο πρώτο μέρος ,10 χρόνια περίπου απο το καλοκαίρι που γνωρίστηκαν ο Έλιο και ο Όλιβερ,ο πατέρας του Έλιο μας αφηγείται πώς γνώρισε και ερωτεύτηκε μια γυναίκα με τα μισά του χρόνια μέσα σε ένα τραίνο.Είναι φρικτό και πιάνει περίπου το μισό βιβλίο.Δεν μπορούσα να πιστέψω οτι αυτούς τους απαίσιους διαλόγους τους έγραψε ο ίδιος συγγραφέας,ούτε η Δημουλίδου δεν θα έγραφε χειρότερους.
Στο δεύτερο μέρος,15 περίπου χρόνια μετά απο εκείνο το καλοκαίρι,ο Έλιο μας αφηγείται πώς γνώρισε και ερωτεύτηκε εναν άντρα με τα διπλά του χρόνια.Ήθελα να κλάψω απο τα νεύρα μου με το πόσο γελοία ξεδιπλώνεται η ιστορία.Οι διάλογοι είναι ακόμα χειρότεροι απο το πρώτο μέρος "-αχ είμαι πολύ μεγάλος για σένα -οχι δεν είσαι -αχ είσαι πολύ νέος εγω γέρασα- οχι δεν υπαρχει πρόβλημα-αχ κοιταξες το γερασμένο χέρι μου το είδα-μα όχι ιδέα σου είναι".ΣΚΑΣΤΕ!
Στο τρίτο μέρος,20 περίπου χρόνια μετά απο εκείνο το καλοκαίρι,μας μιλάει ο Όλιβερ για το πώς είναι η ζωή του.Είχα αρχίσει πια να πηδάω σειρές και παραγράφους για να τελειώνω μια ώρα αρχύτερα με αυτό το μαρτύριο.
Απο όλο το βιβλίο μόνο ο επίλογος είναι κάπως συμπαθητικός και διαβάζεται αλλά αυτές οι σελίδες είναι πολύ λίγες και ήταν πια πολύ αργά για να σωθεί το βιβλίο.
Ακολουθούν σπόιλερ.
.
.
.
.
Γνωρίζεις ρε φίλε μια πιτσιρίκα στο τραίνο και μέσα σε 12 ώρες έχετε ερωτευτεί,έχετε περπατήσει τη μιση Ρώμη,έχετε πιει εφτά λίτρα καφέ,της έχεις πει 72 φορές πόσο μεγάλος είσαι και πόσο νέα είναι αυτή,έχεις ξεράσει ό,τι έχεις κάνει σε αυτή τη ζωή,κανονίζετε να ζήσετε μαζί,συζητάτε για να κάνετε παιδιά και σκέφτεσαι να κάνεις τατουάζ δίπλα στο πουλί σου ένα γαμημένο ΣΥΚΟ γιατί και καλά είναι το σύμβολο της;Κι αυτή λέει σε έναν που μόλις γνώρισε οτι όταν ήταν μικρή χαμουρεύτηκε με τον αδερφό της και έναν φιλο του και παρακάλαγε τον αδερφό της να την πηδήξει κι αφού αυτός δεν το έκανε πηδήχτηκε με τον φίλο του μπροστά του;Αναπολώ την σκηνή του ροδάκινου και δεν περίμενα να το πω ποτέ αυτό!
Οι προσδοκίες μου ήταν χαμηλές αλλά σε καμία περίπτωση δεν περίμενα να διαβάσω ένα τόσο άθλιο βιβλίο.Τόσο άθλιο που μου χαλάει την γλυκιά αίσθηση που μου άφησε το προηγούμενο.Τόσο άθλιο που αν μου έλεγαν οτι θα πατήσω ένα κουμπί και όλα τα αντίτυπα θα αυτοκαταστραφούν και το βιβλίο θα ξεχαστεί απο όλους ,θα το πάταγα χωρίς δεύτερη σκέψη.
Η ιστορία αποτελείται απο τρία μέρη και έναν επίλογο.Στο πρώτο μέρος ,10 χρόνια περίπου απο το καλοκαίρι που γνωρίστηκαν ο Έλιο και ο Όλιβερ,ο πατέρας του Έλιο μας αφηγείται πώς γνώρισε και ερωτεύτηκε μια γυναίκα με τα μισά του χρόνια μέσα σε ένα τραίνο.Είναι φρικτό και πιάνει περίπου το μισό βιβλίο.Δεν μπορούσα να πιστέψω οτι αυτούς τους απαίσιους διαλόγους τους έγραψε ο ίδιος συγγραφέας,ούτε η Δημουλίδου δεν θα έγραφε χειρότερους.
Στο δεύτερο μέρος,15 περίπου χρόνια μετά απο εκείνο το καλοκαίρι,ο Έλιο μας αφηγείται πώς γνώρισε και ερωτεύτηκε εναν άντρα με τα διπλά του χρόνια.Ήθελα να κλάψω απο τα νεύρα μου με το πόσο γελοία ξεδιπλώνεται η ιστορία.Οι διάλογοι είναι ακόμα χειρότεροι απο το πρώτο μέρος "-αχ είμαι πολύ μεγάλος για σένα -οχι δεν είσαι -αχ είσαι πολύ νέος εγω γέρασα- οχι δεν υπαρχει πρόβλημα-αχ κοιταξες το γερασμένο χέρι μου το είδα-μα όχι ιδέα σου είναι".ΣΚΑΣΤΕ!
Στο τρίτο μέρος,20 περίπου χρόνια μετά απο εκείνο το καλοκαίρι,μας μιλάει ο Όλιβερ για το πώς είναι η ζωή του.Είχα αρχίσει πια να πηδάω σειρές και παραγράφους για να τελειώνω μια ώρα αρχύτερα με αυτό το μαρτύριο.
Απο όλο το βιβλίο μόνο ο επίλογος είναι κάπως συμπαθητικός και διαβάζεται αλλά αυτές οι σελίδες είναι πολύ λίγες και ήταν πια πολύ αργά για να σωθεί το βιβλίο.
Ακολουθούν σπόιλερ.
.
.
.
.
Γνωρίζεις ρε φίλε μια πιτσιρίκα στο τραίνο και μέσα σε 12 ώρες έχετε ερωτευτεί,έχετε περπατήσει τη μιση Ρώμη,έχετε πιει εφτά λίτρα καφέ,της έχεις πει 72 φορές πόσο μεγάλος είσαι και πόσο νέα είναι αυτή,έχεις ξεράσει ό,τι έχεις κάνει σε αυτή τη ζωή,κανονίζετε να ζήσετε μαζί,συζητάτε για να κάνετε παιδιά και σκέφτεσαι να κάνεις τατουάζ δίπλα στο πουλί σου ένα γαμημένο ΣΥΚΟ γιατί και καλά είναι το σύμβολο της;Κι αυτή λέει σε έναν που μόλις γνώρισε οτι όταν ήταν μικρή χαμουρεύτηκε με τον αδερφό της και έναν φιλο του και παρακάλαγε τον αδερφό της να την πηδήξει κι αφού αυτός δεν το έκανε πηδήχτηκε με τον φίλο του μπροστά του;Αναπολώ την σκηνή του ροδάκινου και δεν περίμενα να το πω ποτέ αυτό!
November 16, 2019
Before saying anything about that book, I just wanted to mention that that Call Me By Your Name is one of my all time favorite book out there and when I heard there was going to be a sequel, I was truly excited about it but also scared. I had very high hopes for that one and let me tell you that I was utterly disappointed; writing this review is actually very painful.
Where to begin? Maybe about the fact that we got only 11 pages of the content we were actually looking for and they weren't even that good. I still don't understand what happened to be completely honest. How can we go from a masterpiece and a powerful story like Call Me By Your Name to something like that "sequel" and yes, I am using quotation marks here for the simple reason that it didn't feel like a sequel to me.
The book itself and the story from that matter is divided in four parts. This is a non-spoiler review so I am not going to tell you what happened in each of these parts but I will just say that I have been extremely disappointed by the choices the author made in general. To me, the author projected too much of his own perspective and fantasies in this book and it truly showed. Some passages of the first part and one in particular really made me angry and disturbed me, I was actually disgusted by it.
I am still very sad to see that a sequel with so much potential like this one has ended up like this. To me, this is just unforgivable.
The writing felt very poor the entire time, the end part which was the part that we probably were all looking for after having painfully read the previous pages has been neglected and I am still very confused about it. How is that even possible?
In conclusion, Elio and Oliver deserved way better (not from the story but from the way to actually say it, remember, 11 pages!!!!) and I will simply try my best to forget about this book and only remember the masterpiece that is Call Me By Your Name and all the feels it gave me while reading it.
I am planning on writing a spoiler review soon because I have highlighted a lot of passages from that book and wrote a lot of things on it as well that need to be said.
Again, I am utterly disappointed and won't recommend reading it, at all.
Where to begin? Maybe about the fact that we got only 11 pages of the content we were actually looking for and they weren't even that good. I still don't understand what happened to be completely honest. How can we go from a masterpiece and a powerful story like Call Me By Your Name to something like that "sequel" and yes, I am using quotation marks here for the simple reason that it didn't feel like a sequel to me.
The book itself and the story from that matter is divided in four parts. This is a non-spoiler review so I am not going to tell you what happened in each of these parts but I will just say that I have been extremely disappointed by the choices the author made in general. To me, the author projected too much of his own perspective and fantasies in this book and it truly showed. Some passages of the first part and one in particular really made me angry and disturbed me, I was actually disgusted by it.
I am still very sad to see that a sequel with so much potential like this one has ended up like this. To me, this is just unforgivable.
The writing felt very poor the entire time, the end part which was the part that we probably were all looking for after having painfully read the previous pages has been neglected and I am still very confused about it. How is that even possible?
In conclusion, Elio and Oliver deserved way better (not from the story but from the way to actually say it, remember, 11 pages!!!!) and I will simply try my best to forget about this book and only remember the masterpiece that is Call Me By Your Name and all the feels it gave me while reading it.
I am planning on writing a spoiler review soon because I have highlighted a lot of passages from that book and wrote a lot of things on it as well that need to be said.
Again, I am utterly disappointed and won't recommend reading it, at all.
January 15, 2022
Vaya que fiasco. Una secuela completamente innecesaria, producto del éxito de Call me by your name, que es un libro autoconclusivo... El autor se puso a repartir fruta para un par de personajes secundarios y una nueva aventura para los protagonistas, todo tirado de los pelos. Amores instantáneos y situaciones completamente inverosímiles aggiornados con unos diálogos que dan vergüenza ajena de lo ñoños que suenan. Ni Danielle Steel se animó a tanto.
December 15, 2019
Το να με φωνάζεις με τ'όνομα σου είναι απο τα αγαπημένα μου βιβλία, αυτό μου φάνηκε δυστυχώς αδιάφορο.
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