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asked:
Having just finished Call me by your name, I have (obviously) fallen in love with André Aciman's writing and am looking to devour his other works. However, being in no hurry to experience once again the feeling of emptiness and sadness I was left with post CMBYN, I wanted to enquire whether this book has a "happy ending" or a sad one? Thank you in advance!
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Enigma Variations,
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Douglas Stevens
My thoughts are that it covers much the same ground, but with a different (and more interesting) structure, and a decidedly different emphasis. And I don't find it is sad so much as ending with the narrator somewhat disappointed with his life, as is so often the case in real life. The structure is 5 somewhat longish short stories, each with its own sometimes surprising ending. My complaint is the ending of the book. For an individual short story, the ending of the last story is abrupt and clever, but the book has covered so many dimensions in the narrator's life, that the ending seems abrupt.
There is an interesting interview with the author about this book on Audible. It won't tell you much about the book unless you've at least started reading, but he reveals that the last story was written first, and he decided it needed at least a companion piece to make it work. Eventually he scrapped the companion and preceded it with four contrasting and somewhat disjointed stories. This, I think, is the problem with the ending.
Each of the stories has a different tone and feeling. The first is most like Call me by your name, and I think is the only one that could stand alone.
The other four stories need each other more, and they would probably work just as well without the first story. Maybe it serves to set up Paul's continuing sexual confusion, so I'm glad it's included.
It's good enough that I'll reread it soon to sort out how he mapped things out to lead to the final paragraph.
There is an interesting interview with the author about this book on Audible. It won't tell you much about the book unless you've at least started reading, but he reveals that the last story was written first, and he decided it needed at least a companion piece to make it work. Eventually he scrapped the companion and preceded it with four contrasting and somewhat disjointed stories. This, I think, is the problem with the ending.
Each of the stories has a different tone and feeling. The first is most like Call me by your name, and I think is the only one that could stand alone.
The other four stories need each other more, and they would probably work just as well without the first story. Maybe it serves to set up Paul's continuing sexual confusion, so I'm glad it's included.
It's good enough that I'll reread it soon to sort out how he mapped things out to lead to the final paragraph.
Andrew Garvin
The ending is neither happy nor sad. The structure of Engima Variations is a lot different than CMBYN. There are recurring characters in the protagonist's life, but it's not a 1-to-1 romance. Enigma Variations conjures similar feelings of desire, building the resolve to speak your feelings, even longing. But, there isn't the same sense of remorse and you won't feel emptiness or sadness.
Stephanie
I think that if you think that CMBYN was sad, this book may not have a happy ending either. I see both as hopeful expressions of love and what we do and who we become because of it.
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