Find Me (Call Me By Your Name #2) by André Aciman - Starting April 8th 2020

[iana]

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.

[Dannii]

Just starting this one :)

[iana]

yay! got some work to do but will be starting tonight!

[Dannii]

First quarter - (view spoiler)[I was a bit hesitant to jump into this one, as it can sometimes spoil a story, seeing that characters did not have the happy and perfect futures you could depict for them. This definitely didn't deliver a happily ever after, as it opened with Elio's post-divorce father's perspective. I can't say I'm connecting with it much, so far. (hide spoiler)]

[Dannii]

Second quarter - (view spoiler)[WHERE ARE MY BELOVED CHARACTERS FROM THE FIRST BOOK??? Elio has appeared but feels so different.

All of this seems to have such an odd tone, now it focuses on older characters. I can believe in immediate infatuation of a teenage boy, but not in this adult duo. It just feels like unbelievable insta-love to talk of matching tattoos and children together so soon. Also, some odd comments are made throughout such as the focus on Miranda's lack of nail varnish. She's so totally not like the other girls *eye roll* (hide spoiler)]

[Dannii]

Third quarter - (view spoiler)[Why does so much of this feel so pointless??? It has some profound insights and the same lovely prose as featured in book one but the story really isn't impacting me in any kind of way. I didn't come here for Samuel's perspective and now we've moved beyond it I still don't care. (hide spoiler)]

[Dannii]

Fourth quarter - (view spoiler)[Oh no! I really didn't enjoy this. Everything I was here to read about happened in about 10 minutes!!! The whole first half felt redundant and it all made feel a little bit...icky. (hide spoiler)]

[Natalia]

12%
(view spoiler)[ When there's a guy talking to me on the train I try to change the seat to get away from them as soon as possible and there she is, happily inviting a guy she doesn't know to meet her dad. Uhhh... What?!
Honestly - I want Elio. I knew that it was going to be about his dad and I still decided to read it even though I don't care about him. Watch me hate this book in few hours. (hide spoiler)]

[Dannii]

Natalia wrote: "12%
When there's a guy talking to me on the train I try to change the seat to get away from them as soon as possible and there she is, happily inviting a guy she doesn't know to meet her dad. Uhhh..."

Same same same to all of this!

[Natalia]

40%
(view spoiler)[ I've been staying up until 2am lately but now it's barely part midnight but because of this book I'd rather go to sleep than read it. I. Just. Can't. It's not only because I prefer a slow-burn romance. It's just they make me cringe! They want us to believe that they have some strong mental connection but I just... I don't see it. And now they want to get matching tattoos? Are you 18? (hide spoiler)]

[Natalia]

52%
(view spoiler)[ I'm sorry, who are these people? Is that supposed to be Elio? Because it definitely doesn't feel like him. And I don't like the new Elio. Somehow he feels even younger than CMBYN Elio. (hide spoiler)]

[Natalia]

82%
(view spoiler)[ What is it with all these twice the age romances? First Samuel, then Elio with Michel and now the possibility of Michel's dad? It's as if Aciman came up with one idea but he didn't know how to develop it so there's enough story for the whole book so he basically used one plot three times. I'm BORED. (hide spoiler)]

[iana]

21%

this is taking me soo long to get through. (view spoiler)[other than finding it scary they'd met on a train just hours before and somehow ending up meeting her father together - scary only because I'd personally be more cautious than welcoming at that point - the other thing I can say about this is I unfortunately don't feel very immersed. I had a feeling I wouldn't be, and it's because I'm less inclined to hear about Samuel's story than continuing Elio's where it had been in the first book. I did enjoy that bit of the dissertation about time though. (hide spoiler)]

[iana]

Dannii wrote: "First quarter - [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I didn't realize it but I think that's why I'm reluctant reading sequels like this, about showing the happier futures with the characters. huh. it's also interesting to see this side of Elio's father that I didn't think of at all in the first book relationship-wise with his ex-wife. it didn't seem like Elio knew either. I do recall that by the end of the first book, Samuel had passed, so I'm curious to see how this sequel will run its course regarding that. (hide spoiler)]

Natalia wrote: "12%
[spoilers removed]"

yes, just exactly what I was thinking! and I can definitely see myself feeling that last part too. :p

[Natalia]

Guiana wrote: "Dannii wrote: "First quarter - [spoilers removed]"

[spoilers removed]

(view spoiler)[ Tbh when I started reading this book I didn't even remember that his dad passed away, I only remembered it later. And somehow it feels like Aciman forgot about it too... (hide spoiler)]

[iana]

@Natalia, (view spoiler)[oh, boy, it does feel like it. but really? I thought it would be addressed later in the book, but I guess not. there's a 12-year gap between this and the first book, so it's actually quite possible, lol. it's just strange because I thought Samuel passed away before Elio was moving to Paris. I don't even remember Paris being mentioned in Call Me, so I thought how come his father is involved if it didn't come up before then? it's peculiar, but maybe I'm just missing some details. (hide spoiler)]

[Natalia]

Finished
(view spoiler)[ So you want to tell me that I wasted all this time reading this for these few pages of Elio and Oliver? And few pages that I didn't even really enjoy? I hated it, thanks. (hide spoiler)]

[Natalia]

Guiana wrote: "@Natalia, [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ I don't want to spoil anything so I'll just say that his death is adressed later in the book, but very briefly and still doesn't make much sense to me... (hide spoiler)]

[iana]

Natalia wrote: "Guiana wrote: "@Natalia, [spoilers removed]"

[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ah, I see. that would've been a big plot hole had it not been mentioned, haha. there's really only one way for me to find out, lol. I'm hoping to finish my audiobook sometime today or after midnight, but I see you didn't enjoy it as much. I guess you sort of expected it in the beginning when you said you'd maybe hate it? (hide spoiler)]

[iana]

43%

(view spoiler)[hm. what am I reading? this couple...I can't really comprehend the progression? there's so much emphasis on Samuel being like, "oh, this is the most natural thing that's ever happened to me" but all I see is unnatural. I don't feel the connection. but the book is pushing so hard! trying (and failing) to convince me but also sounding like it's trying to convince itself that there was a magic CLICK! somewhere over the course of the two days they've known each other. but I didn't feel that? and tattoos. she's young, understandable, whatever. this dude so blindly willing on the other hand...

also, is it just me or was the reference to Myrrha and Cinyras strange? Samuel said they'd be like those two, except that Cinyras the father won't kill Myrrha the daughter for sleeping with him, and that Miranda will give birth to Samuel's child, who he calls Adonis, the baby born from the incestuous affair of the father-daughter. and Samuel says that they'll be like those two? WHAT'S GOING ON?

I just had to blow off some steam there, sorry. I caught a glimpse of the next part, but I'm confused. is this Elio's POV now? Miranda's? (hide spoiler)]

[iana]

78%

(view spoiler)[for most this part, I was asking myself why am I reading this? and it was a genuine inquiry. much of it feels without purpose, even with the Leon mystery that I'm engrossed very little by, and still feels at this point as only irrelevant happenings. I keep waiting for that hook to draw me in, but this far in, that hope has dwindled. (hide spoiler)]

[Dannii]

Natalia wrote: "Finished
[spoilers removed]"

LOL! My thoughts EXACTLY!

[Dannii]

Guiana wrote: "43%
."

(view spoiler)[I felt exactly the same way! The book tried way too hard to convince me they were instant soul mates and it just came of as way too forced. I couldn't see mature adults acting the way they did, either. (hide spoiler)]

[iana]

Natalia wrote: "52%
[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I noticed this too. he doesn't feel vastly wiser than he was in Call Me. I'm disappointed by this but I realize maybe the author wanted to portray some vestiges of that youth and innocence from the first book, although I do find it off because I'd have expected a nearly completely different person from he was in Call Me, considering how much time has passed and how many things have happened. (hide spoiler)]

Dannii wrote: "Third quarter - [spoilers removed]"

yes, yes, yes, this exactly!

[iana]

91%

(view spoiler)[okay, so I wanted to see Oliver in this book, but his whole section felt like I didn't get anything out of it. there was nothing outstanding to me there or, and I'm sad to say it, the rest of the book so far for that matter. I've got 41 minutes left on my audiobook and I just can't wait to get it done! (hide spoiler)]

[iana]

Natalia wrote: "82%
[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[oh my gosh, you don't know how many times I've thought this throughout! I was both bored and exasperated. it's a recurring thing, but where in some stories it might be an interesting theme, here I just find it so trite. (hide spoiler)]

[iana]

finished!

(view spoiler)[nope, nope, nope. and here I was, unknowingly waiting for some sort of redemption in those last 41 minutes. I didn't find it. the Elio-Oliver interaction wasn't fulfilling at all, and I'd just thought why? like Dannii said, much of it felt pointless, which is unfortunate. (hide spoiler)]

[Regina]

Guiana wrote: "43%

hm. what am I reading? this couple...I can't really comprehend the progression? there's so much emphasis on Samuel being like, "oh, this is the most natural thing that's ever happened to me" b..."

I know this thread started months ago, but I just finished the book and that analogy also really super uncomfortable! They're whole story line feels like the fantasy of someone going through a mid-life crisis. I couldn't believe what I was reading.