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A review by angpetk
Find Me by André Aciman
1.0
For those looking for something that made them feel completely enamored with the language and prose that was found in Call Me By Your Name, look elsewhere. Quite frankly, I will try not to remember this book. I read it as if they were characters independent from CMBYN. The language felt rushed to me and like it was searching for depth only to hit the shallow end. CMBYN discussed literature, history, poetry and art. The attempts to do so in Find Me felt like pandering to do the same in this novel only that it lacked actual reflection and thought in the execution. Instead it played out like someone who read something interesting once and then recited it to someone shortly thereafter in an attempt to look cerebral. Something that made me cherish CMBYN was the deep, raw introspection of Elio. Aciman amazed me with how he could put such beautiful and brilliant thoughts into words. What happened here?
Elio and Oliver honestly lacked much personality for me in this book - what little included them. The other characters also were shallow and unbelievable. Some of the things that happen in this book left me either disgusted or confused. It was painful to get through this book. Without giving away spoilers, I would imagine that at times there would be larger reactions in response to some of the things that occur, but instead it is met with strange apathy. The book is broken into four parts, but I felt like the first half dedicated to Elio’s father was a large sum and also entirely unnecessary. I never had an attachment to Elio’s parents nor a desire to learn more about them. The entire plot with Elio’s father and this manic pixie woman he meets is such a boring, overdone trope. This same storyline is somewhat done again in the plot with Elio. Also, there is a strange storyline in Elio’s part that left me a little confused. A mystery that I did not care to have solved.
What I loved about CMBYN was the slow build up to Elio and Oliver’s relationship and then the total rapture of it. The first book was always beautiful to me because of the honesty of their relationship. This fell flat in Find Me. I understand wanting to create a follow up that illustrates who these people are independently from one another, but it felt forced. As did Aciman’s attempt to deliver a Proust narrative, a longing for what once was or could have been. This book left you feeling sad for the characters as they all mourn the lives that could have been. Maybe we as humans do ponder this once we grow older, but there is something here that lacked originality in that ALL of the characters felt this way.
I found many of the narratives hard to believe. In my personal opinion, I did not grow an sense of attachment to the characters this time around. As I mentioned, it felt like entirely new characters to me. Once again, I am disappointed in a highly anticipated sequel. I hope they don’t follow suit with a movie. If they do, I hope that it is not like this. I think I now appreciate the sudden and abrupt ending of CMBYN. I will maintain the idea that somewhere Elio and Oliver share a fondness for what once was, but have found ways to happily move on with new chapters of their life.
Elio and Oliver honestly lacked much personality for me in this book - what little included them. The other characters also were shallow and unbelievable. Some of the things that happen in this book left me either disgusted or confused. It was painful to get through this book. Without giving away spoilers, I would imagine that at times there would be larger reactions in response to some of the things that occur, but instead it is met with strange apathy. The book is broken into four parts, but I felt like the first half dedicated to Elio’s father was a large sum and also entirely unnecessary. I never had an attachment to Elio’s parents nor a desire to learn more about them. The entire plot with Elio’s father and this manic pixie woman he meets is such a boring, overdone trope. This same storyline is somewhat done again in the plot with Elio. Also, there is a strange storyline in Elio’s part that left me a little confused. A mystery that I did not care to have solved.
What I loved about CMBYN was the slow build up to Elio and Oliver’s relationship and then the total rapture of it. The first book was always beautiful to me because of the honesty of their relationship. This fell flat in Find Me. I understand wanting to create a follow up that illustrates who these people are independently from one another, but it felt forced. As did Aciman’s attempt to deliver a Proust narrative, a longing for what once was or could have been. This book left you feeling sad for the characters as they all mourn the lives that could have been. Maybe we as humans do ponder this once we grow older, but there is something here that lacked originality in that ALL of the characters felt this way.
I found many of the narratives hard to believe. In my personal opinion, I did not grow an sense of attachment to the characters this time around. As I mentioned, it felt like entirely new characters to me. Once again, I am disappointed in a highly anticipated sequel. I hope they don’t follow suit with a movie. If they do, I hope that it is not like this. I think I now appreciate the sudden and abrupt ending of CMBYN. I will maintain the idea that somewhere Elio and Oliver share a fondness for what once was, but have found ways to happily move on with new chapters of their life.