SCRIBBLE
Call me by your Name If you’re seeking a novel guaranteed to draw you far from these dim and dreary months, your quest has ceased; escape to the sun-drenched Italian summer of 1983 and let the angelic story of exotic exploration, which is ‘Call Me By Your Name’ by André Aciman, grant you the warmth which you have been in search of.
Your journey starts at the beginning of everything. Precocious teen, Elio, is once again visiting his family home with his beloved parents: his father a professor of Greco-Roman culture, and his mother a translator. The setting is at first steady with Elio possessing nothing else to do but read, perfect the piano and pluck peaches from the tree lined lanes. However, in a flash of sudden infatuation, the simple world of a boy beyond his years will be spun around, leaving who he once was utterly subdued. The arrival of the annual graduate to guide his father’s research is what will set Elio’s small world atop a spinner. Oliver could be described as the typical all-American hunk; tall, gorgeous and acutely confident, he can glide out of any room with a slick ‘Later’, enticing all deeper into his mystery. Being everything Elio isn’t may well be the spark of their pure attraction. The electric connection between the pair is present from the get-go; flirtatious quizzes on their knowledge of classical music or literature, pool-side chats full of tension and secret first dates
disguised as errands into town. Our primary perceptions are soon peeled away, and the adoption of each other’s character develops in a sweet air of innocence. This build-up of clear desire and connection makes their eventual confession of true feeling have even more power, showing emotion which is utterly authentic.
labels and stereotypes, even in a 1980’s setting, and places it solely on the raw magnetism between two individuals, no matter their gender, age or background makes is what makes it a story of our time.
However, even in the rush of blossoming romance, and constant air of music which Andre Aciman so cleverly feeds in, a melancholy feeling hangs like a pall in the sensation that it can’t last. Although they – and we - know what they have must end, a beauteous monologue from Elios spectacularly open-minded father softens the blow to an extent. I feel during this, amongst everything, it is the unconditional acceptance of his son finding love in his newly discovered sexuality is what is most magnificent.
‘I wanted Romeo and Juliet without the Capulets and Montagues…’
The conquer of love over everything, I feel, is what makes this story so singular and special. Throughout literature LGBT relationships are so often used as an excuse for tragedy in the form of mockery or violence. The unintentional way in which Aciman takes the focus off
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In an interview with British Vogue, Aciman said;
I feel this perfectly captures the story as a whole; Elio is kept safe from the world away from his perfect summers in Italy, Oliver from his second life abroad, and their love from the Montagues and Capulets who may disapprove. We also enjoy safety and secureness in this way as a reader, in a bubble filled with peaches and classical music we can watch the growing tree of their love, feel their passion, their pain and ultimately reshape in a way that they do. Hence, when having to return to the bitterness of winter, we hold the events that shaped Elio’s Italian summer so tightly and are never quite able to let them go.
By Grace Turner
