Call Me by Your Name - English

It took me ages to write the review of this book, because the feelings that developed in me at the end, were too strong to write something worth reading. I needed some days to went by and I think I am ready to present my opinion in a cultural way, maybe with a little help of chocolate (I don’t know why am I attending gym) and green tea. 🙈🙈 This is probably my first and last time when I post the review of the same book in two languages, but I have to take care of my foreign friends as well, they want to know my opinion and it's not nice to write the same thing million times so here it is a little help for them as well.

"Call me by your name and I'll call you by mine"

The whole story, written from the main character’s point of view, takes place in the picturesque Italy, where Elio and his parents live. As a teenager, Elio shares normal life, he goes to school, meets with his friends but what’s the most important for him, he does what he love: plays music, reads books and fascinates with art. Every year, during holidays, for couple of weeks Elio and his parents have a scholar around, who thanks for the hospitality helps Elio’s father with translation. When Oliver appears in their house, Elio’s life changes completely. At the beginning, nothing indicates that these 6 weeks that Elio and Oliver are going to spend together will change their lives forever. There is a huge distance between Elio and Oliver and no matter how hard Elio tries to make it smaller, it does not work. One day Elio takes Oliver for a bike trip and shows him his secret place, where all the icebergs finally break. The rest of the holidays is full of ups and downs but the final, well the final is different for everyone.

We can write so much about this book, some people might love it, some might feel disgusted or frustrated, it all depends. The following review is presented only from my point of view, I have nothing against substantive and cultural critic.

To me, even after couple of days it’s still hard to write. From one point I liked this book so much, but from the other there is something missing. The way Elio describes his feelings, his passion, his desire is amazing but sometimes I almost fell asleep cos the descriptions are so long. Elio as a young boy, with hormones that play such an important part in a youngsters life, sometimes lets his feelings go in a way he regrets later. The huge plus for me is Elio’s dad. We live in a society, where tolerance barely exists. Most teenagers suffer an incredible pain because their parents do not accept the fact that their kid may love the person that shares the same gender. I am also a huge fun of Italy, so all the places described in the book made me want to go and visit this beautiful country again. Hope one day I will :)

The biggest minus for me is older Elio, who even as a grow up man is still the same little boy, with all his puppet love. I also regret that Oliver’s feelings were not present. It would be nice to know his point of view as well. When it comes to the end, it disappointed me a lot. I didn’t expect a huge boom or happily-ever-after, cos Polish title says a lot but I expected something different. However with all its pros and cons the book is worth reading :)

P.S.  There is still some chocolate left :)