Call Me By Your Name; Aciman Vs Guadagnino

Call Me By Your Name was written by Andre Aciman and since it's adaptation of the Oscar nominated movie of the same name; Elio and Oliver have become household names in the collection of the greatest love stories ever told.

That may be seem a bit of an extravagant category to put this story in so early, but it deserves to be nowhere better then where it currently is; the genius of the story and the way Aciman tackled and portrayed it all, lies in it's simple quickness, it's snap click duration between the two main characters. Even as present as Elio and Oliver are in each others lives, it is only tiny moments, giving such a profoundness to their love and Aciman's skill.

"We had the stars you and I and this is given once only."

-Aciman.

So, as I have already mentioned Andre Aciman is the author of Call Me By Your Name, which was originally published in 2007. The story is from the perspective of 17 year old Elio Pearlman, the son of the family who bring in a graduate every summer to their Italian holiday home to work on academic work and this year that's 24 year old, blonde and confident Oliver. Also did I mention it's set in the 80's? 😎 The book ultimately follows Elio and Oliver's blossoming summer romance, from the neglect and borderline hatred Elio tries to feel towards Oliver, to the cross into temptation and the love that encompasses them.

The movie was released in the UK in late 2017 and has been opening up around the world since to nothing but great praise. With Armie Hammer in the role as Oliver, Timothee Chalamet playing Elio and the great Italian desire portrayer Luca Guadagnino in the directors chair; fans of the book were already kind of okay with the direction the adaptation was going. Then the movie played and it's safe to say these three men and Aciman, will never be dim fittings ever again. Timothee himself has already won many newcomer awards, Luca Guadagnino tied with Guillermo Del Toro and now we are officially aware that the movie AND 22 year old Timmy are up for Oscars.

Now is the part where I talk about the differences between the book and film, as well as pin point similarities, if any, and in this books case we were definitely lucky in that it nailed what it included from the book brilliantly. So, differences include more of what was missed rather than what was changed;

• Obviously the some sexual/intimate moments between Elio and Oliver were fully described in pages but more suggested and lead into on film. The film did keep in moments of intimacy and even the peach scene, but it left out a scene some love and some hate, involving Oliver helping Elio on the toilet. Also, SPOILER ALERT; in the book Oliver actually takes a bite out of the peach, where as in the movie he doesn't.
• We are introduced to a group of extra characters who are poets and scholars that Oliver and Elio spend time with during their last couple of days together in Rome.
• The last few chapters of the book are actually several times that Oliver and Elio speak as older men; this has opened the possibility for Call Me By Your Name sequels that both director and cast have all said they would be up for.  

It turns out that cutting out the last part of the book may work in favour for fans of the film, however we would have to wait a while, with keeping the cast the same, we will have to wait for, at least Timmy, to get a bit older to match the future parts of the characters lives when they meet again. 

Also I would say, that when I rate the book, it will be a slight shorter rating than what I imagine you think my bias self will go with and I wanted to quickly explain why; it's simply that during some moments in Rome with the poet and his clan, I miss Elio and Oliver. 

The story, book and film, is one of a kind. You will not find a piece of current art that captures first love and deep love this on point and real. It's so relatable, understandable and for some, nostalgic, you could've wrote it, you know? It's also the first portrayal of two men falling in love, where it's not about being gay, you can't even call the movie a 'gay' film, it's simply just a beautiful, sad, obsessive love story. 

Taken From https://media.giphy.com/media/26Ff68gV7hXgOtVni/giphy.gif

Oh god. The moment of truth. Who wins? I would say that in terms of these two it's a case of picking between reading what's in Elio's head or seeing it on Timothee's face. I would say DO BOTH. READ IT AND WATCH IT. OVER. AND OVER....etc. 

Because of the massive success of the film, I would go into the book first because I believe that is the only way you can experience the story and the film as something between it and you. If you go into the movie, still with so much buzz, it's going to be amazing but it'll miss that bit before which here is Aciman's novel. 

CMBYN BOOK                              CMBYN FILM

😵😵😵😵                                                       😵😵😵😵😵

The rating system is currently out of 5 dizzy faces! 😵

Top pictures taken from:
https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1283737003l/98687.jpg
http://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/call-me-by-your-name-poster.jpg