REVIEW

"IF NONE OF this worked I'd go for him, he'd fight me back, and we'd wrestle, and I'd make sure to turn him on as he pinned me down while I wrapped my legs around him like a woman, even hurt him on the hip he'd scraped in his bicycle fall, and if all this didn't work then I'd commit the ultimate indignity, and with this indignity show him that the shame was all his, not mine, that I had come with truth and human kindness in my heart and that I was leaving it on his sheets now to remind him how he'd said no to a young man's plea for fellowship. Say no to that and they shall have you in hell feet first."

Call Me By Your Name is a tale of one enchanted, torturous summer on the Italian Riviera.

It's the story of Elio, a 17-year-old immersed in literature and philosophy, and an American graduate student, Oliver, who arrives to spend the summer at Elio's parent's villa. Thereafter follows a portrait of adolescent obsession, psychological manoeuvring, and an evocative, beautiful love story that's not lacking an erotic charge.

The cry will go up, "Oh another coming of age story", but the fact remains that few events are more important in life than the transition from boy to man. And when the coming of age tale is told with the skill, style and power demonstrated by Aciman, you'll soon forget that the subject is one you might have tired of. This is a story of intimacy, of love, the pain of love, and desire. Aciman's prose is a thing of literary beauty; his story is insightful, compelling and eloquent. He reminds me of Colm Tóibín, and Call Me By Your Name calls to mind The Story of the Night: deep, thoughtful, choking almost in its intensity, and pegged for certain re-reading. I can't recommend this beautiful, magical novel strongly enough.