I overdosed on Aciman

Seeing the film Call Me by Your Name I followed by reading the book on which the film is based. I got hooked and started to read Aciman’s work and listen to his lectures on YouTube. Now I almost finished the next book of his - Enigma Variations and started to feel that I have enough of his style and stories for a while.

I think that the title of the book is quite appropriate – Enigma Variations. The book is enigmatic and consists of loosely linked stories that are variations on the subject of love. The title is the same as Elgar’s Variations on the Original Theme composed in 1898 that comprises of fourteen parts. Here I thought that this is a nice link to Proust. Aciman wrote only six themes and this is quite enough for me. Six stories about love linked by the name of the protagonist who does not necessarily have to be the same person. If he is the same person or not it is not all that important. What is important is love that is the subject of each of the stories. As for the XXIst century, they are very idealistic, romantic love stories often based on such goodness of the heroes, that it reads like a fairy tale. Similarly, to Call Me by Your Name, the book I am reading has stories about love between men. The stories are compelling and present love in a very pure and tender manner. Aciman writes beautifully about gay love, almost more beautifully than I have read in any romance between women and men. Not that I read all that many romances, so maybe my comparison here does not have much value.

I wonder if Aciman is gay himself, it does not seem so, but his insight into gay emotions is remarkable. On the other hand, after having quite a bit of contact with his way of thinking, I myself came to a conclusion that love is love and its orientation does not mean anything. Of course, there are some practical implications like having children. This would point to the fact that gay love may not be natural and as such should be condoned. This is not my way of thinking.

Aciman writes about the feelings between men in such a way that I almost think that such love may be more beautiful than the most beautiful love between a woman and a man. He writes about love based on the goodness of the people who love each other, their tenderness towards each other and giving. What I particularly like about the books of Aciman and the film is that there are no explicit scenes and no nudity (in the film, of course). Some people would argue with me about the lack of explicit scenes. Yes, there is one very controversial scene. That controversial that one of my rather broad-minded friends left the cinema theatre after the scene. What is explicit are facial expressions of a very talented Timothee Chalamet. His ability to express feelings may get him an Oscar for the last couple of minutes of the film when his face shows without a word the inner farewell to his love, to his innocence and life as he knew so far. I was spellbound watching him and I am not an exception.

Looks that I am still very much in the mood created by Andree Aciman even if I started the post differently. The thing is that I do not intend to finish the book in the near future. Not that it is not good, but I feel a need to change the mood. It may be a little difficult as I do not have a good candidate for my next reading. Perhaps I need something lighter, maybe funny? 

My book club reading is The Trial of Kafka. This is different, all right, but I somehow I do not feel like jumping into it for relaxation and fun.

Maybe I could give reading a short rest. But this morning I got a lovely article from one of my blogging friends about a bookworm and I know I am one of them so the break may not be all that long. Here is the reference https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/feb/15/childrens-books-lucy-mangan-bookworm?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H+categories&utm_term=264253&subid=1405434&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2