I know I am late to the party, but I fell in love with the movie so much I wanted to read the book, and I am disappointed. Maybe I need to do a re-read in a couple months from now, but it was so underwhelming. The movie did so much more showing and not telling IMO, and stayed cryptic with dialogue because the audience already knew what the characters were thinking. The book however felt like this long winded metaphorical poem with big words that I’d have to look up, and paragraphs would go on tangents in between what little dialogue were provided with.
by troublemakerrr01
2 Comments
I remember watching the movie and being confused about their relationship: was he leading Elio on? Did he actually like him, was he gay, was it just a weird fling? I remember being so unsatisfied with the movie that I immediately went and read the book. And while I gained a better understanding of their relationship, the ending was soooo much more depressing that I really regret reading the book. Left me feeling so depressed
Yeah, I think the movie is just superior in every way. It cut what needed to be cut, had this sort of ragged finality where the book ends like three times (not to mention the sequel), and I think Elio’s father becomes a key character in such a vital way that the book funnily enough undercuts by giving him even more characterisation. It also helps that the film is gorgeous and sounds beautiful, and having the age gap between Timmy and Armie be even more pronounced adds a lot too, I think. The most important thing is that we get out of Elio’s head, which is the biggest weakness of the books. Experiencing his thoughts and feelings through his actions rather than through narration feels paradoxically a lot more intimate.
The book isn’t bad, in fact it’s really good, but Guadagnino’s film is exquisite. I somewhat disagree with your assessment that it’s a big metaphorical poem, but then I was a pretentious queer kid in love and that’s more or less what my head was like so I perhaps found it more relatable. But yeah, having the characters just go for a swim vs every one of their thoughts about what going for a swim meant is a much less cluttered experience.