Want to listen to Find Me while you read Find Me? Now you can!
The sequel to the Call Me By Your Name novel is officially out today! And that means its time to celebrate. Not only do we get an older Elio (and thus a more acceptable age status for him and Oliver), but we also get to listen to music that inspired or helped the writing of this sequel book.
In preparation for the book’s release today, author André Aciman and publisher Farrar, Straus, and Giroux have released a Spotify playlist to set the mood for the novel. The playlist they’ve chosen includes songs from Call Me By Your Name’s Academy Award-winning movie. This includes Sufjan Steven’s Oscar-nominated track “Mystery of Love.” When talking about that song, Aciman admitted that he isn’t familiar with the song’s lyrics.
“Don’t ask me why. I just listen to the music. But ‘Mystery of Love’ is about love and saying goodbye—and that I understood, when I heard it in the film, even just hearing the voice and the music.”
In addition, tracks by LGBTQ artists like King Princess and Sam Smith were included.
“Elio . . . is, after all, a kid, and he should be interested in rock and roll and contemporary music,” Aciman explains. “But he’s also a kid who’s grown up with traditional music. The classical, mature music of the film represents both Oliver’s older age and the family’s long classical tradition.”
Aciman then shares the Elio’s taste in music is a lot like his own when he was younger.
“By the time I was 10 years old, I was already very interested in classical music,” says Aciman. “I was a big fan of The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, and The Beatles when I was young. I loved that stuff, but it was always classical music that I would sort of lean to in the end.”
And why did the author release this Spotify soundtrack to go with the sequel novel’s release? That’s because the story is inherently musical, thanks to Elio. Find Me’s plot follows Elio, his father, and Oliver in ten, fifteen, and twenty-year increments.
According to For the Record, “Elio has become a professional musician in Paris and Oliver is a tenured professor in New England.”
Aciman explained further that “part of the plot involves a cadenza that was performed—and supposedly lost—during the Holocaust that is passed down as a gift and expression of love from one man to another.”
But if the playlist and that short description aren’t enough for you, don’t worry! You can explore more of Elio, Oliver’s, and Sami’s (Elio’s father) lives now by grabbing a copy of Find Me (found in most book stores or sites near you).
Source: For the Record,
