@professionalwhistler and I saw André Aciman speak at the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington, NY! For those wondering, Yes, I am legally deceased. Have some respect and mourn me. Here are some of my personal highlights:
-I did pluck up enough courage to ask him a question (but sadly did not get it on video)! It was something along the lines of:
In his speech about pain, Mr. Perlman tells Elio, “but to feel nothing so as to not feel anything, what a waste!” and then 15 years on, when Oliver asks Elio to come back to meet his family, Elio responds that he can’t go and not “feel anything”, and if he must go, he’d rather, “feel nothing”. And my heart caught in my throat because now I don’t know if Elio ever took his father’s advice, if he suffered deeply because of it, if he simply forgot in a moment of weakness or what. What were we meant to understand?
Aciman laughed and joked that, yes! Elio forgot that one thing his father told him not to forget! But then he answered (paraphrased):
In that moment we are meant to recall Mr. Perlman’s words in order to understand, more than anything, that Elio is certainly not over Oliver. And Oliver, by inevitable extension, is not over Elio either. And even though Oliver is willing to reintroduce Elio to his life, Elio is not ready to change the memory of Oliver from then because he’s still in love with him the way he remembers him. (I really hope I remembered that right because the only thing I’m sure of was that I was nodding like an idiot).
-When Aciman was done, he asked me, “Does that answer your question?”
-I picked the mic back up and just said, “Ouch.” :’)
Below are the links to 4 other the meaty questions from the Q & A!
abbys_little_whippersnapper 