Enigma Variations

Precise rating: 3.5 ⭐

Yeah, well, I hope my life at no point will be as unfulfilling and depressingly frustrating as Paul's in this book.

Aciman writes angst and longing so well. In Enigma Variations we follow Paul/Paulo through 5 lovestories, that are intriguingly structured into 5 separate vignettes, interlacing in time yet separated by lovers. From an unrequited crush in his young adolescence (Nanni), to obsessive yet detached jealousy (Maud), to intense craving on a tennis court (Manfred), to doomed love on a rhythm (Chloe), and unfulfilled infatuation with a younger writer (unnamed).

As in CMBYN Aciman plays with the theme of patterns and repetitions. His protagonist enjoys daily rituals, revisiting and reliving moments of the past. Paul's love-stories - all full of desire and similarly tortured by hesitation and regret - are different variations on his attempt to “drink the wine of life”. Does he ever reach it, or was he there all along? Does our first love set the tone - of bittersweet longing and unfulfilled melancholia - for the rest of all our loves?

The first story on the Italian island was wonderful, but almost too reminiscent of CMBYN. I immensely enjoyed the angst and torture that were the Manfred and Chloe stories. Sadly I felt the last story was the weakest.

Second book I read by Andre Aciman and I think he's definitely one of the authors who can write about love the most accurately. He's also gifted when it comes to creating complex characters who feel very real.

In Enigma Variations he talks about homosexuality even though it's not the central topic, never stereotypical and always sensitive to the complexity of the topic.