From the author of Call Me By Your Name, this new novella is set in a luxurious hotel on the Amalfi Coast. It opens with a group of young Americans on holiday and stranded while their yacht is repaired.

During their evenings on the hotel terrace, they notice a debonair older man who sits alone. This is Raul, the titular Gentleman, and, when invited to join the friends, he perturbs them with his knowledge of them and their lives.

Raul takes a particular interest in Margot whom he takes on a day trip to a local beach. There, we learn more about Raul and the story slips into magic realism.

I loved the evocation of place and could almost feel the summer heat. Raul was intriguing and enigmatic but I was never quite sure how trustworthy he was. The themes of lost love and yearning stayed with me after finishing - would be a great holiday read for next summer.

A group of young Americans on a trip in Italy end up stranded at a hotel on the Amalfi Coast, after the boat they are on develops unexpected engine trouble. The Americans make the acquaintance of a mysterious fellow guest at the hotel: an elegant, elderly man, who seems to have magical powers and who also appears know a lot about them. This leads to a love story, which is as much of the present, as it is of the past...

Many readers know André Aciman from Call Me By Your Name. I never read that book – or anything else by Aciman, for that matter – except for Abingdon Square, a short story I had come across in a Granta issue many years ago and which has haunted me ever since. I therefore had great expectations for The Gentleman from Peru. Unfortunately, they weren’t really met.

More a novella than a novel, this book is based on an interesting premise with elements of speculative fiction whose full potential, however, I felt remained undeveloped. As a result, the “magical” aspects of the story did not really convince. The protagonist also tended to come across as pompous and sanctimonious. Now, I don’t normally rate a novel on the basis of how “likeable” its characters are, but when a story is based on an unlikely romance, a sometimes-unsufferable lead does not really help matters.

This is a quick and overall enjoyable read with some interesting ideas, but little more than that. I need to look up Abingdon Square again.

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-gentleman-from-peru-by-andre-aciman.html

"Here's another book by Andre Aciman that might bring back old memories and feelings you haven't thought about in a while. The whole tale unfolds at a fancy hotel on the Amalfi coast, where a bunch of friends find themselves stuck for a while because their boat's engine needs fixing, and it's been a whole decade since they graduated from college." It's a fascinating story that explores some deep questions.

This needed to be a full-length novel! A missed opportunity. The writing is beautiful but it felt very surface level.

I am grateful to NetGalley and Faber and Faber for sight of a pre-publication copy of this book.
This short book is really a novella. A light read. Well imagined and well written. A love story based on the premise of re-incarnation and the possession of unusual powers. An interesting idea but not a book to get your teeth into.

A group of young Americans unexpectedly find themselves spending a few days on the Amalfi Coast and become increasingly drawn to their mysterious hotel companion - the titular gentleman from Peru.

The only other book I have read by Andre Aciman is Call Me By Your Name, and I must admit that this has fallen rather short in comparison. It is a novella that would have benefitted from being longer, the short piece is flimsy and insubstantial and there is almost the sense that it is half-finished or rushed. Almost all of the characters other than the two protagonists become practically irrelevant after they are introduced and the narrative quickly focuses on the interactions between Raul, the gentleman, and Margot. Even then, I never really felt that I established an emotional connection with either of them, nor gained any kind of understanding of them and their minds or histories.

Much of the book is entirely dialogue, using conversation to paint the picture of the Italian coast. Slowly, a tale of time and love with a tinge of magical realism unfolds although it is not a tale that covers any particularly new or exciting ground. While there were certainly moments that were quite beautiful, and turns of phrase that deserved attention, this novella felt like a mere shadow of something greater. I imagine that if it were longer and more fleshed out, my rating would be higher, but as it stands this was quite forgettable for me despite its occasionally lyrical and captivating prose.

André Aciman came to widespread fame with Call Me By Your Name; a novel of exquisite beauty and tenderness. The Gentleman From Peru is very much a novella - a fable about love - recurring love - missed love and loneliness.
Raul has a gift - he can cure injuries through touch , he can look into people’s lives and see their past and to some extent their future. When a group of young Americans find themselves in the same hotel as this curious and some what elusive man on the Amalfi coast,they initially joke about the aged loner but through an encounter where he heals an injured shoulder, the relationship between the group and this enigmatic man takes a new path.
They are intrigued and he of them ; in particular Marya. A bond grows between Raul and Marya and she finds herself taken on a journey to a hidden beach and an ancient villa and also into the past - into a story of love unspoken- and where she feels she knows and is aware of her surroundings although not having been there.
Aciman raises the question of unrequited love and lives lived again and again with paths crossing never reaching the point of true love and union as one. This is a curious tale and exudes a form of seduction upon the reader. The question arises do we find the love of our lives or if not do we miss the moment only to have to wait for it in the future in another reincarnation of ourselves.
Aciman’s prose is hypnotic and alluring - a gentle read with hidden depths

The Gentleman from Peru was a quick read (I finished it within 90 minutes), but it's hard to decide how I feel about it. The prose was easy reading and I enjoyed some of the thoughts and sentiments expressed; it was an intellectual piece of writing. However, when it ended, I wondered what the point had been. Most of the characters were extraneous to the plot and could have been left out all together, and even the main two never fully captured my interest in an emotional way. I guess it felt a little flimsy and undeveloped. The only book I have read previously by Aciman is Call Me By Your Name, which I adored. I was hoping for more of the same with this title, but it didn't manage to live up to my expectations sadly. It had some pleasing moments though, and presented some thoughtful ideas, so I am giving it three stars.

I hadn't realised this was a novella until my Kindle showed that I was progressing rather rapidly through the book. It's not at all as I expected.
A group of brash Americans marooned in an Italian hotel near the sea meet an enigmatic stranger, the titular Gentleman from Peru. It seems he knows all about them, including things they do not know about themselves.
It was fascinating premise which could have been fleshed out more satisfactorily had it run to a novel-length book. It seemed to be missing something and left me feeling disappointed, hence the two star review.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I’ve seen a few people read Aciman’s novels trying to chase the high that Call Me By Your Name gave them (myself included), and unfortunately The Gentleman from Peru left me wanting that little bit more.

I know two stars sounds brutal, but hear me out. I feel like this novella could have offered so much more if it was a full length novel. The main characters could have been developed further; we would be given the time to delve deeper into Raúl’s past to add to the present day dynamic; and we would have more of Aciman’s achingly poignant prose to relish.