It was 1966 when André Aciman, then a 15-year-old boy, fled Alexandria with his deaf mother and younger brother following the expulsion of Jews under Nasser's regime in Egypt. They arrived in Rome, the city of his imagined imperial grandeur, which presented itself as a maze of hardships, embodied by his dominant Uncle Claude, who sublets the family a dilapidated flat in a working-class district of Via Clelia.

The first half of the book chronicles the struggles of his integration into Roman society, with endless bus rides to school, humiliating encounters with his uncle, and a growing awareness of his precarious position in a foreign land. The Via Clelia apartment, though located in the heart of Rome, never becomes a sanctuary for him. It is an uncomfortable, transitional space that resists transformation into a true home, mirroring the ambivalence he feels toward both the city and the idea of belonging. The apartment is a metaphor for the state of exile itself, a place neither here nor there, full of potential but never fully realised. Rome, for Aciman, is forever a place in-between where he was in a state of limbo, and his unease in Via Clelia becomes a manifestation of the emotional and cultural distance he feels from the city.

The author’s memories of Alexandria, a cosmopolitan city rich with cultural blending and mingling, contrast sharply with the Rome he now inhabits, a city that feels distant and impersonal. His past is an idealised, irrealis realm, one that he can never return to, and the present, marked by discomfort and alienation, is grounded in the stark reality of life in Rome. The discomfort Aciman experiences in Rome is not just about the physical distance between the two cities. It is also about the loss of a world that was never stable to begin with. The cosmopolitanism of Alexandria, where multiple languages and cultures intermingled, is a world that is increasingly out of reach. In My Roman Year, this loss is highlighted by the quiet, everyday moments of life in Via Clelia where he spent his time in the apartment delving into books, moments that highlight the gap between what Aciman remembers and what he experiences.

Aciman’s exploration of memory and identity revolves around a deep sense of longing for a world that exists only in the past, in the irrealis. The pain of exile is not merely the loss of a physical place but the erosion of a way of life, of cultural richness, hybridity and the fluid exchange of ideas that has disappeared from his life. In My Roman Year, this loss is particularly palpable, as Aciman navigates the streets of Rome, a city that, despite its beauty, remains a place of emotional exile. The tension between past and present, between what was and what could never be, defines his experience, leaving him caught in a space that is neither fully foreign nor truly familiar.

Ultimately, My Roman Year can be seen as an extension of the themes Aciman explored in Homo Irrealis: Essays. It is a meditation on the fragility of identity and the impossibility of truly returning to a place or time once lived. The apartment in Via Clelia, much like the fragmented world Aciman grapples with throughout his writing, is both a refuge and a reminder that the world he longs for exists only in memory.

DNF around the 1/3 mark.

André Aciman is one of my favourite authors, so it pains me to say that I didn’t enjoy this memoir. I’ve always admired his descriptive prose and metaphors—qualities that, unfortunately, were absent here. While I understand the approach to non-fiction differs from fiction, this felt like a "tell, don't show" method that never managed to grab my attention.

For now, I think I’ll stick to his fiction, and perhaps revisit this memoir later on.

This was an amazing book. How this young man had to leave Egypt named AN D NE a Cima. N.. His family was very well off in Egypt.But they had to leave because a new Government came in and seized all their assets , so they were forced to leave . As they struggled to make.
A new life in rome the father seemed to be absent all the time. I had very little money but they had pleasure in life. I love this young boy, as he's tried to find himself and I'm certain world. His brother was much more friendly with the children in rome. As the year progressed they went to a very good school traveled to paris. The father was living in paris with some of the His relatives and some Her relatives. They left egypt before all this problem came about. One of the sisters of the mother. Was living in new york city and she really wanted to go there to be with her sister. It was a constant struggle for everything.They seemed to make everything workout.. I like this boy's attitude how he grew up.I found himself.

This may have been a recollection of the author’s year in Rome as a teenager; however, it was told in such a nuanced way to include all parts of his life throughout. It was like following a timeline and taking some brief detours. I truly enjoy memoirs that give me new perspectives on life that has been lived and experienced. This book also challenged my vocabulary, which for me is always welcomed. It did take me longer to read than most 300 page books, but I think many passages required time to ponder and reflect on. The way this is written felt like it paralleled how the author must have felt knowing several languages but not feeling like one of them was native to him. A truly beautiful memoir.

A Jewish family expelled from Alexandria, Egypt become refugees in Rome, Italy. Their story is narrated by the older of two teenaged brothers, who wraps himself in a world of great literature, separating himself from the day to day Rome he hates, hoping for the day he can leave. The younger son makes friends and learns his way around the neighborhood and in school. Mom is deaf, but manages to adjust to their new home. Dad is still in Egypt. Mom and sons are greeted in Naples by Dad’s brother, who living in Rome by his wits as a businessman, gets the new arrivals settled in a blue collar neighborhood distanced from the colosseum, the cathedrals, the plazas with fountains and sculpture by famous artists, the Spanish Steps, and the museums.
When dad arrives, he pretty much abandons his family as he travels to Paris in search of work. The family visits him and other relatives in Paris, where the young narrator has his first sexual experience, followed by more sexual experiences when he returns to Rome. As he becomes more familiar with Rome, the girls, riding throughout the city on a borrowed bicycle, he still looks forward to the day he and family can leave. He refers to himself and similar discontented characters he reads about in books as elsewhere people.

It isn’t until he becomes a man, years later, he realizes how much he missed by giving so much of himself to books instead of the city he inhabited for a year. This is an unappealing story of a dissatisfied youth redeemed by the writer’s literary influences, mastered as the man who subsumed them into a highly polished prose style. This is the second book in what promises to be an ongoing memoir, the first book, Out of Egypt, of the family’s time in Egypt. Of course, one is reminded of Karl Ove Knausgaard.

Thank you to Farrar, Straus, and Giroux and NetGalley for an advanced readers’ copy.

This book was total perfection. Andre Aciman at his absolute, most heartbreaking best. His exploration of familial love and coming-of-age between cultures and continents is masterfully done here. Every page is so full of love and uncertainty. I could read this again and again and again. What a joy.

I am not one to read fiction or autobiographical books. But I am one who likes to read stories about people, and that was something that I read.

Having only read "Call Me By Your Name" I didn't know the totality of his experiences to understand his writing, but I think I got to know him a bot better. I couldn't fathom his past, how he was an immigrant from Egypt, and how his stay in Italy for approximately a year and a half solidified his desire for reading and later to becoming a writer (at this point I wanted to add that young Aciman and I I both share an aversion of Kafka). Having to move to another country, especially only with one of your parent (who is deaf), with your younger sibling, while being afraid of the warzone on your home country and also being afraid of adapting to recipient one, is definitely overwhelming. Honestly, I liked the narration of Via Clelia, and the romanticizing of it, but what made me like the book more was not hiding the problems that his family had to overcome.

This book also touches a lot upon the complicated relationship with your parents. Firstly, in accordance with his relationship with his mother, who even though she was deaf with two hearing children, she did everything she could in the house, and even though the writer and his brother wholeheartedly admired her, they sometimes were embarrassed, but not because of her disability, but of how much the society would force any kind of discrimination upon her. On the other hand, the relationship with his father is entirely friendly. While he was working before he came to Italy to be with his family, it was obvious that he didn't respect the mother of his children, and that became more apparent when he went to live in Paris. Nevertheless, he was the one who inspired the writer to read, and he wouldn't be the same without his talks with him. Finally, I definitely did not like Uncle Claude for numerous reasons, that if I analyzed now, all the paper in the world wouldn't be enough.

A book about immigration, about finding your place in the world, coming-of-age and a thorough insight on Aciman's life in Rome that cultivated a part of his personality.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A beautiful memoir. I love how Aciman shares his opinions on Rome when he was a teenager living there and what he thinks of the city since traveling back with his family. My only complaint is that the chapters are ridiculously long. Otherwise it is wonderfully written and full of tender moments.

Thank you to the publisher for the e-copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"Roman Year" offers a poignant and vivid account of Aciman's family's migration from Egypt to Italy, set against the backdrop of increasing hostility towards the Jewish population in Egypt. This memoir provides a deeply personal perspective on displacement and cultural adaptation.
Aciman's narrative skill shines as he paints a thorough and intimate portrait of his family, with particular emphasis on his uncle. The author's resentment towards the unjust treatment of his family, despite their deep roots in Egypt, is palpable and evokes strong empathy from the reader.
The book's strength lies in its rich, detailed depictions of both Egypt and Italy. Aciman's keen eye for setting and atmosphere not only brings these locations to life but also provides insight into the inspiration behind his acclaimed novel "Call Me by Your Name."
For readers unfamiliar with Aciman's work, "Roman Year" serves as an excellent introduction to his writing style and thematic preoccupations. It offers a thoughtful exploration of identity, belonging, and the complexities of cultural transition.
This memoir successfully blends personal history with broader sociopolitical context, creating a narrative that is both informative and emotionally resonant. Aciman's ability to convey the nuances of his family's experiences makes "Roman Year" a compelling read for those interested in Jewish history, migration stories, or simply well-crafted personal narratives.

Beautifully written, this is a poignant, sometimes comical and sometimes sad tale of Aciman's life after his (Jewish) family were forced to flee Egypt for Rome after the 6-Day War.

The family lived in a poor quarter and life wasn't easy by any means. (Indeed, it took Aciman a while to fall in love with Italy, and it was only after he left for his studies in New York that things changed - a book about Tuscany is what did the trick).

Aciman's family issues are enough to make you go pale, from his excitable but charming deaf mother and womanising (but winsome) father, to his irascible curmudgeon of an uncle (a VERY odd duck). Throw in a few eccentric far-flung family members and you have a rather extraordinary tale... A story about waiting, about looking ahead but also behind you, a time of turmoil and indecision.

More well-known for Call Me By Your Name, Aciman has a beautiful way of saying things, a certain knack for bringing characters to life, and Roman Year is no exception. It's a follow-up to Out of Egypt, and while it isn't imperative to read both, Out of Egypt is a wonderful memoir.

This is my third Andre Aciman book that i have read, and like the others that I've read it is a bit hit and miss.

Things that I liked about the book were:

- the descriptions of Rome, Paris Naples and Alexandria
- the character descriptions
- the writing style

What I didn't like so much was the amount of introspection, this was a bit tiring by the end of the book.

Having said all of the above I did, on the whole, enjoy the book and look forward reading to more of his work

Roman Year is an incredibly thoughtful memoir from CMBYN author, André Aciman, detailing his year as a teenager migrating to Rome after being expelled from Alexandria. This is a slow, meandering journey, portraying the mundane and his day to day life in great detail. At times, I found the memoir to be too slow and embodied the spirit of dolce far niente a tad too much. However, if detailed-oriented anecdotes and memories are your thing, you will certainly enjoy this. Although I do prefer CMBYN, Roman Year still portrays Aciman’s prose beautifully, and in turn, portrays Rome as a mosaic of the sights, culture, and people he loves.

Thank you FSG for the ARC! It was very refreshing to see such authentic writing. My problem with the book was with the chapters, they seemed to drag on for a bit too long. I do see the poeticness of describing such minute things we don't necessarily focus on, but it didn't hit the mark. Regardless, it was a beautifully written memoir with great details.

Thanks to Netgalley and Farrar, straus and giroux for the arc of Roman year by André Aciman! This book is out on 22 Oct 2024.

If there's one thing you need to know about me, it's that André Aciman is one of my favourite writers. Especially his (partial) memoir Out of Egypt, about his Jewish family's expulsion from Egypt in the 1950s, is one of my top books of all time. Roman year is essentially a continuation of where Out of Egypt leaves of, following the writer, his brother and his parents during the course of a year living in Rome after leaving Egypt.

Naturally, as this book is a follow-up to one of my absolute faves, I couldn't help but compare it to its predecessor at times. Roman year felt a little less purposeful than Out of Egypt, with a slightly less well-rounded storyline. But in the end that does tie in with what the author describes: a year of waiting, of indecision, of looking back and looking forward at the same time. It makes sense for the story to feel a little bit like that as well.

In the end, I think this book highlights what Aciman does best. His description of his love-hate attitude to Rome, his longing yet apprehension for New York, his idealised love for Paris, the memories of Alexandria he doesn't want to long for. The characters are vivid, the prose is to die for. No one quite captures a sense of place and belonging like André Aciman can.

this one wassss... a bit of a miss. the writing was very authentic but felt a bit dry to me. each chapter was too dragged on and it seemed as if aciman was trying to be poetic about his time in rome but it didn't hit the mark. i can see this being another readers cup of tea but unfortunately wasn't mine, if you're into very slow and detailed memoirs this would be a good read for you!

André Aciman's fiction writing is generally poignant and often almost poetic in style — think 'Find Me' and 'Call Me By Your Name'. 'Roman Year' is an autobiographical account and, therefore, a different animal. One senses the author's resentment towards certain members of his extended family and perhaps also the circumstances that bring the family to Rome, even though he and his brother try to make the best of things. His brother seems to do this better at this than André himself. The bitterness the author clearly still feels at the time of writing about events which happened when he and his brother were still children expresses itself in a writing style which veers strangely between somewhat failed attempts at comedy and something akin to reporting. For this reader at least, the former don't work and the latter results in a dry writing style which, at times, is quite tedious to read. Still, I'm glad to have now read enough of Aciman's work to be intrigued and seek out each new offering.

Many thanks to the publishers and to Netgalley for the ARC.

An incredibly insightful and eloquent author
Contradictory in as much as the prose is at once a searing honest almost journalistic aspect, yet literary and embellished as the author romanticises much of what he sees in order to find a way of understanding the world around him.
Stunning insight into a Rome which perhaps doesn’t exist anymore
Deeply personal observations abut himself and familial relationships, and the authors burgeoning sexuality.
Grief at loss of home and culture, sometimes relieved by the realisation that home has been found, if only when leaving it.
The sense of a life very keenly observed in the present but only really understood in the echoes of elsewhere, even if that elsewhere is not somewhere he has visited
A sense of a struggle for the author to find and name self..
I loved this

Roman Year reads like a literary bildungsroman as young Aciman navigates his tumultuous relationship to Italy, immigration, fantasies of America, women, school, and his family. This is ultimately a story about compromising between dreams and reality, learning to appreciate what is in front of you (a task tricky for any youth!), and managing competing desires. Like in his novels, Aciman's prose is absolutely lovely. He focuses more on fleshing out the characters and relationships in his life than on the setting itself, giving this memoir a novel-like quality.

Thank you to NetGalley and FSG for the e-arc.