- I heard a rumor, right?
That for every book you read
that Timothée Chalamet has recommended,
your jawline actually gets sharper.
So, if I don't look like Phineas from Phineas and Ferb
by the end of this video, I will be suing.
You will be hearing from my lawyers, Timothée.
Anyways, hello everyone, welcome back
to my silly little YouTube channel,
and my celebrity book club.
This week, I'm going to be reading books recommended by
Timothée Chalamet.
Actually, I live in France, can you tell?
My French accent is really good.
Where is this man actually from?
Manhattan, are you joking?
That doesn't fit with the narrative I had in my head,
so I'm gonna pretend I didn't see that.
Also, from the research that I just did,
it turns out that Timothée Chalamet
is only two years older than me,
and yet he has more major award show nominations
than I have brain cells.
God really has his favorites, huh?
And I'm not gonna lie to you,
I'm intimidated by his reading recs, in-timmy-dated,
Timmy, Timothée.
These are the kinda books that I would buy,
but they would then sit on my bookshelf for years,
just collecting dust while I go out and buy other books.
Buying books and reading books
are two entirely different hobbies,
I will not hear anything else.
So, finally, I am actually going to be reading these
in the hope of becoming TikTok's next
white boy of the month.
Listen, I'm skinny, I'm pale, where do I hand in my CV?
Pick me, choose me, love me.
Anyway, we are getting so off-track.
I'm really putting it off, because I fear that this week
is going to be a very intense week of reading.
But, by the end of it, I will be spilling
the Timo-tea on this man's tastes.
But, before we get started, I'm very excited to let you know
that today's video is sponsored by our pals at Karma.
Karma is an app and Chrome extension
which ensures you never miss a price drop or a coupon code.
I said it before, I'll say it again,
I keep track of all the books
that I need to buy for videos over on Karma,
and that means that when books like this one
are discounted online, I can secure a cheeky bargain.
And so this, of course, is ideal for Cyber Monday
and for Christmas shopping, anything like that.
So you can click my link down below to download Karma,
and then when you're shopping
on your favorite online stores,
you can save the items using the Karma button.
You'll then get a notification when the item goes on sale,
has a relevant coupon code, or comes back into stock.
You can then organize your items into lists
and shop mindfully.
Oh, let me show you my Timothée Chalamet list.
Here it is in all its glory, this is where I kept track
of all the books he'd recommended.
And also, on the Chrome version,
Karma will even scan the web to find you a discount code,
and then apply it at the checkout automatically.
And, on top of that, you can even get cash back
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So, Karma is completely free to download
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so click the link down below.
Now, let's see if these books recommended by Chalamet
are more Chala-yay, or Chala-nay.
I'm trying so hard, guys.
(gentle music)
Okay, let's start with this book, this is
call me what you want, call me what you need,
"Call Me By Your Name" by Lil Nas X.
And also André Aciman, apparently.
This felt like the obvious place to start,
because the movie adaption of this book
is obviously where Timothée Chalamet sort of made his name,
and jawline sliced his way onto the screen.
And at first, in the first few chapters,
I was unsure, because I didn't get it at first.
That section is all about yearning,
where this younger guy is basically fantasizing about
an older guy, who is staying with his family
for the summer in Italy.
And just, nothing really happens at first.
But stick with it, because it makes sense later on
and it really builds up this tension,
which the rest of the plot really relies on,
so I see why it was done in this way.
And then, after that, I just became enamored by this book.
The writing is so poetic, and just stunning.
And I found myself just underlining
the shit out of this book, like more lines in here
than at the Met Gala after party.
If you know what I'm saying.
"Call Me By Your Name" is devastating, it's powerful,
the relationship that's depicted
is just captivating in its complexity.
But anyway, we need to talk about
the controversy of this book.
Because, the two characters who are depicted are 17 and 24,
and that seven-year age gap makes a huge power imbalance.
It's a really tricky gray area, because it is legal,
but I think there's definitely a discussion here
to be had about the portrayal of an LGBTQ relationship,
and whether this perpetuates harmful prejudices
about predatory behavior.
Especially because the author himself
labels himself as straight.
So, for me, everything about this relationship
is sort of refracted through that
power imbalance that exists between them.
And I think we do have to acknowledge that
when we discuss this, because it's not necessarily
a healthy relationship.
Listen, it's a tricky one,
I don't have all of the right answers here.
All I can say is that the writing is completely exquisite.
The intimacy and the tension
that is created is palpable and tangible.
And I think that's heightened by the fact that
this book really focuses on the sensory experience
of the two characters.
So you sort of go through the motions with them.
We really just strip these characters bare
and they are naked for quite a lot of the book.
And I just thought it was a brilliant book
that leaves a pit in the bottom of your stomach.
So this is flirting with the five-star review for me.
That's Timothée on the front, the boy himself.
I'm not usually a fan of movie tie-in covers,
but I'll make an exception for this one, this one's okay.
If I were to redesign this,
I think I would design something similar to Small Pleasures,
but with peaches, if you've read the book or seen the film,
need I say more?
And now on to the next book.
(gentle music)
This is Timothée Chalamet's
most frequently recommended book,
and this is "Crime And Punishment" by Dostoevsky.
This is one of those books has been on my book bucket list,
like book-it list for a very, very long time.
And I think the reason that I haven't got round to it yet
is because the main word that people use to describe it is
existential and frankly I've been existential enough
over the past few years.
I didn't need a Russian classic to send me in a spiral okay?
But here we are.
Russian classics are notoriously quite long,
the Russians just had so much to say,
but I do think this was a really good place to start
for my first Russian novel.
And I'm pleased about it I feel a sense of accomplishment
because I got to the end of this.
And I also quite it, "Crime And Punishment"
is primarily about a man
who is living in poverty in St. Petersburg.
And he decides to murder this local pawn broker
who has girl bossed and gatekeeped
her way to a small fortune.
And he's like, you've got it I want it.
Blood murder, death, that's the solution.
That is the way to get what I want.
And then, well he un alives her and from that point onwards,
his mental state just deteriorates.
His guilt begins to envelop him and he faces
a lot of moral dilemmas about whether he should confess
or stick with the lie and the deception,
because no one really seems to suspect him.
And it's really quite unlike anything else I've ever read.
There's this whole cast of memorable and unique characters.
It's funny, it's ridiculous at times,
and there's also lots of little threads
that sort of weave their way through the narrative.
Like nothing is left untouched.
And it's masterful, it really feels like a study
on humanity and human behavior, which I can imagine
being particularly interesting for an actor to read.
Because you really dissect the human psyche
and I think that's sort of an actor's job
when they take on a role.
And so if I were Timothée Chalamet,
I can see why this would be an absolute treasure trove.
I think he actually described this as
a gut punch because he is always rooting for the underdog,
which is nice, but like,
not a murderer though, Timothée, surely.
I know people love a bad boy, but not murderers.
I'm kidding, you do actually kind of root for this guy,
even though what he's done is so morally reprehensible,
you really can see the pang of regret
that this character feels about something
that is just so irreversible, she's not coming back.
So much in a turmoil, anguish, and distress,
but also loads of really astute observations
about people in general.
For me, it was a really, really pleasant surprise
because I did go into it thinking I wasn't going to like it.
Dostoevsky, more like dust off your copy of this book
and actually read it
because it's been on my TVR for years
and I'm glad I finally got around to reading it,
so thank you.
Cheers, Timothée.
And now onto the next book recommended by
Mr. Chamalama ding dong.
(gentle music)
This is the next book that Timothée Chalamet recommended
and it is "And Then The End Will Come" by Brandon Andreas.
And about this, I would like to say, Timothée,
what the fuck was that, bestie?
It's bizarre and I'm never, ever gonna forget reading it,
whether that's a good or a bad thing, I haven't decided yet.
I think the best way to talk about this
is by referring to the title "And Then The End Will Come."
Obviously deliberately very, very provocative and it sort of
introduces the Christian idea of the end times.
And the general kind of dread that a lot of people feel
when they think about the end and what that actually means,
whether that's the end of the world or the end of your life.
So Brandon Andreas sort of invokes the idea
and then flips on its head, he does a full 180
and instead of focusing on, "And Then The End Will Come,"
he focuses on what comes before that,
what comes before the end?
What happens right now?
Cause he basically says if the end is out of our control,
then we're silly to be focusing on it
we should be focusing on what's happening
right here right now.
It's about living in the moment, seizing the day,
seizing our existences,
but it made me want to cease existing
for a little bit because it's the execution for me.
Like basically it's written in a series of vignettes
and it kind of just taken one line at a time.
However, I just found it a tad repetitive
and also sometimes just a bit annoying, to be honest.
I will read you the section.
"Real people, real families, real lives, real relationships,
crushed, broken, killed, discarded.
They are the faces of affliction and persecution."
Like it's giving me GCSE drama performance.
It's giving me English homework
where you have to write a persuasive letter to the council.
And overall it made me think that
this author is the kind of person
you would hate to get stuck talking to you at a party
because that's it, that's the end of your night.
So it's a quick read, but one of the sort of lingers
in the old noggin, unforgettable, heartfelt,
but also maybe a little bit cringey.
But, then again, some of us are a bit cringey,
so sometimes you've got to embrace that.
What I will say is I feel like saying this
is one of your favorite books is quite cool.
This is like a cool book to recommend.
So maybe Timothée Chalamet is just a lot cooler than I am.
I mean, I felt like we didn't need this video
to come to that conclusion, I think we already knew that.
Then again, he is playing the character Willy Wonka so,
do you gain or lose street credit for that?
I don't know.
And now I'm gonna go and seize the day
by reading the next book.
Well, getting started on it at least, cause she's a mammoth.
(gentle music)
Okay, the biggie.
I finally read "Dune"
and it just took me so long to get through.
I'm about to make some people
really really mad by the way, because I kind of hated this.
Now while the cultural impact of this book
on the science fiction genre
is just completely indisputable, undeniable,
I couldn't help feeling a little bit underwhelmed by this.
I just expected something different.
From the very first pages, it just plunges you
into incredibly complex world building.
It is so complicated just to understand
what the hell is going on.
And for me that made it really hard work,
it made it really laborious to get through.
Call me a hater but if a book comes
with a 23 page glossary, I'm tapping out.
And I'm sorry about it
cause I know how many people worship this book.
But aside from that, I also felt like the characters
were incredibly one dimensional and they all really rely
on very outdated patriarchal values.
Like the man are the big strong fighters
and the women have mind power,
they have like the mental power.
I don't know, I thought it was very of its time.
Also, I have to say, Zendaya's character is in this book
for less time than I've been sitting here reviewing it.
So I'm surprised at the amount of press she's been doing
for the "Dune" film, considering I think there were probably
powerful adverts that are longer than her role in this.
And for me, even the plot couldn't save "Dune."
And that is because it's spoiled
at literally every juncture.
There's this princess who basically
introduces each chapter with a kind of epigraph
where she'll basically be like,
"hi everyone, his dad dies in this chapter, enjoy."
And I'm like, we have a whole glossary of words,
teach this woman the word for spoiler alert.
Cause then each chapter I read, I was like,
well I already know what's about to happen.
So this wasn't for me, and for a book that's all about
who controls the spice on the planet Arrakis,
it didn't have enough spice for me.
Really and truly there is no sum of money
you could pay me to make me read the next book
in this trilogy, I think.
Well actually I am open to offers
like this rent isn't going to pay itself.
I definitely have no intention of reading anything more
from Frank Herbert or the "Dune" series.
Yeah, sorry, sorry about that.
And so that concludes this video,
thank you so, so much for watching.
Of course the most enormous shout-out to Karma
for sponsoring the video and supporting this channel.
Make sure you go and download it at the link down below.
And until next time,
I hope you have a wonderful day,
stay in touch, all the best.
Give this video a like if you liked it,
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and I will catch you very soon, bye bye.