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Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Published by Simon & Schuster Books
Released: February 21st 2012
Hardcover: 359 pages
5/5 Stars
Zoe's Review
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A lyrical novel about family and friendship from critically acclaimed author Benjamin Alire Sáenz.
Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in
prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world.
When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common.
But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a
special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is
through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths
about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.
Review
This was a superb book. It really was. Aristotle and Dante
Discover the Secrets of the Universe, is one of those deep and layered
stories that draw you in with how realistic everything seems. The setting of
this book fit the story, and the characters fit. Everything just meshed really
well together. I enjoyed the writing style, and I just really, really loved
Ari.
(Basically, this review is just going to revolve around Ari
because otherwise my review would be 10 pages long.)
So who is Ari? His full name is Angel Aristotle Mendoza, he’s
Mexican and he lives in El Paso, Texas. He has a mother, a father, two twin sisters,
and a brother, but there’s such an age gap between him and his siblings that
he’s basically an only child. Ari is a teenager who is still learning about
himself and who he is. And along the way, when he can’t find the answer, or is
unwilling to face the truth, he expresses his anger.
Ari’s anger is a big part of this book. By now, you know that
both Ari and Dante are gay. But unlike Dante, Ari thoroughly denies that he is.
Dante and Ari come from different lives. Dante is an only child with both a
father and mother who are very supportive of him. The difference between Dante
and Ari is that, Dante has self-confidence, while Ari doesn’t. Dante realizes
earlier than Ari that he is who he is and he can’t change. It’s what he wants
and he is not afraid of what other people think. That is Ari’s weakness. He
might be a loner, but he cares about how people perceive him. He wants to be
normal. It’s what he aches for, but he knows deep down that he will never get
it.
At Ari’s house, life is complicated. His father served in the
army and fought in Vietnam. When he came back to the US, he was changed. He
withdrew, didn’t talk much, and Ari felt like he didn’t have a father figure. Towards
the end of the book, their relationship gets better. They converse more
frequently, but mostly it’s because Ari and his father discover that they are quite
similar and can relate to each other in many ways.
A large part of Ari’s anger is targeted around his brother. Ari’s
brother, Bernardo, is in jail. In Ari’s household, it’s like Bernardo doesn’t
exist. He doesn’t know who he is, or what happened to him. Being the only boy
in his family only adds to the pressure. The philosophy of guys is that they become men, so what would happen if he was gay? He’s afraid
and ashamed of what he wants. What will his parents and family think? He
doesn’t want to be any different than he already is. Ari is introverted, lonely,
virtually friendless, so he denies it. (And he's pretty good at first at
pretending he liked girls. He also decides to start lifting weights.) But Ari’s actions are at odds with what he tells
himself…
During the end of the summer, Dante and Ari were walking
around Dante’s neighbourhood when they saw a bird with a broken wing in the
middle of the street. Of course being the caring person that Dante is, he walked
over and picked up the bird. Then, a car came swerving around the corner and
Ari took the hit instead of Dante. He ended with two broken legs and a broken
arm.
Dante left at the end of that summer for Chicago, and didn’t
come back until the next summer. They’re seventeen. Before he left, he admitted
to Ari he was gay. Of course, both of them knew this, but it was never said out
loud that Dante liked Ari. Anyways, during their second summer together, Dante takes
up a job at a local pharmacy. He finds another guy who works there. And why
would he pick up another guy if he is in love with Ari? Simple. He thinks Ari
is straight. So, Dante and the other guy Daniel are found kissing by four guys
walking by. Daniel runs, Dante stays. He’s beat up badly. Ari is furious, finds
out who one of the guys are, goes over to his house, and beats him up.
This scene at the
at the end of book basically describes Ari’s breakthrough:
“Ari, it’s
time you stopped running.”
I looked at
my dad. “From what?”
“Don’t you
know?”
“What?”
“If you
keep running, it will kill you.”
“What, Dad?”
“You and
Dante.”
“Me and
Dante?” I looked at my mother. Then looked at my father.
“Dante’s in
love with you,” he said. “That’s obvious enough. He doesn’t hide that from
himself.”
“I can’t
help what he feels, Dad.”
“No. No,
you can’t.”
“And
besides, Dad, I think he’s gotten way over that. He’s into that guy, Daniel.”
My father
nodded. “Ari, the problem isn’t just that Dante’s in love with you. The real
problem – for you, anyway – is that you’re in love with him.”
I didn’t
say anything. I just kept looking at my mother’s face. And then my father’s
face.
I didn’t
know what to say. “I’m not sure, I mean, I don’t think that’s true. I mean, I
just don’t think so. I mean –”
“Ari, I
know what I see. You saved his life. Why do you suppose you did that? Why do
you suppose that, in an instant, without even thinking, you dove across the
street and shoved Dante out of the way of a moving car? You think that just
happened? I think you couldn’t stand the thought of losing him. You just couldn’t.
Why would you risk your own life to save Dante if you didn’t love him?”
“Because he’s
my friend.”
“And why
would you go and beat the holy crap out of a guy who hurt him? Why would you do
that? All of your instincts, Ari, all of them, tell me something. You love that
boy.”
I kept
staring down at the table.
“I think
you love him more than you can bear.”
And the secret is out.
Read the book! Please!
-Zoe
