Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

[foxing_gloves]

 





Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
Year: 2012
Page Count:359
Genre: YA Coming of age
Warnings: homophobia, transphobia

Summary: 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.

Benjamin Alire Saenz seems to have begun his publishing career as a poet before switching over to the writing of novels. What comes of it is a writing style characterized by short, simple sentences that strike as sharply if they had been written for a poem. I have heard people say that they don't care for this style, that the short burst of sentences becomes grating after awhile and pretentious in a way too. Personally for me, it is a style I adore, a style that resonates with him. I admire poets because they are able to capture a single moment or emotion in so few words. And Saenz's writing style means that his young adult novel is a series of beautiful moments right after the other. 

I adore Ari. Such a good boy with so much anger and loneliness inside him. He breaks my heart. As much as the novel was an exploration in growing up, identity, and sexual orientation, I loved the focus on familial relationships, especially with how loving both of the boy's parents are. It is a rarity in fiction to find good and loving parents. Some of the reviews I read did not care for the angst Ari and Dante went through because there was nothing terrible happening in these boy's lives. But that's not the point. Because who wasn't a little angsty as a moody teenager. Who wasn't going through their own personal tragedy. Who didn't feel a sense of weirdness, like they were adrift at sea when they were trying to figure out who they are. I'm fucking 25 years old and I still feel like that. 

I did not get as attached to Dante, given he's not the novel's point of view. Upon reflection, he comes off as a bit of a manic, pixie dream boy but he's sweet and I don't dislike him. 

That was another thing people complained about. That some of the dialogue wasn't realistic. The very poetic way that Dante or his parents or even Ari speak. But I don't think this novel is supposed to give you realistic, not in that way. It distills the heart of a moment, as memory preserves it. Everything else (the search for identity, the growing up, the ways to love someone) is what's real.