Discovering the Universe: A Journey Through 'Aristotle and Dante'
“I got to thinking that poems were like people. Some people you got right off the bat. Some people you just didn’t get–and never would.”
‘Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe’ is a mesmerising journey through the intricacies of friendship, identity, and the different types of love we experience as teenagers. Benjamin Alire Sáenz carefully constructed a narrative that slowly unfolds like the unhurried passage of time during the long summers of the 80s and 90s. The story revolves around the young protagonists, Aristotle Mendoza and Dante Quintana.
The prose is rich and deeply reflective in its melancholy, showing Sáenz’s ability to carefully curate his word choice to draw readers into the emotional world of Ari. The yearning, isolation, and mundane tone created by the author are the perfect backdrop to a story that does not require unnecessary drama. Ari’s voice is quiet, revealing to us a desolate boy struggling to find his place in a large changing world full of unknowns. The word mundane might seem strange when describing fiction, but it lends itself to giving the reader space to breathe, time to reflect.
Ari’s life is routine, the familiar patterns of his day-to-day echoing the solitude, but this will change as he meets the enigmatic Dante. There is a rich sense of stability in the narrative, a deliberate choice that balances the sudden uptick in Ari’s life. This mirrors Ari’s journey through self-discovery and awakening, handled with precision and care, beautifully explored without being vulgar or voyeuristic. A tremendous task when one considers art as nothing more than soft voyeurism. The author skilfully guides us through the vast and unexplored feelings that encapsulate Ari’s every moment.
There is something to be said for the dialogue crafted by Sáenz; it was authentic and heartfelt, capturing the essence of youth, discovery, and a blossoming friendship. It never felt inauthentic, but rather was tinged with poignant sincerity that resonated so deeply within me I felt I was reading conversation from my own youth.
I also reviewed the movie, check it out if you are keen.
The language choices in the novel are evocative, the sensory details painting realistic pictures of not just the desert and the environments but also of the characters, a welcome change from more modern work that tries as hard as possible to create “relatable” characters by removing all semblance of individuality. The descriptions in Aristotle and Dante often felt like reading poetry with a cheat sheet. The precision in the prose creating not just a safe grounding for the reader to explore the physical world but also inviting the reader into the internal world of the characters, giving us space and stability to explore the emotional currents that run beneath the surface of the novel. Of course, the novel is emotionally driven; it’s a coming-of-age story about two boys, it’s not a self-help guide.
The major themes of identity, belonging, and love are seamlessly woven into the fabric of the story. Ari’s struggle with not just his sexual identity but his identity as Mexican-American, the difficult relationship of, and with, his parents and his new feelings for Dante are nuanced, but explored with sensitivity and acceptance. It was a masterclass in what it means to grow up in a time when the world was just starting to change. It went straight to the bone and laid bare what it means to question, seek, and often feel different in a world that is unsteady.
In Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Sáenz managed to capture the delicate and difficult balance of what it means to grow up and balance that with the joy, and terror, of discovering your true self in a world that isn’t always kind. The novel’s setting creating enough space for the characters to explore while giving the reader tangible moments of introspection.
The journey of Ari and Dante profoundly emotional in both individual aspects and as a new duo. The story of Ari and Dante is a beautiful homage to the power of friendship, the transformative power of love, and the true meaning of togetherness. Ari and Dante’s evolving relationship from tentative companions to a connection deep and palpable, one that the parents of these boys dare not even argue, was wonderfully explored and shows the connection and challenges that come from love, the first time, second time, and every time. The relationship between these boys, inherently queer, was also allowed to be tender and honest which is a rare but wonderful thing to explore. This was transformative to many of us who read the novel long before the world had things like Heartstopper.
The novel explores, celebrates, and highlights the importance and beauty of the quiet moments that shape our lives, the small acts, kind and painful that form our unique version of understanding that helps illuminate the paths we walk as we grow. It’s a story of finding oneself, of accepting that self-fulfillment isn’t something we can do alone and that identity is wonderfully interconnected. The power of seeing yourself in the eyes of another, of discovering the secrets of the universe within the shared spaces created through determination and selfless love. Finally, Sáenz’s novel is a heartfelt tribute to the power of love, connection, identity, the enduring and endless quest of self-understanding, and the vast and expansive desire for universal calm.
It is an endearing reminder that the universe expands and it’s within the relationships we forge, cherish, and cut that love is shared and this mutual connection is what gives life meaning and purpose. I am certain the story lingers on in the minds of many people my age who read this and finally felt seen – because we are nothing if not each other.
The story of Ari and Dante has lingered in my head for many years, I have revisited the novel numerous times, the audiobook and recently the movie. I am currently reading my partner’s tattered and annotated copy of the book, a partner who was born in a different country in a different time and yet, we found a sort of solace in Ari and Dante’s story. Sáenz created something that will be remembered for years to come.