Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
This was a lovely coming of age story about what it means to be a man. Set in the mid-eighties, it follows Aristotle through two summers, during which everything changes. He meets Dante, who inspires him to start swimming, reading, and questioning the constants in his life. He goes from 15 to 17 years old and also moves from boy to man in a lot of ways.
There are a lot of layers to this story, but they kind of sneak up on you. The language is sparse. It's almost off-putting at first. But it makes a lot of sense for a narrator who spends so much time inside his own head and doesn't really like it there. Aristotle has a lot of anger that he doesn't know how to express.
He carries a lot of baggage, mostly thanks to the world around him. His father fought in the Vietnam war and refuses to talk about it, or about anything really. His older brother is in prison, and while his mom will talk about nearly anything, she won't talk about that. So Aristotle learns not to talk about much either. He's got this idea of what a person is supposed to be and he's trying to live up to that.
Until Dante shows up and blows it all to hell, of course. Dante introduces him to poetry and art. Dante makes no secret of his feelings and feels (almost) no shame about them. The two become fast friends, helping each other through some of the rough times either of them face. They make each other brave and honest and, most important, they make each other laugh.
This book is a thing of beauty, a wonderful story about growing up and figuring out who you are and who you want to be and how to bring those two together.
There are a lot of layers to this story, but they kind of sneak up on you. The language is sparse. It's almost off-putting at first. But it makes a lot of sense for a narrator who spends so much time inside his own head and doesn't really like it there. Aristotle has a lot of anger that he doesn't know how to express.
He carries a lot of baggage, mostly thanks to the world around him. His father fought in the Vietnam war and refuses to talk about it, or about anything really. His older brother is in prison, and while his mom will talk about nearly anything, she won't talk about that. So Aristotle learns not to talk about much either. He's got this idea of what a person is supposed to be and he's trying to live up to that.
Until Dante shows up and blows it all to hell, of course. Dante introduces him to poetry and art. Dante makes no secret of his feelings and feels (almost) no shame about them. The two become fast friends, helping each other through some of the rough times either of them face. They make each other brave and honest and, most important, they make each other laugh.
This book is a thing of beauty, a wonderful story about growing up and figuring out who you are and who you want to be and how to bring those two together.
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