Why am I attracted to LGBT+ literature like a moth to the flame? I assume it has something to do with the fact that I'm not particularly straight. I enjoy these stories more than their hetero counterparts because they seem less stereotypical and more genuine, they just reflect reality better. Likewise, I guess that's why they seem more raw. One of these stories is called “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe”. I would say it is “The Song Of Achilles”, but taking place in the late '80s in El Paso, Texas. Also, I haven't read a book this quickly since TSOA. It still did not make me cry, but it did leave me with an inexplicable feeling. In this post, I will explain why I love it so much. As always, if you don't like spoilers, close the tab.
For starters, I relate massively to both Ari and Dante. Just like Ari, I don't think I've ever been this close to anyone before meeting my best friend two years ago. Just like Dante, I speak with passion about literature and music. However, I find myself relating more to Ari and his paralysing self-doubt, bottled up emotions, and family dynamics. Dante is very open about everything and expects the same honesty in his relationships. Ari is not, and he feels trapped by this. He feels more comfortable around his mom than his dad, whom he doesn't quite understand, and that's something that I relate to. Also, he stifles his crying until he can no longer and pain becomes “a storm that came out of nowhere”, which is something that I do too. Gods, they know what it's like to be a teen.
About intersectionality, it's interesting that they are both gay and Mexican. It's rare to see a character represented by multiple identities. Usually, when one is queer…that's it, other identities and the way they affect them are not mentioned. This book doesn't quite play into that stereotype. Exactly because Ari has to figure out everything all at once, he gets lost and frustrated. However, he is more comfortable with his Mexican identity than Dante is. Ari notices that bothers him and even calls him, though jokingly, a “pocho” or a half-arsed Mexican. The flip side of it is that Dante is more comfortable with being gay than Ari is. He's not afraid to say it or kiss a boy, although the latter gets him beaten up (“They cracked more than his ribs”). With Ari, his dad has to bring it up for him to notice.
That brings me to the next theme: family portraits. In a nutshell, everyone has secrets, except Dante. He is an only child, while Ari feels like one since both his sisters and brother are 11–12 years older than him. Ari feels like the mascot of the family or a stranger, which sends him into an exile of sorts (self-isolation, I assume). Until he meets Dante, whose openness towards his dad seems foreign. Then, they are not only welcomed in the other's family, but their relationship with their parents especially improves. After a death in the family, his mother promises to be honest about Ari's imprisoned brother.
After he finds out his brother killed a man with his bare fists, he becomes very curious about his dad's past too. In a beautiful scene, the two come out of the closet to each other: Ari as a gay man and Jaime, his father, as a traumatised war veteran. Ari was so consumed by every other problem that his dad brought up his sexuality, and specifically his instincts. After that, they understood each other. Honestly, that's a lovely message to send. Yes, saying the truth can and probably will hurt, but it's even worse if it's hidden and bottled up until the glass breaks.
Another thing that I love about this is the psychological aspect with all its wounds. It's so obvious, but everyone has flaws, including our best friends, including our parents. Dante's greatest strength and weakness is his stubbornness, which leads him to be occasionally authoritative and win almost every argument. Ari's greatest flaw is his crippling self-doubt and anxiety. Still, his instincts don't lie. When Dante doesn't hear him calling his name, Ari's first impulse is to push him out of the way of a car.
Afterward, because he has three limbs in a cast, Dante offers to bathe Ari. Dante cries, and Ari wants to do either that or hit Dante; he hates his openness as much as he hates himself. Likewise, when Dante is beaten up, Ari breaks the nose of one of the abusers. By the way, since Ari is the narrator, I love the beautifully tragic way he describes Dante's swollen, almost unrecognisable face; he could barely look at it. As a result of that, their parents guessed they were most likely romantically in love (“The way he looks at you”).
All in all, do I recommend it? Yes, otherwise your bookshelf will be as sad and lonely as Ari's rocking chair. Do I have a favourite character? Not necessarily, though I do relate massively to both Ari and Dante. I'll wrap it up here with a few quotes I enjoy. Now, back to the tea!🫖
(source of the image: mycast.io)
“WHY DO WE SMILE? WHY DO WE LAUGH? WHY DO we feel alone? Why are we sad and confused? Why do we read poetry? Why do we cry when we see a painting?”
“The problem with my life was that it was someone else’s idea.”
“Maybe someone should have told that guy that we all weren’t ten-year-olds anymore.”
“For the music to be over so soon. For the music to be over when it had just begun. That was really sad.”
“Fifteen-year-olds don’t qualify as people.”
“It was a small idea. But at least the idea was mine.”
“Mom, she got my sense of humor. I got hers.”
“WHEN | WALKED INTO THE HEAT OF THE DAY, EVEN THE lizards knew better than to be crawling around.”
“Mascot. Great. Ari, the family mascot.”
“Being fifteen didn’t help. Sometimes I thought that being fifteen was the worst tragedy of all.”
“His eyes lit up. I mean, the guy was ready to listen to every word I said.”
“I was ashamed of myself for being ashamed of myself.”
“And really, he didn’t look like a professor. He was young and handsome and easygoing and it seemed like a part of him was still a boy.”
“ My mom and I, sometimes the thing we had between us was easy and uncomplicated. Sometimes. But me and my dad, we didn’t have that.”
