Review Source: READING
(AS)(I)AN AMERICAN Note: I read this book as part of the #DiversityDecBingo reading challenge. You can find out more about it here. My Summary: Aristotle and Dante are as different as night and day. Aristotle envies Dante’s
talents, confidence, and openness. He feels inferior. He feels lonely. He feels lost. However, when they meet, the two form a bond that changes their lives beyond imagination. Review: Trigger/Content Warning(s): transphobia Well, if I’d had any idea how good this book would be, I would have read it eons ago. Where do I even begin? It’s difficult to organize my thoughts because there are so many things I want to say about this book. Because this book is so
many things at once. Continue reading.
Book Author:
Benjamin Alire Saenz
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
Published by Simon and Schuster on February 21st 2012
Genres: Family, Friendship, Social Themes, Young Adult
Pages: 359
Reading Level: High School
ISBN: 9781442408920
Publisher's synopsis: 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.
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Section 2 - Sparrows Falling from the Sky Summary & Analysis
This Study Guide consists of approximately 49 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.
| This section contains 1,170 words (approx. 3 pages at 400 words per page) | |
Chapters 1 through 5 – The day after burying the dead bird, Ari comes down with a severe fever that sends him to bed and gives him vivid, intensely emotional dreams in which he keeps reaching for his father, for his imprisoned brother, and for Dante. He occasionally wakes to find his father holding him, at one point confessing that he too has bad dreams. This glimpse of his father’s inner life makes Ari strangely happy. He also dreams about millions of sparrows falling from the sky, an image that recurs to him when Dante comes for a visit and reads him some of his poetry. At the same time, Ari reveals he’s having bad dreams, but refuses to tell Dante what they’re about. On that same visit, Dante (who admits that he plans to become an artist...
(read more from the Section 2 - Sparrows Falling from the Sky Summary)
| This section contains 1,170 words (approx. 3 pages at 400 words per page) | |
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Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to help you understand the book. This study guide contains the following sections:
This detailed literature summary also contains Quotes and a Free Quiz on Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz.
The narrative, as recounted by by protagonist Aristotle (Ari), begins in summer. Fifteen year old Ari, in spite of being unable to swim, visits a nearby pool in his hometown of El Paso, Texas. There he meets another fifteen year old, the talkative Dante, who teaches Ari to swim and, along the way, becomes what Ari describes as his first real friend.
As the friendship between Ari and Dante deepens, they become friends with each other’s parents; discover shared interests and different attitudes; and begin to awaken to feelings for each other that go beyond friendship, an intimacy with which Dante is far more comfortable and open than Ari. At one point, an encounter with a skidding car results in Ari saving Dante’s life, but suffering two broken legs in the process. Dante and his parents express deep gratitude but Ari, who tends to be uncomfortable with emotion (both his and other people’s) brushes off their thanks. Meanwhile, as an incentive towards recovery, Ari’s father buys him a truck and, after the casts on his legs are removed, Ari (after celebrating his sixteenth birthday) learns to drive, and revels in his new freedom. Around this time, he also discovers a sealed envelope with the name of his brother (who is in prison and who is never spoken about) on it.
That fall, Dante accompanies his parents on a move to Chicago: his father, a university professor, is filling a short term contract. In his narration, Ari describes his efforts to fill his time with schoolwork, with fantasies about the beautiful Ileana, with taking care of his truck, and with taking care of his new dog, a stray mutt that attaches herself to him while he is strolling past Dante’s home. Ari also answers some of Dante’s letters, but not all: Dante is just as talkative on paper as he is in person, his letters chatting about his experiments with kissing, with drugs/alcohol/partying, and with art. Dante’s openness and curiosity, particularly when it comes to physical and/or sexual matters, tend to make Ari uncomfortable, and he takes refuge in brooding more deeply about his brother.
The second half of Dante’s year of absence passes quickly. As summer returns, so does Dante, and he and Ari resume their friendship, although not quite as easily as before: Dante is becoming increasingly comfortable with his emerging same-sex attractions, an aspect of his friend’s character that makes Ari uneasy. His affection and protectiveness towards Dante overcome that unease, however, when Dante is attacked after being found kissing another boy. While Dante recovers in hospital, a blindly furious Ari takes revenge on the attacker, beating him up in turn.
Ari escapes serious consequences for his actions, but is forced by his parents to face some uncomfortable truths: his older brother went to prison for giving in to the same sort of violent feelings as Ari did in avenging Dante. Ari tearfully assures them that he is not like his brother, and will do everything in his power to avoid the same fate. Ari’s parents also reveal their belief that he has long been in love with Dante and assure him of their support and love. Shortly afterwards, Ari comes to accept that they’re correct, and confesses his feelings to Dante. The two kiss, and spend a romantic evening lying in the back of Ari’s truck, looking up into the night sky, now knowing a few more of the secrets of the universe.