Secrets of the universe

Today I will be talking about the book “Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe”.

This book depicts quite a lot of serious topics, especially when it comes to various family problems. It plays quite an important part in the story alongside sexuality and the struggles of coming out and acceptance. The protagonist goes through a lot of tough situations in his life, and you can really see him struggle through the entire book, making this story intriguing to read.

Another very important thing to mention is the fact that the book goes in depth into not very talked about problems like not being able to keep a mental balance in your life and through those developing mental illnesses such as post-traumatic stress or other trauma responses. Aristotle but also other characters in this book like his dad struggle with mental health issues like PTSD which gives the readers a genuine perspective on how different people react and cope with their struggles. Going in depth, Ari is portrayed as a complex character dealing with struggles such as frequent feelings of isolation, anger issues, sexuality and self-discovery. Ari's PTSD and the impact of the dynamic he has with his parents and siblings really take a toll on his mental and emotional well-being.

The way these inner conflicts were written by the author make the book an outstanding read, as it touches on a lot of topics that sometimes are really hard to depict accurately. On top of that the book consists of very built out characters with realistic flaws which slowly drive the plot along and also gives the overall love story at the end of the book an even bigger impact.

“Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe” as a whole is simply written really well. The author executed the characters and what each of them are going through not only perfectly but also makes it all highly believable, as if it were written about actual real people. It’s not overdramatic or toned down for a milder reader experience. A good example would be Ari and his mental health issues, where the author doesn’t try to sugarcoat trauma and stress to the point where it genuinely feels as if you are reading into the mind of a deeply hurt person. A short line depicting this would be for example “Sometimes I wondered if the pain was so bad that I could just forget about it, but I couldn't. It was always there, pulling me back into the dark.”, where within the context of Ari’s life you really start sympathizing with him. It doesn’t feel just “emo” or “cringe” but it feels real. The characters and their problems feel realistic and that gives the book quite a nice charm.

Due to the lack of my own personal knowledge of other story lines that depict PTSD and other traumatic experiences, I cannot really touch on things that the author did better or worse compared to other literature, however I can say that from the things I vaguely remember, this book must be one of the best depictions when it comes to coping with mental health.

When it comes to the families of the protagonists and their dynamics, they are quite different. As already mentioned, Ari and his parents aren’t open when it comes to the struggles and problems that each family member faces. This is shown for example with Aristotle’s dad. Due to the PTSD of the war that he has been in and because of the fact that the father figure hasn’t been present in his sons’ childhood. They struggle to connect with each other and it’s not their priority either. On the other hand, Dante’s family is much more prone to talk about such things, you can really sense that communication is one of the most important things for the family. The difference provides a quite refreshing perspective on how different families function and cope with mental issues. We see multiple instances where Dante’s parents are really supportive of their son. They are shown to be very close and them talking about their fears feels much more natural. In general Dante is depicted to be better off than Ari, whether it’s because of his mixed race and him not really looking Mexican, therefore making him much more approachable or Dante just getting better opportunities for his future.

by Eli