Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World

Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World Book Review by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

This book. 

I read Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe back when it was first published in 2012. I loved it. I remember reading the book and even all these years later, almost a full decade, I still thought about it.

That, to me, is the signature sign of a truly significant and impactful novel. 

However, I always thought that Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe was a finished text. I never thought or truly wanted a sequel. I thought it stood alone perfectly as it was, the completed story of Ari and Dante. 

Apparently, Benjamin Alire Sáenz thought differently and I am so glad he did. 

Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World picks up almost immediately after the first novel. At first, I was disappointed. I had already seen and experienced highschool Aristotle and Dante. I had already read their origin story, witnessed their love, and seen their troubles.

 I had really hoped that the sequel would cover their adult lives, perhaps even take place in the present, but once again, Benjamin Alire Sáenz thought differently and once again, I am so happy that he did. 

The news of this novel being published actually came to me during work. A big theme of this novel is school, teachers, and learning, both in the educational setting and outside of it. 

As I’ve said a few times before in different reviews, I am a high school teacher myself. One of the books that I offer to students as a reading choice is Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. 

I had a group of students who had just finished the novel and while I was asking them their thoughts and opinions about Sáenz’s writing, one of them asked me when it was published. During the Googling process of this, I happened to come across multiple pictures of the sequel Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World coming out just around the corner. 

I was ecstatic. 

I was also ecstatic to tell my students and let them know that there was a second book for them to read if they so desired. I told them that it was if Sáenz had written with the intentional knowledge that these children were reading it. 

And I’m sure he was. Even if he didn’t know their names or where they lived, he was writing it for them. 

Sáenz does so much in his writing. Both the first and second books cover so many themes and topics that I would be hard-pressed to get into them all. You could argue that the biggest theme is LGBTQ love, and the experience of falling in love with another boy from Aristotle Mendoza’s perspective in 1989 while living in El Paso, Texas. 

However, he also covers war, racism, feminism, sexism, violence, bullying, sex, religion, AIDS, education, grieving, the loss of a loved one and so much more. 

Honestly, what Sáenz truly covers is life. 

I said above that initially I was disappointed that Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World picked up right where the original novel concluded. Perhaps because I read the first novel when I was their age and now I sought a novel that reflected more of my current stage of life. 

What more to the story is there at the moment? I thought. 

It turns out a whole lot. 

I reread Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe as it had been too many years and while I still thought about the book, and taught it in my classroom, I hadn’t personally read it in far too long. So I picked up the fist book and began the journey of Aristotle Mendoza all over again. 

It took me reading both the first book and then the sequel to realize how much growing Aristotle still needed to do. While he had learned so much, learned to love both parts of himself, his family, and Dante, Aristotle still thought so poorly of the world and the people in it. 

Or, perhaps even worse, he didn’t think about it at all. 

In Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World Aristotle truly grows. It’s not even a novel about Aristotle growing up and getting older per se, although that is a part of it, it’s more so that he continues to grow as a person. He creates other connections and other friendships. 

He grows in his acceptance of himself. He grows in his understanding and forgiveness concerning his brother Bernardo. He grows in his relationship with his father just in time for them to connect. He grows academically. He grows in his knowledge of the world. He grows as a writer. 

Aristotle Mendoza blossoms in the sequel and it is astoundingly beautiful to watch. 

I could recount what happened in these books, go into excruciating detail and talk about both the small and large plot points that coalesce into forming Ari’s senior year of high school. 

But I’m not going to because it’s better for you to read them yourself. And while substantial things do happen in this novel, it’s truly all the small parts of daily living that make this book so charming and relatable.

I love these books. 

I love that Sáenz doesn’t need to use expansive vocabulary, or complicated ideas, or uber intelligent plot points to make his books astounding. They’re astounding because they’re accurate portrayals of what real people are actually going through and that, more than anything, is the hardest-hitting aspect. 

I sat outside after finishing Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World and I didn’t bother wiping away a tear that had escaped from my eye as I looked up at the sky and thought about Aristotle and Dante and everything they had been through. 

Aristotle learns to cry in these books and he learns not to be ashamed. So I won’t be ashamed either of my love for these books and how they make me feel. They are lovingly crafted novels that hit every piece of my heart in a different way. Aristotle’s story is not a story about young love. 

It is a story about life. 

Especially the part where Aristotle loses someone very important during the narrative and has to go through funeral arrangements, grieving, and giving a eulogy. This part especially hit me hard as I have also gone through these experiences. 

These parts were hard to read, were excruciating at some moments, but I also felt understood. 

The whole book makes you feel understood, it makes you feel validated of both the tiny and the large aspects of life that have happened to you. 

This book touched my educator side, my sister side, my friend side, my family side, my romantic side, and so much more, but really, more than anything, this book touched me as a human being. 

And I think that was Sáenz’s goal, to appeal to the humanity in all of us, no matter your gender, race, identity, age, or any other characteristic. He wrote a book about living, and that is something so rare and precious that it deserves to be acknowledged. 

So, thank you Benjamin Alire Sáenz for writing these wonderful books and touching not only my heart, but the heart of all the readers who open your pages. 

Recommendation: I feel like everything I needed to say, has been said. These aren’t complicated books in the sense of spelling or syntax or setting. However, these books are complicated in that they endeavor to accurately portray what it is to live and what it is to live well. Go read them. Read them and have your heart touched just like mine was. 

Score: 9/10