The Inexplicable Logic of My Life

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz can be described in one word: beautiful. This coming of age novel is a brilliant portrayal of love and family.Logic is the story of Salvador Silva. Salvador has a life surrounded by warmth and acceptance–a life filled with family, but during his senior year, his predictable life is thrown off kilter by heartbreaking news and Salvie struggles through the change. Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s novel is dynamic, moving, uplifting, and so lovely that it’s nearly incomprehensible. It’s a piece of art and I so enjoyed reading it. More so, I enjoyed feeling it.I’ve been in love with this author since I discovered his masterpiece Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. That novel is a level of perfection that I’ve rarely experienced, one that still leaves me speechless and incapable of adequately descibing its magic. Like A&D, The Inexplicable Logic is filled with wonder. It’s magic is unique and long-lasting, and one I vigorously recommend.This novel gracefully touches on themes of self-discovery (of course), love, grief, and meaning in life. This novel is Sal’s story, and is told entirely from his perspective, but it’s also his family’s story. I don’t think I’ve ever read a story where love bursts from the seams. It’s big, bright bold, and yes, beautiful. The characters are dynamic and oh-so lovable—I felt their joy and their pain.I feel like Sáenz’s writing is made for me. His prose is stark and impactful, simple and meaningful. I could live in his mind forever and ever, because he shows me just what I need to see to understand what is important. His writing envelops me and makes me feel safe, even as he breaks my heart, because I know that he writes with love.The Inexplicable Logic of My Life is fiction that shows us the reality that we should strive for. Yes, it’s a novel for young adults, but we all need to learn the lessons Sáenz teaches. Whistle in the dark, love, love love, forgive, rage, be heartbroken, but have faith and hope. In this novel, Sal’s connection with his father is impregnable and a force of nature—all the characters’ connections are. When Sáenz writes he makes you feel as if you belong, and that he’s pulling you into this wonderful world he creates. The same world we live in, we see through his eyes and start to believe in all the good he sees once we’ve turned the last page and look up in wonder. That makes Benjamin Alire Sáenz a force of nature and The Inexplicable Logic of My Life a phenomenon that all should experience.

With The Inexplicable Logic of my Life, author Benjamin Alire Saenz returns to a theme of his first novel Carry Me Like Water: the idea of what makes a family. I loved his exploration of that in the first novel, and I love that he again tackles the subject in this beautiful novel for young adults. While many think that blood determines family, I have long believed we make our own family, quilted together from those that we love and that love us, blood-related or not. The Inexplicable Logic of my Life tells of high school senior Salvador; his best friend Samantha; his father Vicente—the man who adopted him; his friend Fito; and his loving grandmother Mima, Vicente’s mother. There is not even a tiny bit of blood connecting Salvador to any of these people, and yet they are his family, bonded more tightly than any family ever. The novel is a tale of love and loss. There is plenty of death in this book, but there is no drama. Saenz writes of life, in all its simplicities and complexities, and life includes death. But one thing I particularly liked here is that the author makes clear something I’ve long believed: nobody ever dies; they live on in our hearts, guiding us and comforting us when we need them. And this is a powerful message to teen readers who, mostly, have not experienced much loss in their young lives. It is also a truth that those who have had loss need to hear. And Saenz makes his point quietly, beautifully, and with evocative poetry. This is the kind of great writing that teen readers need to experience. The narrative flows, the characters are true, and all the while, there is an underlying current of song. Saenz also speaks of the duality of the human spirit. He pointedly has Samantha call Salvador by the effeminate nickname Sally, while Salvador calls Samantha Sam. Through this suggestion, we see that these are full rich people, embodying stereotypical traits that we associate with both sexes. Sam is tough, yet tender. Salvador is sweet, yet combatant. And we, as readers, know that this is what makes people full and great. The Inexplicable Logic of my Life is a lovely achievement, a novel of power and beauty. It proudly takes its place on the shelf with its author’s other fine novels, for Benjamin Alire Saenz is one of our best.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe was, I think, the first YA book I’d ever read with a gay protagonist. And I will always believe myself forever lucky to have picked that as my first. So the minute I learned that a new book by the same author was coming out, I pre-ordered it, no questions asked.I think the synopsis says it all. Salvador, called Sal by some and Sally by his best friend, has an incredible bond with his adoptive gay, Mexican-American father. But when tragedy visits him and his friends, Sal has to confront who he is and who he’s becoming.As expected, the writing is beautiful – detailed, lyrical, heartwarming and heartbreaking all at once. There are certainly moments that could be pegged as problematic, but (and this may be me viewing the book through rose-colored lens) I think the storytelling is nuanced enough to provide different interpretations and perspectives from which to view the events of the novel. I’ll leave it at that to avoid spoilers.What struck me was how singular the novel was in one particular way – the presence of family and the incredible father-son bond depicted. In a way, the book doesn’t feel like Sal’s story alone, so much as the story of Sal and his father through Sal’s eyes. I stayed up until 3:00 am reading about this pair and the people who fell into their orbit, and I didn’t regret a second of it.The Inexplicable Logic of My Life is a must-read, especially if you loved Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. It’s a story about love – family, friends, and everything in between.Recommendation: Buy it now!Review crossposted from Rich in Color: richincolor[.]com

Quando pensamos na adolescência logo associamos com problemas, dramas, hormônios e, muitas vezes, incompreensão dos adultos que cercam os adolescentes. Leia este livro e conheça Salvador, um adolescente que vive e aprende sobre todos esse dramas, mas conta com a leveza, o suporte e o amor daqueles que o amam. Recomendo.

A beautifully written book, with simple language and deep thoughts. It shows the importance of integrity, love, family and community.

He hablado bastante de este autor desde que leí "Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe", en esta ocasión me toca recomendarlo nuevamente para esta historia. Adquirí el libro aún con miedo pero con muchas expectativas y logró cumplir con prácticamente todo lo que esperaba del autor, la historia es entretenida, tiene sus momentos profundos, se lee con fluidez y te atrapa. El autor toca temas muy fuertes y lo hace de manera sencilla, sin miedo y hasta lo hace parecer sencillo.Tengo que felicitar a Saenz por su maravilloso trabajo y terminar diciendo que recomiendo completamente este libro y también al autor.

この本を大学の授業の課題用に選びました。とても、気に入りました。名言に共感する事ができました。

Llego con una pequeña abolladura, no muy notoria, de ahí en fuera todo bien.