Mikayla Leskey | Arts & Entertainment Editor
“Darius the Great is Not Okay” by Adib Khorram is the first book to ever make me cry, and if that isn’t exploratory enough, I don’t cry very easily. It’s a coming-of-age book that delves into the life of a half-persian teen, Darius Kellner, who is dealing with clinical depression and all the struggles of not fitting in with his family, school, or culture. It’s the feeling of figuring out who you are, all the while not understanding anything about yourself.
The main plot in the book is Darius and his family traveling to Iran for the first time in Darius’ life to see his extended family for the very first time. When there, Darius meets a boy his age called Sohrab, and the two become fast friends in the shared feeling of unbelonging. It’s experiencing the firsts all over again, but platonically. Of finding the first person you can truly connect to who isn’t your own family.
Darius’ relationship with his father, Stephen Kellner is also really prevalent throughout the entire story. One of the only things that connects them is their shared mental illness, clinical depression. Throughout the story, despite Darius’ clear apprehension towards his father and Stephen trying to control Darius, Darius still longs to have a better relationship with his dad. It’s not until the end of the story do we get a better look inside Stephen’s head.
Darius and Stephen share a moment, where Darius yells all of his frustrations out at his dad and basically telling him it it feels like to be his son. Stephen then opens up about his depression, about how he stopped being there for Darius when he was younger because his medication stopped working. Although this isn’t exactly a redemption for Stephen, as he was a terrible father for 200 pages, it’s a glimpse of what he can be like, of what can happen if Darius and Stephen do form a better relationship.
“Darius the Great is Not Okay” delves into what it’s like growing up with a parent who has a mental illness, and it does it well. It shows two sides of a coin, of the child’s view and a glimpse at the parent’s. How not everything is what it seems. As children, we’re not as susceptible to what’s going on in our parent’s lives, as they’re trying to hide it from us. Often we have no idea what’s on the other side of the coin until we’re grown too.
“Darius the Great is Not Okay” also deals with the feeling of unbelonging, of not knowing where your place is within your family, culture, or school. It’s something I think a lot of teens deal with today, especially since there’s been a push on the idea of individuality but only group individuality. You can be the same as someone else in your group, but you can’t be different from everyone else. We follow as Darius figures out who he is and how to ask about his heritage exactly. We watch as he grows braver with each page and as his longing to figure out more about his culture grows desperate.
Not only that, but “Darius the Great is Not Okay” has a lot of homoerotic subtext. It’s clear almost immediately from when Darius meets Sohrab for the first time that Darius isn’t completely straight. Although never explicitly said, there are many moments where Darius notices certain quirks about Sohrab.
It’s hard to explain my exact experience with “Darius the Great is Not Okay” in words. I was assigned the book to read for my Young Adult Literature class. I didn’t know how much I would feel connected to it until I started reading. I finished the book in two days because I was utterly amazed by it. It’s a book I’ve only really heard in passing before if that, but I’m happy I didn’t read it until now.
“Darius the Great is Not Okay” deals with depression, in both a teen and an adult, figuring out your culture for the very first time, and even what it’s like to find your best friend for the first time. It’s one of those books that I think everyone will somehow feel connected to, whether it is because of that unbelonging feeling or a shared culture or even a hatred for something or another.
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