Darius The Great Is Not Okay Sparknotes

Have you ever felt like you were the only one that understood your feelings? That you were the only one on your side? In the book, Darius the Great is Not Okay, by Adib Khorram, Darius Kellner, a Star Trek loving high school student, constantly battles unpleasant nicknames from his classmates, feeling only half-Persian, depression, criticism from his father, and the embarrassment of working at Tea Haven. When Darius and his family travel to Iran after learning of his grandfather’s health issues, his fear that his Persian family will not accept him begins to rise. After arriving in Iran, tensions begin to dissipate when he befriends the next-door neighbor, Sohrab: someone who has no knowledge of Darius’ life in the United States or at Chapel

Khorram uses a large amount of language that you typically wouldn’t expect in a novel. Using a half-sarcastic tone and half-humorous tone, characteristics of Darius are revealed throughout the entirety of the book. For example, “... right outside one of those clothing stores that catered to Soulless Minions of Orthodoxy like Fatty Bolger and Chip Cusumano” intrigues the reader. Typically, something like “Soulless Minions of Orthodoxy” is not a word used to describe the people in a character's life. This phrase helped me get an idea of who Darius was: a sarcastic, geeky, but hilarious, high school student. Looking further into this phrase, the use of “Soulless Minions of Orthodoxy” portrays Darius’ struggles with making friends and getting bullied. Because of the way he describes these two classmates, it can be assumed that they are not friends of Darius and may treat him unkindly. Another example of language that caught my attention was “Dayi Jamsheed’s SUV rode a lot smoother than the Smoke-mobile, even if he had learned how to drive from Babou, all evasive maneuvers and unsafe velocities.” because of the use of the phrase “Smoke-mobile” to describe the SUV. “Evasive”, “velocities”, “Smoke-mobile” are all examples of the tremendous language that is found in this book. The intriguing word choice made me want to read the book even more. No boring words like “car” or “big” were used. And, these examples are only the beginning of the countless examples Khorram used throughout the book. In addition to his use of intricate language, Khorram describes Darius’ experiences so well that you feel like you are the one having a conversation with the characters. Although each chapter is very detailed, there are some flaws. A lot of the problems that Darius faces are recurring and dragged on. Throughout the book, there is only one instance where things unexpectedly