Life of Pi by Yann Martel

[lugdunum]

There are two ways of reading life of Pi:

1/ the story of a 16 year old teenager, son of a zoo keeper, castaway in the middle of the Pacific ocean on a lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, an orang-utan and... a bengal tiger.
As such, the book will be of special interest to children and adventure lovers.

2/ a nice allegory of life represented by the ocean: at times peaceful and at others perilous. It serves to show what the human being is capable of in rather precarious conditions.

In my opinion, the book has its good and funny parts: there are plenty of anecdotes on animal life and the castaway experience but I must admit that I found it quite boring at times. The allegory is not as powerful as I expected and as a whole, I was rather disappointed.

5/10

[prendrelemick]

Life of Pi. By Yann Martel.

A quirky tale this, of faith, of truth, and the handling of Tigers.

In the first half of the book we meet Piscine Patel, pi for short, a precocious boy ,the son of a zoo owner.
His inquiring mind and his predisposition for spirituality leads him to unusual but interesting religious choices:

“You see, they didn't know. They didn't know that I was a practicing Hindu, Christian and Muslim. Teenagers always hide a few things from their parents, isn't that so? All sixteen-year-olds have secrets, don't they?”

In the second half he is adrift on a tiny lifeboat with an adult Bengal Tiger. Survival and the practical now replace the spiritual as he strives to become the Alpha Male of the lifeboat. But survival strategies for the mind are just as vital as those for the body.

At the beginning the narrator is told he will hear a story that will make him believe in God. But faith is faith and proof is proof and at the end of the book a doubt is introduced and he is left hanging, unable to choose between the two.

The book is in a story-within-a-story format. It is witty and engaging,even when dealing with horrific events. The character of pi is brilliantly drawn.

VERDICT: If The Davinci Code is 1 and Pride and Prejudice is 10, then it gets a 7.

[rozreads]

I read that Ang Lee is making a movie from the book. I marvel at this. It will be a challenge to say the lest.

[Lynne50]

Reallly, Ang Lee is making a movie of this! Do you think it will live up to the book? I can't quite imagine how he will pull this one off.

[JBI]

Can-Lit people, for some reason haven't given this book much attention. I have yet to read it, so I think you for this, perhaps I won't bother, since the conceptualization of the text from what I know sounds silly and third rate.

[LMK]

I read it years ago and really enjoyed it. A very good friend recommended it and it was well worth the read.

I don't think I'll see the movie if they do make it, similar to Joy Luck Club, Snow Falling on Cedars, Memoirs of a Geisha, Cold Mountain, etc. if I like the book I rarely see the movie.

But in this case in particular, won't the director have to choose which version of Pi's account is real? The one that is told in the story or the alternate account of the animals being the characters...?

It's been so long ago, I'm going to have to look at it again.

Thanks for reminding me.

~L

[prendrelemick]

A film, interesting. Remember Castaway with Tom Hanks, that worked.

JBI. I have no idea what you mean by "conceptualization of the text", but the book has a deceptive simplicity, if that helps.

[jinjang]

It is a great review! I do not know why I have never thought of reading what is written on the cover of the book. Then I would have known Pi does not mean 3.14... It reminds me of Hatchet somehow.

[balehead]

You can excuse me for not fully understanding on account of my 'youth'; but what I was never clear about was whether the tale at the end, in which the animals were humans, was the true story, because I got that impression from what was being said at the time, and have ever since been fretting over whether or not I was right, and the story did have a greater level of depth and weight to it than first appearance dictated??

[prendrelemick]

OK spoiler Alert, for the few who haven't read it.


balehead, I reckon it is all about faith.

I think the key to the whole book is right at the end, when Pi asks the Japanese investigators which version of his story they would like to believe in. The one with the tiger, which is fantastical, engaging and simply awesome, or the nasty, viceral and bleak one, with the cook. When the investigators choose the tiger story, Pi says. "So it is with God."
And thats the point, to choose to believe in God is to choose to believe the pleasant tiger story, the alternative is the bleak and comfortless cook story. The act of investigation, of seeking logical explanation diminishes the narrators faith in the tiger. This ties in with his religious musings in the first half of the book, particularly his comparison of believers, atheists and agnostics.

So the question, which version is true?, doesn't matter, the author is illustrating his concept of faith and the comfort and advantages of it. From Pi's point of view the fantastical tiger story (faith) is actually the logical choice because to reject it would lead to mental anguish and torment .