Life of Pi

Life of Pi
by Yann Martel

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Book Summary Information

Author: Yann Martel
Edition: Music CD
Format: Unabridged
Published: 2003-01-13
ISBN: 1565117808
Publisher: Highbridge Audio

Book Reviews of Life of Pi

Book Review: Drifting down to the bare bones of life
Summary: 4 Stars

I must have been living on another planet when this novel burst on the scene and landed on the best-seller list for weeks and weeks some four years ago. I'm glad to say that I hit the jackpot by finally getting to this (actually, I read this a few months back) after so much unintentional neglect. What I loved here was not so much that it "made me believe in God" (actually, it didn't) but the obvious challenge our hero, Pi, runs into. And this is precisely what made this little jewel of a narrative work for this reader--as it probably did for so many others.

How can one not be intrigued? What better premise than a boy --shipwrecked--left afloat in oceanic madness and this amazing animal as its "guest" passenger?

This is creative imagination at its best. And not many people say this, but there's definitely wit and humor here. Subtle, but good, as it adds to the fun of venturing through this marvelous tale. I also enjoyed the philosophical speculations Pi makes throughout his telling of the tale.

The only slight weakness for me, however, was the ending. I felt that it could have been better and more conclusive. Instead, I found it rather flat. Outside of this, though, I give this read high marks along with the millions of apt readers out there.

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Summary of Life of Pi

Yann Martel's imaginative and unforgettable Life of Pi is a magical reading experience, an endless blue expanse of storytelling about adventure, survival, and ultimately, faith. The precocious son of a zookeeper, 16-year-old Pi Patel is raised in Pondicherry, India, where he tries on various faiths for size, attracting "religions the way a dog attracts fleas." Planning a move to Canada, his father packs up the family and their menagerie and they hitch a ride on an enormous freighter. After a harrowing shipwreck, Pi finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean, trapped on a 26-foot lifeboat with a wounded zebra, a spotted hyena, a seasick orangutan, and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker ("His head was the size and color of the lifebuoy, with teeth"). It sounds like a colorful setup, but these wild beasts don't burst into song as if co-starring in an anthropomorphized Disney feature. After much gore and infighting, Pi and Richard Parker remain the boat's sole passengers, drifting for 227 days through shark-infested waters while fighting hunger, the elements, and an overactive imagination. In rich, hallucinatory passages, Pi recounts the harrowing journey as the days blur together, elegantly cataloging the endless passage of time and his struggles to survive: "It is pointless to say that this or that night was the worst of my life. I have so many bad nights to choose from that I've made none the champion."

An award winner in Canada (and winner of the 2002 Man Booker Prize), Life of Pi, Yann Martel's second novel, should prove to be a breakout book in the U.S. At one point in his journey, Pi recounts, "My greatest wish--other than salvation--was to have a book. A long book with a never-ending story. One that I could read again and again, with new eyes and fresh understanding each time." It's safe to say that the fabulous, fablelike Life of Pi is such a book. --Brad Thomas Parsons

Martel's novel tells the story of Pi--short for Piscine--an unusual boy raised in a zoo in India. Pi's father decides to move the family to live in Canada and sell the animals to the great zoos of America. The ship taking them across the Pacific sinks and Pi finds himself the sole human survivor on a lifeboat with a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra with a broken leg and Bengal tiger called Richard Parker. LIFE OF PI brings together many themes including religion, zoology, fear, and sheer tenacity. This is a funny, wise, and highly original look at what it means to be human.

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