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Life of Pi by Yann Martel Book Review
Title: Life of Pi
Author: Yann Martel
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: September 11, 2001
Pages: 326
The son of a zookeeper, Pi Patel has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior and a fervent love of stories. When Pi is sixteen, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes.
The ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker for 227 days while lost at sea.
The narrator opens the novel by visiting Piscine "Pi" Patel in his home. It is then that Pi tells him about his story. Years earlier, Pi was living in India with his family who ran a zoo. It shuts down and soon they're all packing their belongings along with some zoo animals, getting ready to move overseas to Toronto, Canada.
It is true that those we meet can change us, sometimes so profoundly that we are not the same afterwards, even unto our names.
Upon setting sail for Canada, the cargo ship sinks. All of a sudden, Pi is left stranded by himself in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with water all around. Finding the lifeboat, he climbs aboard to find a tiger, orangutan, zebra, and hyena.
You must take life the way it comes at you and make the best of it.
While stranded in the ocean, Pi must coexist with these animals as he finds himself growing weaker and weaker. What will his fate end up to be?
Star Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.5)
I thought it was creative of the author to have a narrator tell the story but as the timeline progresses, it's like the narrator and Pi's voice blended together. Then all of a sudden, the narrator brings us back, reestablishing the fourth wall. This realization jolts at the reader as we feel the distinct voice of Pi telling us his story.
It was really interesting to see Pi discover his identity and his beliefs as he gets the chance to contemplate his religion during the time he's stranded. Rather than choosing not to believe in religion at all, it was a rather nice change to see him ponder on his three religions.
Overall, Life of Pi was interesting enough for me to read almost in one sitting. However, I thought that the beginning could have moved quicker, and instead of having such a rushed and open-ended conclusion, I would have liked to see more time spent developing the ending. First book for English class complete (technically it was summer reading but we still went over it in class)!
About the Author
Yann Martel is the author of Life of Pi, the #1 international bestseller and winner of the 2002 Man Booker (among many other prizes). He is also the award-winning author of The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios (winner of the Journey Prize), Self, Beatrice & Virgil, and 101 Letters to a Prime Minister. Born in Spain in 1963, Martel studied philosophy at Trent University, worked at odd jobs—tree planter, dishwasher, security guard—and traveled widely before turning to writing. He lives in Saskatoon, Canada, with the writer Alice Kuipers and their four children.
Title: Life of Pi
Yann Martel is the author of Life of Pi, the #1 international bestseller and winner of the 2002 Man Booker (among many other prizes). He is also the award-winning author of The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios (winner of the Journey Prize), Self, Beatrice & Virgil, and 101 Letters to a Prime Minister. Born in Spain in 1963, Martel studied philosophy at Trent University, worked at odd jobs—tree planter, dishwasher, security guard—and traveled widely before turning to writing. He lives in Saskatoon, Canada, with the writer Alice Kuipers and their four children.
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