Sunday, Jan 18, 2009

Book Review: Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Author:        Yann Martel

Publisher:     Harcourt Books

Website:      www.HarcourtBooks.com

ISBN #:        978-0-15-100811-7

                  978-0-15-603020-5

Pages:         401 Paperback

Type:          Fiction/Fantasy

The Review:

There is simply no other way to say it… I LOVED THIS BOOK! Why, oh why, did I wait so long to read it? I only wished that I had ordered the illustrated version of this book instead of the paperback. Why? This book is a keeper! I may have to treat myself for my birthday. The twins were very interested in hearing updates on the story as I quickly read through its 401 paperback pages. Thank you, Yann Martel, for such an incredible read.

So, here’s an interview of the author that you may find interesting:

Onto the book. If you’ve never read this book, I am afraid to give too much away. So, my review will take you through Pi’s early life and up through the main turning point in the story. If you don’t want to know anything about this book, then stop reading now and just pick up the book. You should be surprised and enlightened as I was while reading it. Or, if you don’t mind a little input on the storyline, here we go!

Pi Patel is a young boy living in India with his family: father, mother and brother. They own a zoo and the father is the zookeeper. In Pi’s youth, he takes great interest in his schoolwork, the zoo, and most of all, religion. The admirable thing about Pi, however, is that he is motivated to become one with God more than anything else in his life. He learns about his Hindu religion from his culture and upbringing. He comes onto Christianity and falls in love with Jesus Christ. Although, a side note, I totally agree with Pi’s interpretation of the fig tree parable. Going on, he visits the Catholic Church and reads The Bible. Pi also visits a Mosque. He wishes for a prayer rug and comes to understand loving Allah and the peaceful aspect of the Muslim religion. Eventually, the leaders of the 3 churches meet up with Pi and his family on the street. They come to an argument about which religion Pi is; Pi doesn’t understand why he must choose only one. Why not love God in every way possible? Why not find your way to a closeness with God via any means possible? He asks a good question. As the 3 religious leaders argue about why you must only choose one religion, Pi is not convinced. He continues to pray outside on a prayer rug and love Jesus.

Due to the changing political and economical climate of India, Pi’s family elects to move to Canada. Before doing so, they must sell the zoo animals. It takes considerable time to accomplish this and arrange for the transport of the majority of the animals to the United States. Once this is completed, the family and a good portion of the animals are loaded onto an oceanliner to head across the Pacific Ocean to North America. One night, tragedy strikes. The ship sinks. For many reasons outlined in the book, Pi is thrown overboard along with a lifeboat. Once on the open sea, the creatures who manage to make it into the lifeboat are a Bengal tiger, Richard Parker, an orangutan, a hyena, and a dying zebra. There is a small rat who makes it on as a stowaway as well. And, well, there is Pi.

The remainder of the book is the story of Pi’s survival in the lifeboat and his travels across the Pacific Ocean. There are many remarkable details written about this journey that readers will really enjoy. There are some difficult aspects to the book in reading about how Pi must adapt from an animal loving vegetarian to a hunter of the sea for his means of survival. And, then there is Richard Parker, the amazing tiger.

The ending of this book is amazing, for me. I can’t stop thinking about it and trying to decide what I think about the stories told to the Japanese men. If you’ve read the story, you will know what I’m talking about. If not, come back after you’ve read it and leave me a comment to tell me what you think. I’d prefer to think… Richard Parker.

On Sher’s “Out of 10 Scale:”

Absolutely no doubt about it, this book is a 10 out of 10! I think that I will recommend this book to any of my friends who are looking for a good book to read. It’s like an intriguing movie, after they are done reading it, we can talk considerably about the book and I can get many of my questions answered! (Me so selfish!). Truly, I loved this book and it really got my mind buzzing. This book is a modern-day classic. It did “win international acclaim in more than 40 countries” and also won the 2002 Man Booker Prize.

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