There are quite a few of you who have read Life of Pi by Yann Martel, but there wasn't much discussion on it. Don, who usually does not read contemporary fiction, loved it. Insomniac was getting bored, but the ending redeemed it for her. Sophia tells me that she liked it, but that the ending was not her favorite part. I can't decide if I should tackle it or not. I'm kind of disappointed in myself for reading so little these last few months and for not finishing a few things that I've started. I don't want to start something else that I'm just going to drop.
This is from Publishers Weekly:
A fabulous romp through an imagination by turns ecstatic, cunning, despairing and resilient, this novel is an impressive achievement "a story that will make you believe in God," as one character says. The peripatetic Pi (in the much-taunted Piscine) Patel spends a beguiling boyhood in Pondicherry, India, as the son of a zookeeper. Growing up beside the wild beasts, Pi gathers an encyclopedic knowledge of the animal world. His curious mind also makes the leap from his native Hinduism to Christianity and Islam, all three of which he practices with joyous abandon. In his 16th year, Pi sets sail with his family and some of their menagerie to start a new life in Canada. Halfway to Midway Island, the ship sinks into the Pacific, leaving Pi stranded on a life raft with a hyena, an orangutan, an injured zebra and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. After the beast dispatches the others, Pi is left to survive for 227 days with his large feline companion on the 26-foot-long raft, using all his knowledge, wits and faith to keep himself alive. The scenes flow together effortlessly, and the sharp observations of the young narrator keep the tale brisk and engaging. Martel's potentially unbelievable plot line soon demolishes the reader's defenses, cleverly set up by events of young Pi's life that almost naturally lead to his biggest ordeal. This richly patterned work, Martel's second novel, won Canada's 2001 Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction. In it, Martel displays the clever voice and tremendous storytelling skills of an emerging master.
It sounds like a strange and fantastic book, perhaps even a spiritual book.
What did you like about it? What didn't you like about it?
One reader's thoughts as she steps from book to book.
Books I've Finished
- "A Christmas Memory"
- by Truman Capote 12/8/12
- "Child's Christmas in Wales"
- by Dylan Thomas 12/7/12
- "One Christmas"
- by Truman Capote 11/29/12
- "The Thanksgiving Visitor"
- by Truman Capote 11/29/12
- Inside Mrs. B's Classroom
- by Leslie Baldacci 11/28/12
- The Bee Eater
- by Richard Whitmire 11/15/12
- There Are No Shortcuts
- by Rafe Esquith 10/28/12
- I'd Like to Apologize to
- Every Teacher I Ever Had
- by Tony Danza 10/21/12
- Corked
- by Kathryn Borel 10/15/12
- Year of Learning Dangerously
- by Quinn Cummings 9/30/12
- A Hologram for the King
- by Dave Eggers 8/23/12
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- by Harper Lee 7/18/12
About Me
- Christine
- I often have a few books with bookmarks in them at once. I enjoy classics more than contemporary works of fiction, often read historical fiction, and love to get glimpses into other people's lives by reading memoirs and biographies.
6 comments:
I relished the middle section of the book where Pi is surviving with the tiger. And then he lands on the mysterious island...and then the end (has it been two years since I read it?). It's a little like Pan's Labyrinth, isn't it? You are left deciding what you want to remember, although it would be unlikely that Pi's story holds up. To explain the story seemed unimportant in the end - like they say, process over product. But perhaps that is what the author was trying to point out by resolving the story the way he did. I would love to hear how other people felt about the ending because it's been awhile since I read it, and although it was prob a good way to end the story, it's not the section of the book I remember well or thought about as much later.
I think the ending MADE the story. Which woud you prefer: a rich story, full of life and details, or some dry, yeastless facts?
(That's a reference from the book.)
The end definitely made the story. It's hard for me to say much without giving away the "punch-line" as I see it. I don't want to be a spoiler.
Sophia, perhaps if you read it again and don't assume the story ends when he reaches land you would see the significance of the two versions of his story he narrates the Japanese investigators. Think about the analogies between the two stories and the impossibility of his initial tale.
It was the impossibilities of his story that irritated me as I read the book. I kept saying to myself, "Oh, come on now, there's NO WAY!"
To me, his revelation at the end explained everything.
I really didn't like the book at all until about half way through. His trinity of religious allegiances just seemed so silly. Maybe it serves to illustrate that the "existence" of multiple gods should not be so divisive - they certainly weren't divisive to Pi. Of course, his spirituality plays a part in the decision he makes about his time he spent ship-wrecked but I don't think it was necessary. At the beginning I felt like the book was going to preach to me but was pleasantly surprised when it didn't.
The roots of his name and the ridicule it brought him were of little consequence. The first half of the book was tedious to me.
Christine, I hope you read it. I'd love to know what your impression is. And you might be interested in how he prepares some of his meals!
I think I could reread everything from the island on...It wouldn't be unlike me to have attached to all the visuals the story gave me and misinterpreted the ending or failed to understand it entirely. Shocking, but sadly true. Thanks for the feedback...I think of him in his dinghy, surrounded by the ocean, making it through the nights...and the tiger, wedged in the prow.
Thanks for the great discussion, gals. Surprised Don didn't have anything to say about it. I am interested in the book myself now.
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