Life of Pi By Yann Martel
Let me just say that this is an extraordinary book.
It took me awhile to get past the few chapters, but once I reach the second half of it, I couldn’t wait to see how it ends. I bought the book some time back on a whim, I was told by a few people that it was more than a good book. Reading the synopsis, it as easy to think that it was a gimmick storyline (with the addition of the Man Booker Prize attached to it), but don’t be stopped by that oversight. Yann Martel is a good storyteller, and this is undoubtedly a good story.
In a nutshell, the first part of the book deals with the childhood of Piscine Molitor Patel, the young boy who’s the main character in the story, in the French influenced Pondicherry in India. There is also a prelude, detailing the authors so-called journey as to how he discovered the wonderful story of Pi, described as one which will ‘make you believe in God’. Pi’s father is a zookeeper, and he spends a lot of time in the book talking about his observations and understanding of animal behaviour and how they relate to humans. This is actually quite fascinating for those who are interested, but in actual fact Martel is basically re-telling a lot of what that has been researched and published before, even in novels. Pi also discovers religion, being all part Muslim, Hindu and Christian at the same time. This part was a bit too much for me, was Martel merely trying to appeal to a wider audience, or just being politically correct?
This first part is also interspersed with the authors diary of meetings with the latter life Pi, sort of post-story glimpses to tantalize (or confuse) the reader.
Nonetheless, the second part of the book is where the magic begins, and you’ll understand why Martel drives the bits about animal psychology and behaviour in the first place. The ship his family boards from India to Toronto (while carrying some animals) mysteriously capsizes, leaving only 5 survivors – Pi, a zebra with a broken leg, a female orang-utan, a hyena and a 450-pound royal Bengal tiger.
It is with the beautiful and majestic tiger, named Richard Parker, that Pi forms a relationship based of fear, respect and co-dependency with. Don’t expect any of the animals to speak like humans though (although... never mind). The exploration and growth of the relationship between two of God’s creatures here is, although one-sided mostly, but displays Martel paramount understanding of human emotions and the of course tigers, not to mention turtles, fish, sharks, lifeboats and survival at sea. There’s also a bit about a mysterious botanical discovery, which I felt a little out of place.
The last part of the book is decidedly sweet, even including a cheeky epilogue. The book didn’t really make me believe in God, since I already do, and I didn’t really fancy the whole religion angle to the story, thankfully Martel didn’t play it up in the rest of the book apart from the beginning. Take the journey with Pi and Richard Parker, even if it sounds like a gimmick storyline.
It took me awhile to get past the few chapters, but once I reach the second half of it, I couldn’t wait to see how it ends. I bought the book some time back on a whim, I was told by a few people that it was more than a good book. Reading the synopsis, it as easy to think that it was a gimmick storyline (with the addition of the Man Booker Prize attached to it), but don’t be stopped by that oversight. Yann Martel is a good storyteller, and this is undoubtedly a good story.
In a nutshell, the first part of the book deals with the childhood of Piscine Molitor Patel, the young boy who’s the main character in the story, in the French influenced Pondicherry in India. There is also a prelude, detailing the authors so-called journey as to how he discovered the wonderful story of Pi, described as one which will ‘make you believe in God’. Pi’s father is a zookeeper, and he spends a lot of time in the book talking about his observations and understanding of animal behaviour and how they relate to humans. This is actually quite fascinating for those who are interested, but in actual fact Martel is basically re-telling a lot of what that has been researched and published before, even in novels. Pi also discovers religion, being all part Muslim, Hindu and Christian at the same time. This part was a bit too much for me, was Martel merely trying to appeal to a wider audience, or just being politically correct?
This first part is also interspersed with the authors diary of meetings with the latter life Pi, sort of post-story glimpses to tantalize (or confuse) the reader.
Nonetheless, the second part of the book is where the magic begins, and you’ll understand why Martel drives the bits about animal psychology and behaviour in the first place. The ship his family boards from India to Toronto (while carrying some animals) mysteriously capsizes, leaving only 5 survivors – Pi, a zebra with a broken leg, a female orang-utan, a hyena and a 450-pound royal Bengal tiger.
It is with the beautiful and majestic tiger, named Richard Parker, that Pi forms a relationship based of fear, respect and co-dependency with. Don’t expect any of the animals to speak like humans though (although... never mind). The exploration and growth of the relationship between two of God’s creatures here is, although one-sided mostly, but displays Martel paramount understanding of human emotions and the of course tigers, not to mention turtles, fish, sharks, lifeboats and survival at sea. There’s also a bit about a mysterious botanical discovery, which I felt a little out of place.
The last part of the book is decidedly sweet, even including a cheeky epilogue. The book didn’t really make me believe in God, since I already do, and I didn’t really fancy the whole religion angle to the story, thankfully Martel didn’t play it up in the rest of the book apart from the beginning. Take the journey with Pi and Richard Parker, even if it sounds like a gimmick storyline.
posted by Yoong Family at 10:31 am
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