Rating: 
Summary: Life of Metaphors
Review: This is a story of survival. As is any life; yours or mine. Our lives are filled with undulating waves of joy and pain and we simply cope, but never give up, we just keep swimming. We try to make sense of whatever we're dealing with by comparing it to something else we think we actually understand. A little kid shipwrecked tries to survive in the middle of the Pacific ocean...with a wild murderous tiger...alone in a boat. What metaphor can this little boy possibly draw upon to survive such a problem? Or is it a solution? Read the book.
Rating:
Summary: An exciting and captivating story
Review: In "Life of Pi", Yann Martel illustrates a truly amazing existence of an amazing person. In this unique and captivating story, the boy Pi Patel grows with a different view on many things than the average person, he experiments with religion and lifestyles, and ultimately decides he enjoys ALL of them, and thus becomes a practicing Hindu, Muslim, and Christian. The passionate Pi is easy to fall in love with, to pity, to sympathize with. Whose father beside Pi's takes him into a tiger's cage to teach him a lesson?
As Pi protests the one-sided minds of those around him in favor of an open, free existence, I came to admire Pi, and his will to accomplish his goals and put everyone at peace with his decisions, even his competitive and boyish older brother, Ravi. When Pi's old life is suddenly ripped away, it touches the reader (me) so deeply that all of my own horrors seem insignificant in the face of such a tragedy. The extremity of the situation is what really captivated me. It seemed that life could not be any worse for that poor boy, and the fact that this story is based on a true one, really amazed me. The end of the book really lent itself to present-day situations, where nobody trusts each other, and really made the book that much more believable in my eyes.
Although reading about religion was, at first, daunting to me, I was swallowed up by this wonderful novel, and enjoyed it more than I have enjoyed any book in a long time. Yann Martel's writing is colorful and bright, and the characters and setting really seem to come alive as you read, transporting you into a land of tigers, shipwrecks, zoos, and ultimately, a boy with a truly uncanny existence.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant and moving
Review: Wasn't expecting too much when I first read about this: It sounded like a combination of "The Jungle Book" and "Old Man and the Sea." But I couldn't have been further off the mark. It's nothing like those two books. The story alone is great, but what Martel does with it is fantastic. You might find yourself wondering about where it's going at times, but the end wraps everything up very nicely. Would also recommend another book I've recently read called "The Bark of the Dogwood" as it too is an excellent read. Also, "Little Children"--not along the same lines as these two, but just as good.
Rating:
Summary: Masterful!
Review: Yann Martel has created a masterful work of fiction in "Life of Pi". 'Pi' Patel is the young son of a Zookeeper in Pondicherry, a French settlement in the south of India. His imaginative antics save him from the torments of his classmates and make for quite an interesting story. Pi is inquisitive, and soon decides to investigate Christianity and Islam, although he is raised in a Hindu family. This leads to enlightening discussions of the three religions, and some very funny events. My favorite part of the book was the information on training animals. I learned a ton from Pi's stories about the animals in his father's zoo, and the ways they were tamed. The only criticism I have is for the story of his adventures with the animals on the boat, which I felt was too long and detailed, but toward the end it is evident why the author put so much detail into the story. The ending is delightful, and completely changed my rating from 4 stars to 5. A word to the wise - the second half drags a bit, but the ending will make it worth slogging through all the extra words. Don't miss this book - I can only imagine all the prizes it will win!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Life of Pi was an gripping tale of a small boy on a quest for faith. Lots of moments were you even question your self on your faith. But anyway,Pi and his family set off on a move from India to Canada. Along the way the ship they set sail on sinks. Everyone is lost but Pi and four animals from Pi's fathers zoo. Alone they set sail on the life raft. From there we get a gripping tail of survial and faith as Pi yearns to survive what should be certain death. Some graphic details of animal life and a twist in the ending with two alternative endings which will leave you in deep thoughts and horror and faith. A fantastic book. Martell has a certain wit in some of his writing that even made me laugh out loud.
Rating:
Summary: You CAN judge this book by its cover
Review: Yann Martel's "Life of Pi" is one of the most accessible novels I have found in a long time. On the surface, Pi is a light read with short chapters that are easy to handle for those of us who like to read in small spurts and reflect on it for awhile. But don't let its light and playful nature fool you. When we zoom out, we realize that there are some very significant themes to deal with, and that there are a number of rather serious messages behind this off the wall story of a boy trapped on a boat with a Bengal tiger. Without knowing what to expect, I found the beginning of this book to contain some of the most profound statements I've uncovered on the subject of religion. Martel's character becomes so obsessed with the traits and customs of Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity that he finds it nearly impossible to choose one over the other two. As hilarity ensues, the reader comes to realize that the differences between these religions are really more subtle than we first thought. It is his curiosity that sets up Pi Patel as the peculiar character he becomes. Besides its religious component, Martel's book serves as a commentary on zoos. The author fills his readers with a wealth of interesting animal and zoo facts while refraining from sounding like a textbook. The zoo becomes another classy source of humor in the narrative, but Martel is still able to draw us back to thinking about real-life issues. It is Pi's father's position as a zookeeper that causes Pi to be marooned on a small lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a small entourage of animals, including a large tiger that causes Pi a great deal of concern. Pi is stranded on a lifeboat with a moderate quantity of provisions, but discovers that he is sharing his living space with a dangerous tiger. It is at this point where Martel steers the novel in the direction of survival. Not only must Pi survive at sea amidst lack of nourishment, loneliness and exposure, but he must survive in the company of a tiger that could finish him off with no trouble at all. Martel still manages to put a humorous spin on the concept of survival, without going over the top. We have in Life of Pi a book dealing with survival, religions, and animals and zoos. More contrasting topics there never were, but Martel does a remarkable job in weaving all of these loose ends together to form a novel that reads more like a conversation. This plot, however incredible, is actually quite easy to follow, and is a great novel to discuss in group. Yann Martel makes it clearly understood to us that we read fiction to fuel our imaginations, and that a little bit of fiction in our factual world is most essential.
Rating:
Summary: Masterful!
Review: Yann Martel has created a masterful work of fiction in "Life of Pi". 'Pi' Patel is the young son of a Zookeeper in Pondicherry, a French settlement in the south of India. His imaginative antics save him from the torments of his classmates and make for quite an interesting story. Pi is inquisitive, and soon decides to investigate Christianity and Islam, although he is raised in a Hindu family. This leads to enlightening discussions of the three religions, and some very funny events. My favorite part of the book was the information on training animals. I learned a ton from Pi's stories about the animals in his father's zoo, and the ways they were tamed. The only criticism I have is for the story of his adventures with the animals on the boat, which I felt was too long and detailed, but toward the end it is evident why the author put so much detail into the story. The ending is delightful, and completely changed my rating from 4 stars to 5. A word to the wise - the second half drags a bit, but the ending will make it worth slogging through all the extra words. Don't miss this book - I can only imagine all the prizes it will win!
Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable.
Review: This is a great book. It is a book of faith. It is a book of survival. It is of philosophy and religon and wonder. I think that this may have been one of the greatest books that I've ever read. 4.5 out of 5 stars
Rating:
Summary: Round up Pi (that's my suggestion)
Review: "Life of Pi" was a rewarding read on several levels. The basic plotlines are that a young boy in India who calls himself Pi (in order to save himself schoolyard ridicule stemming from his real name) grows up as an inquisitive and intelligent son of a zookeeper. The first part of the book describes his and his family's life in India, and alot of information about the animal kingdom is dispensed, as well. To be honest, I remember being a little bored with the beginning of the book, but it serves a purpose to set up the rest of the story, which is phenomenal. The family decides to move to Canada, and on the way their ship goes down, leaving Pi and assorted zoo animals as the only survivors. The bulk of the story is about Pi's adventures in a lifeboat with a tiger named Richard Parker. I would like to highlight three areas in which this book excelled and won me over: *Adventure: The story of Pi and the tiger reads like something from Hemingway or London (which is good, to me.) The sea becomes a character in the story, and Pi utilizes his savvy and intellect to overcome several obstacles, not the least of which is cohabiting a 36' boat with a carnivorous beast. I was on the edge of my seat throughout. *Humorous narrative: I laughed out loud several times at the humorous way Pi interacted with tiger, and even at his thoughts to himself. Martel has a gift for subtlety that he wields deftly to great effect. *Thought provocation: On so many levels, I found the gears in my head working overtime. Martel touches on religious and philosophical issues that form a central theme throughout the book. And the ending galvanizes one of the issues at the base of this central theme -- the struggle between faith and logic. I will not give too much away about the ending, but it is in the same vein as "The Sixth Sense" or "The Usual Suspects" in the movie world, in that I want to re-read the book to pick up any clues to the surprise at the end. I am giving the story my highest ranking, despite my boredom at the beginning, because the book was highly entertaining, was very thought provoking, and it provided a good hour of discussion between my wife and me.
Rating:
Summary: Highly unusual and compelling
Review: This has to be one of the most unusual books ever to come out. It's a hybrid, really, of styles and ideas, blending fiction, fable, fantasy, and thought-provoking ideas all into one great read. The story alone--that of Pi adrift with ultimately nothing more than a 400-something-pound tiger (named Richard Parker, no less)and his wits--would be enough to keep anyone entertained, but Martel adds the element of religion, survival, and "ideas" into this mix and the result is a powerful pulling-through of the story. Not since McCrae's "Bark of the Dogwood" has there been anything this different
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