Rating: 
Summary: The eminently qualified Amazon reviewers
Review: My favorite review thus far is from Colin McLaughlin, on Feb. 24: "The book is not well written and the writing is weak in places." Enlightening in its redunancy, isn't it? This is quite a good book, and a very quick read. It is fun and creative; as with most books, you shouldn't go into it looking for far-reaching philosophical queries. However, it is amazing how many of the "negative" reviewers here missed the point entirely. One such "reviewer" saw no relevance to the alternate story presented at the end. Get the book and enjoy it. It will probably not make you change your position on God as promised in the beginning, but it certainly is one of the more original and imaginative efforts in contemporary fiction (yes, even though he strung together some elements of other stories... this is how fiction evolves). Take these reviewers with a grain of salt. Their own reviews betray them.
Rating: 
Summary: Wondrous, Miraculous and Life-Affirming
Review: I feel in love with the protagonist of LIFE OF PI, Piscine Molitor Patel, on the book's very first page, and my love for him only deepened throughout the story. Today, months after reading the book, I can't forget Pi and I keep hoping for the very best for him, despite the fact that he's a fictional character. I think that says a lot about the amazing storytelling skills of author, Yann Martel. Piscine Molitor Patel (named after the French word for "swimming pool," and simply called "Pi"), lives in Pondicherry, India where his father runs the local zoo. Although Pi is Hindu, he loves to explore other faiths and he, himself, while still in Pondicherry, converts to both Islam and Christianity (when Pi curses or prays, it is to Jesus, Mary, Mohamed and Vishnu...I think this is a boy who wants to have all the bases covered). Pi sees no conflict in his multiple belief system and, in the pages to come, he made me see no conflict in it, either. Sixteen year old Pi's life takes a bizarre turn when his father decides the family should move to Canada. North American zoos, after all, pay far better than do ones in India. The family decides to take many of the animals with them, among them, a 450 pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. One stormy night, the very unthinkable happens and the ship sinks. Although Pi's family is lost, Pi, himself, manages to make it to a lifeboat with several of the animals...an orangutang, a zebra, a hyena and...Richard Parker. Soon, of course, the only survivors in the life raft are Pi and Richard Parker (Pi is, at first, relieved to see Richard Parker and relieved to find he's not alone) and Pi has to do everything humanly possible (and a little that is not) to ensure that Richard Parker is not floating in the raft alone. Unbelievably, both of them survive for a very long 227 days...longer than anyone has ever survived on a raft before. LIFE OF PI reads like a fable or a fairy tale rather than a straight narrative and this is all to the good. When I bought the book, I didn't think I'd be able to believe in a story like this one, but Martel not only made me believe, he made me care and he made me remember. The book was magic, it was wondrous, it was luminous as was Martel's writing throughout. The story is told in a frame, as an older and more solemn Pi tells the story that happened to him long ago. In fact, it isn't even Pi who is telling the story, but a narrator from whom we hear little on a personal level, at least. Pi, however, is a fascinating character. We don't learn a lot about him, but we come to care for him deeply. I even cared deeply for Richard Parker, though in the battle between Pi and Richard Parker, I was definitely, 100%, on Pi Patel's side. One might think that an entire book revolving around one boy's battle for survival in the middle of the ocean with a tiger on board his raft would eventually get to be boring, but this is definitely not the case with LIFE OF PI. It certainly held my interest on every single page and it never dragged. In fact, I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. Many of the set pieces are magical and beautiful, such as the one in which Pi and Richard Parker are assaulted by a school of flying fish. When Pi finally washes up on shore, somewhere in Mexico, the tale he tells is nothing at all like the ordeal he actually endured. Why? That would not be fair to say in this review. You'll just have to read this miraculous, life-affirming book to find out. LIFE OF PI is one of the best books I've read in ages. The story was engrossing, the character of Pi Patel was fully developed and highly original and the writing was wonderful. I would recommended this book to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Artfully written
Review: I picked up this book and was immediately captured. More importantly, the story was so well drawn and constructed that the images Yann Martel conjured have stayed with me long after I closed the book (quite reluctantly, in fact). It is, as the protagonist states, a story to make you believe in God - or failing that, at least believe that the art of fine literature endures.
Rating:
Summary: mere words are not enough, 10 stars
Review: My book club was thinking of reading this one for April so I picked it up at the book store. What a ridiculous plot for a story: A boy and a bengal tiger, trapped on a lifeboat, no less. Yeah, sure. The author's bio said that he washed dishes??? What kind of blather was I getting into, I thought? I can honestly say that everything I thought about it was wrong. I was so mezmerized that I read it in ONE day. (well, hey, I am unemployed!) I love a good adventure story and I love metaphor, symbolism, a book that makes me think, etc., etc., etc. You can read this as an adventure story, or you can read it as a parable. I simply could not put it down. This book is at once profoundly spiritual, hilariously laugh-out-loud funny, deeply religious and heartbreakingly tragic. I cried desperately during the horrible storm, wondering if poor Richard would make it, saying out loud, Please, God, save Richard! I felt like a little child clapping for Tinker-Belle in Peter Pan. With all the books that I have read in my life, I rank this book in the top 10. For young people, this is an excellent story of a child surviving by his wits. For adults entering the world of contemporary lit, what a lovely introduction it is! For those of us who just love a well written book, with beautiful descriptions, perfection! How can I ever forget the colorful descriptions of the animals in the zoo? The lucious fruits? The trees of the forests? And the colors! The hilarious meerkats! Masterfully written, exotic and not exotic. The parable of Kishna and the Maidens is so powerful it is overwhelming. Keep this parable in mind as the life aboard the boat begins to unfold. Gandhi is quoted as saying, "All religions are true." Amen, great teacher, Amen! I will remember Richard in his loneliness all my life, (just as I will remember Frodo and Jane Eyre and Black Beauty and Beautiful Joe and numerous other charecters that time and space do not permit here whom I have met in my literary journeys). I still cry for him. I will come back to this one again and again to learn more of the lessons written therein, just as I have re-read the Tolkien books. A masterpiece, it deserves every literary award it can get. Priceless & profound. Bravo, Mr. Martel, Bravo! Thank you so very, very much from the depth of my heart for Pi and for Richard. They are a gift.
Rating:
Summary: The Power of Fiction
Review: This book was a little slow at the start but just kept picking up speed. A wonderful story on so many levels. It tells the story of the one boy's fight to stay alive after his boat sank. He survives 227 days in a lifeboat with his Bengal tiger Richard Parker. A great defense of zoos and a heart searching commentary on the power of God. Defintely recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Good enough to teach
Review: Since I have finished reading Life of Pi, I am ready to read it again. This is one of those books that should be shared, and I have the ability to share it with 19 bright minds. I intend to teach the book in my 9th grade Honors English class this semester. It will be an excellent review for the NC English I End of Course test and an interesting novel unit. The story helps teach why reading can be enjoyable. Teaching something other than water-down textbook material will be refreshing for both me and the students I teach.
Rating: 
Summary: Cast Away this Castaway
Review: Our library has chosen "Life of Pi" as the "One Book Arizona" selection, and, as the last one I read was a Barbara Kingsolver novel that I truly loved, I thought that this book would satisfy me equally well. How wrong I was! As much as I love Tom Hanks, his "Castaway" movie was boring, and as much promise as the 45 pages contain, "Life of Pi" is ultimately boring. After all, not much happens stuck on a lifeboat for 227 days. If Martel wanted to write about philosophy, why didn't he just do it honestly and not deceive readers into thinking they were getting a great novel? There are a few nuggats of value here, but you have to sift through a lot of dung to find them.
Rating:
Summary: In search of lost time
Review: I am in search of the time that I lost reading this overrated novel. It was juvenile, puerile, and shallow.
BUT, it has one redeeming feature: by reading, and thereby suffering through this awful bore, you can REALLY appreciate great literature!! This book only challenges you to finish it, much as dinner at a bad restaurant tempts you to leave, or eat the bad food.
Rating:
Summary: Like nothing I've read before
Review: Having been told this novel is an adventure story, my disappointment began to crest as I read the first portion of the book. I was bored by the personal opinions of theological and zoological matters, and could not envision a scenario in which they would become relevant to the plot. As I continued through the book, however, I became drawn in to the story of shipwrecked Pi Patel and his tiger companion. The book read extremely quickly, and was gruesome, touching, intelligent and imaginitive all at once. After a somewhat tedious opening set of chapters, the book ultimately redeems itself with an original and inventive story.
Rating: 
Summary: Not really worth reading
Review: 1. Unsatisfying book. Not much plot, not much original plot. Not really deserving of a Booker prize.
2. Main character, Pi Patel, is not properly developed. Simply a cardboard cutout to draw action around.
3. Part 1: Too much information about zoos. Is this a novel or a book about zoos?
4. Part 2: Pages 105 to 284: The reader is stuck on a 26 foot boat for 179 pages. Incredibly boring and tedious to read (apart from the island bit). Do we really need to be forced by the writer to be on a raft for 179 pages with one person, with no variety?
5. Part 3: The conversation with the agents is silly. What is the point of the alternative story concocted by Pi? Seemingly none. Then the book ends, in a flat and uninteresting way.
6. Some details don't add up. How the animals (zebra, tiger, hyena) escaped from their cages when the ship went down? Why crew who were on deck when the ship goes down don't make it to the lifeboat? Inordinate quantities of fish and water caught, with vessels to hold them in, yet Pi is hungry and thirsty? A zebra carcass on the floor of the boat gets forgotten for 150 pages? Algae that turn acid and can burn ropes, yet Pi can eat them and not have them turn to dangerous acid in his stomach?
7. Why the book is called 'Life of Pi' is unclear. Was this the original title, or a change put forward by the publisher? That title wasn't appropriate. It promises more, and something different to, what actually got delivered (a trip to the zoo and a boat trip).
8. What is a 'chapter'?
9. It is a mystery why this book won a Booker Prize. The book is not well written and the writing is weak in places.
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