Rating: 
Summary: Phenomenal
Review: This book is truly enchanting. The subtleties of the language really bring you into the author's world. I have recommended this book to several of my friends.
Rating: 
Summary: Clever story and intelligently written
Review: Life of Pi moves slowly at first, but hang in there. The unfolding story is fascinating but in my opinion did not prove it's point ,that there is a God. Yann Martel's writings on fear, indecision and religion are spectacular but the story was too vague, perhaps intentionally, to prove it's point. Great selection for a book club to debate the veracity of each version/ending. Would highly recommend readers to read an original tale, Max and the Cats by Moacyr Sciliar written in 1981, for a highly entertaining, insightful and focused story in the same vein. I would have given Life of Pi 4 stars until I read that story.
Rating:
Summary: Religion, Tale and Science Fiction
Review: This novel has a little bit of everything: three major religions, Science Fiction in the island (I could just see that island as I read it), a tall tale or was it a dream - what is real and what is not, a story that seems unbelieveable when you hear the subject matter (living with a hungry Bengal tiger on a boat - Come On!) but then it is so believeable when you read it. All and all a good read. The religious aspect went over my head in parts but their is plenty online discussing this bits to explain it further if you don't understand like me.
Rating: 
Summary: A descriptive yet powerful story
Review: Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, is an extraordinarily profound book that will definitely have you rolling on the floor in laughter or tear-spilling sympathy. Piscine Patel lives in India and is the son of a zookeeper. His family owns the local zoo where Piscine, preferably Pi, spends countless afternoons observing and caring for the animals. He adopts three religions, Hinduism, Christianity, and Muslim and is an active participant in each. An example of the humor Martel uses throughout the story is when Pi's older brother is ridiculing Pi's many religions, saying "...At the rate you're going, if you go to temple on Thursday, mosque on Friday, synagogue on Saturday and church on Sunday, you only need to convert to three more religions to be on holiday for the rest of your life (70)." When his father breaks the news to their little humble family that they will be residing in Canada, a country totally alien to them, Pi doesn't know what to feel. His father promises them that things will be better there, but little did they know of the irony that was in store for them as the ship they're on when traveling to Canada, sinks. Just when you think it couldn't get any more complicated, it does, however, the author does a superb job keeping everything organized so the only complication is the distinction between your own thoughts and that of Pi's. This "simple" story then turns into a tale of survival in which every minute counts and human faith and will are the only remaining things keeping someone going as Pi's spends 277 days stranded on a lifeboat with a 450-pound Bengal tiger. A strange twist in the end leads the reader wondering what really happened, and what story they want to believe. I enjoyed this book from the title to the ending punctuation mark. In a world where cliché takes the best of us in all forms of entertainment, Martel has managed to steer away from that and keep surprising you with the same amount of spontaneity and energy from the first chapter to the last paragraph. I loved how Martel makes you think in ways you've never thought of before and how he opens new doors to views and perspectives, you've never even think you'd ever come across. All in all, I highly recommend this book especially when you're extremely bogged down with the fast-paced technological world because it gives you a chance to step away from all the hustle and bustle and spend a quiet afternoon with a 15-year-old boy named Pi, a 450-pound majestic tiger, a 26 feet long lifeboat and a whole lot of water.
Rating:
Summary: Freshest, most original story I've read in a long time
Review: Pi, an engaging little character, a solution without end, embarks first on a spiritual journey of knowing and ends in a literal odyssey across the merciless blue seas. Pi, ship wrecked and stranded on a raft, must accomodate Richard Parker, a majestic Bengal tiger. Together they defeat hyenas, marauders, flesh consuming islands of vegetation, and unforgiving nature. When at last they reach land, civilization, Richard Parker disappears into a jungle without a backward glance and little Pi is left to finish the tale. Confronted with unbelievers regarding his tale of survival, Pi offers them another version, a distinctly unsentimental tale of human baseness, courage, and the will to live. It seems both stories are equally true. That is Pi's message. Hindu or Christian, Pi or Richard Parker, the version you choose matters little. The only question that remains; do you prefer a story with animals or without?
Rating: 
Summary: Life of Pi
Review: I read this book for a book discussion club and I didn't like it even a little bit. Every time I stopped reading this book and closed the covers, I felt like I had to wash my hands. It could have been a great book, but in my opinion it wasn't. The ending made no sense and I always feel cheated if the ending is stupid after all the time I spent reading the damn thing!
Rating:
Summary: A boy and a tiger
Review: Our bookclub read this book a while back and we did enjoy it. At first the members were skeptical that a book with such a plot would go anywhere, but it does. I can recommend this story because the setting, the ocean, the character-driven plot is all the more why it's good. Highly recommend The Life of Pi. Reviewed by: Franchesca Dashmond of B.E.B. Bookclub
Rating:
Summary: It's been awhile since I've read a GREAT book
Review: Please take note, I am a simple reader of horror books and adventure books. King, Slade, Cussler, Rollins, and Preston and Child are my favorite authors. I do not read much literature with a meaning. With that, here's my review: To say that this is my favorite book of all time would be an understatement. After picking the book up, I was trying to figure out how the author would be able to fill up over 300 pages with a story of a tiger and a boy on the ocean. Amazingly, he did it. The book is hard to put down. With so much humor, action, and fun story telling it kept my attention to the very end. Surprisingly, the author even had a few twists at the end. And you are left asking yourself a question, to find the question, you have to read the book.
Rating:
Summary: Great characters.
Review: With "Life of Pi," Martel does a nice job of creating characters that drive the story, rather than vice-versa. If you're tired of plot-driven novels with thin, and often cliché, characters, then you're likely to dig this one. If you're into writers like Yann Martel, Sue Monk Kidd, Dan Brown, etc., then there's a new writer you should check out: GREG IPPOLITO. His most recent novel, "Zero Station," is a politically charged page-turner that pits its main Gen X character (John Saylor) against his Baby Boomer parents, teachers, etc., during the winter of 1991 -- during the heart of the Persian Gulf War. Right now, Ippolito is still a relative unknown (a friend turned me onto his work)...but this is a must-read. You can check him out and read an excerpt at: http://www.zero-station.net Don't miss it.
Rating:
Summary: A Story of Survival and Spirituality
Review: I began to wait. My thoughts swung wildly. I was either fixed on practical details of immediate survival or transfixed by pain, weeping silently, my mouth open and my hands at my head (111). Although we are humans, set apart from other animal species due to our superior intelligence and innovation, we still possess remnants of animal instinct, and these remains shine through in times of crisis, when our livelihood is threatened. I'm sure you've felt it. That piercing tug in your chest, that involuntary tension in your throat, that off kilter feeling when your heart races and flutters... And with a quick skin-tingling shudder, it's over, and you realize that you have had a brush with death. Okay, you may have just fallen off your bike, or just barely swerved in time to avoid that semi, but the feeling is the same. Your entire existence feels threatened, and in that instant when all that is familiar to you could be snatched from your grasp, thoughts of confusion, panic, and fear crowd your mind. If the endangering moment lasts longer than a few seconds, this bestial survival motive takes over. You find yourself pushing emotions to the wayside, giving means of survival precedence over all else. You hurriedly construct a plan of attack, put it into action, and hope for the best. If your plan works and you survive, you develop an adjusted outlook on life. It may not be permanent. It may be merely ephemeral. Either way, a near death experience, a struggle for survival, changes you. You may find yourself pondering life and its blessings. You may feel bitter and abhor the world for putting you to the test. You may question the reality of the relationships, people, and things around you. You may contemplate religion or politics. You may come to an epiphany or you may just cloud your mind further. Some kind of magnetic faith or hope guided you this far... But where does this conviction leave you in the end?
Life of Pi by Yann Martel tells the story of a sixteen year old boy named Pi and his struggle for survival on the open sea when he is shipwrecked on a lifeboat with four unlikely companions: a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, and a Bengal tiger. Pi finds himself in this inconceivable predicament after his father, a zookeeper, informs the family that they are to move from Pondicherry, India to Canada. This necessitates the family and the animals to travel by sea to this grossly foreign place. Tragedy strikes in its usual fashion, and as Pi finds himself stranded as the sole human survivor, he must struggle to survive and stand up to the perils of nature and the high sea, not to mention the threat of wild animals on board. Thus, this spiritual young boy sets out on a triumphant quest for survival and along the way questions the mysterious notion of faith in God and its role in meaningful existance.
Yann Martel uses the voice of Pi looking back at his incomprehensible feat to narrate the story, a wise choice in that it more personally connects readers to the main character right from the start. Immaculate in formulation, the commentary of Pi is simple to follow, casually, yet deliberately spoken, and ultimately vivid in the description of action and scenery. "Warmth came only when the sun, looking like an electrically lit orange broke across the horizon, but I didn't need to wait that long to feel it. With the very first rays of light it came alive in me: hope. As things emerged in outline and filled with colour, hope increased until it was like a song in my heart. Oh, what it was to bask in it!" (119). Mr. Martel's language is inarguably encapsulating, exuding richness and a magnetic quality that demands attention from any reader. Life of Pi is full of passages like these, crafted like an artist or a cinematographer, assessing fluidity, balance, smoothness, and form. Pi also continually expresses underlying inquisitiveness, endlessly pondering deeply moral questions but not forgetting the true direness of his situation. Pi realizes that in order to survive, he must come to grips with his spirituality and its role in his life. This understanding shines through in his voice when he brings forth profound statements such as this: "Despair was a heavy blackness that let no light in or out. It was a hell beyond expression. I thank God it always passed... The blackness would stir and eventually go away, and God would remain, a shining point of light in my heart. I would go on loving" (209). In order that this novel not be merely a catalog of Pi's staid thoughts and philosophies, Yann Martel balances such serious contemplation with humor and wit, thus making Pi an even more personable narrator.
Mr. Martel includes a contrasting voice throughout the novel as well. This voice is that of the fictitious author who recounts Pi's life story through interview and observation. These intermittent vignettes depicting Pi in the present day, display a convincing, yet deceptive impression that this third party narrator is Yann Martel and that Pi Patel in actually told this story to him. This fact adds a dose of realism to the novel and you may find yourself, as I did, wanting to believe that this whole story is true.
Yann Martel's literary strengths command this novel and he appeases to the challenge of creating a fun, exciting, and deeply meaningful story that impacts readers beyond imagination. He strives to provoke questions of faith and relationships in the minds of the readers, urging us to contemplate our inner strength and being and awaken the child-like imagination, hope, and curiosity, deeply recessed within each of us.
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