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Summary: smart, deep and surprising book
Review: This book is one of the most interesting I have read in a long time. The premise made me stop what I was doing and buy it on the spot.A man and a tiger are stranded together on a lifeboat. How do they survive? I won't present the reader with plot details or a synopsis of the story here. Many other reviewers have already done a fine job of that. I will say that after having finished this book in a very short time, it was impossible to put down, I can report that it was everything I wanted it to be and more. The writing is smart, deep and even surprising at times...
Get this book and read it. as the author says in the beginning... it's a story that will make you believe in God. I already believe in God, but now I believe in a new author as well. Can't wait until I read his next book.
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Summary: Thank you, Mr. Martel. Multilayered and unforgettable book.
Review: What engages a reader in the adventure suddenly and shockingly takes a turn that adds layers and layers of meaning. This is a "read-again-and-demand-your-favorite-friends-read-it-too" kind of book! Superb. Thank you, Mr. Martel. Thank you. Thank you. I await your next book!
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Summary: Riveting!
Review: This fabulous novel certainly deserved the Booker Prize, and is one of the best I've read in awhile, and impossible to put down. Pi is a young teen in the 1970's in India. His family runs a zoo, and early on he acquires an encyclopedic knowledge of animals of all kinds. In his spare time he also becomes a student and practitioner of several diverse religions--India is certainly the place to sample all the great faiths of the world. His family decides to emigrate to Canada, but never make it when their ship sinks, and Pi is the only human survivor--or is he? What follows is an extraordinary tale of courage and survival, of taking the forces of nature and working with them--in the form of a tiger named Richard Parker--rather than against them. Martell's writing, his descriptions of sky and sea and rain and sun, are magical. Pi's religious views do not sustain him in any conventional sense, but he views creation as mystical and powerful. As fabulous as this tale is, Martell forces us to suspend disbelief, as Pi survives a horrific storm, a carnivorous island, and an encounter with another murderous castaway.
Pi is rescued of course, to encounter complete disbelief as the representatives of the shipping company attempt to discover what really happened to the ship. During the interview we are presented with another version of the story which at first blush seems more believable, although in many respects more horrible still. Suddenly the reader is doubtful--was this whole thing real at all? (Keeping in mind of course that this is a novel!) But then one asks--if the second "believable" story were true, would Pi in fact have survived? Think about it.
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Summary: Life of Pi
Review: While I can see the immense popularity of this book, it is far from the best I have read of late. The plot often feels contrived and forced, and Martel's symbolism is far from subtle. This usually serves to bash the reader about the head with his clunky version of truth. Despite this, the book still proves to be fairly compelling, regardless of plot faults. It is worth reading, but unless you have a decidedly religious mindset, the book will have no lasting value.
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Summary: Robinson Crusoe, minus the island
Review: "Life of Pi" is a story of survival against the odds, but two things make it stand out from the typical castaway tale. Firstly, the odds are particularly heavily weighted against the castaway, and secondly, the castaway himself, a boy of 16, is brimming with religious faith. The hero of the story, Pi Patel, practices a mixture of Hinduism, Christianity and Islam, and his unorthodox religious views condemn him to an inward solitude in his native India. In a way, then, the loneliness of the ocean, for all its misery, is a natural sphere for Pi. During his odyssey, Pi's battle to retain his life and humanity nearly dehumanises him, but his faith and his companion the tiger keep his spirits up. Occasionally, the descriptions of solitary life on the sea drag a little, but overall this story will probably not fail to draw you in.
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Summary: Haunting
Review: I really wanted my husband (a staunch atheist)to read this book, but because he didn't read it fast enough, I found myself telling him the whole story in a Japanese restaurant. I am stunned by how much I not only enjoyed reading this book, but also telling it. I find myself tempted to tell it to all my friends, but wouldn't want them to miss out on Yann Martel's beautiful writing. This book did not make me believe in God, but even better, it made me decide to live my life as though there was one. The outcome is the same, so why not choose the story with the animals.
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Summary: "And so it goes with God."
Review: I've often been motivated to write reviews for books that I've read, but after looking at the comments of other reviewers, my own thoughts seemed fleeting and unimportant. However, I think that there is something in this book which many might have missed, and I will perhaps try to expand upon that now. I hasten to use Amazon.com as a book discussion forum; so, for those who want a simple "good" or "bad", suffice it to say that the experience of reading book is well worth its price. Whatever they are charging these days, and whatever better things you think you might have to do, do yourself a favor and read this one. In Yann Martel's "Life of Pi," we are presented with two starkly different accounts of what really happens to the young Pi Patel. One version of the story takes place over 90 chapters, and it is as filled with wonder and mystery as any works of fiction that I've ever read. The other is explained over the course of two, maybe three pages, and plainly stated, it is awful. At the end, and in many ways throughout this story, the reader is forced to suspend his or her disbelief - to sacrifice the horrible obviousness of reality on an alter of pure imagination (to twist the author's words). Yet, even being a rather mathematical person, I had no troubles doing this, simply because I was aware that I was reading a book - a work of fiction, pure and simple. In life, however, I am often not so forgiving. The terrible destructiveness of nature; the starvation of millions; the unquantifiable suffering that we all endure has, in some ways, lead me to reject the idea of God. Like Bertrand Russel, a mathematician and devout atheist, is said to have stated, "Why, God, [if you exist] do you give us so little evidence of your existence?" Its hard to see how people can read this book and find the importance of religion completely irrelevant. The same reviewers who identify the importance of telling, even believing in the "better story" fail to extend that idea through the work itself. There are many of us who go through life doubting an underlying reason for the happenings of things. Random chance occurances - flips of the coin that trigger events - for most of my life I've always thought that this was the way of things. I don't think I'm doubting that now, to be honest. A story of life with God watching down upon me would of course be a far "better story" than one of probability, of cause and effect, of divine independence. That doesn't mean that its entirely believable - and I don't know if this book has made me "believe in God" the way its author meant it to - but such an explanation of reality is, of course, a "better story." In any event, I have tried to give words to vague ideas that flutter about in my mind, only minutes after finishing this work. For what its worth, I believe solemly that Pi Patel survived for several months with the company of a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. As for the rest of things - life itself - I remain skeptical.
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Summary: It's Not the Ratio of the Circumference to the Diameter
Review: The book's title at least got my 12 year old to ask me about the mathematical pi, that transcendental 3.14159. Oh, this is a glorious page-turner about animals and zoos, and the insights of zookeepers, blended with a back-story about Pi's youth. But foremost it is the awesomely written story of Pi the survivor, adrift at sea, alone with his father's zoo kept tiger in a lifeboat. Reviewers muse somberly about this novel's significance and size, its excellent manners and its clear vision, and then weigh in with the inevitable Conrad and Hemingway like-comparisons. Phooey on all of that. This is one enjoyable read, inspiring, tense, informative in a fun way, and plain joyful. It is a light story and it doesn't require degrees in comparative lit or Okays from The New York Times' Book Review to purchase. This is a book you will pass along to others and remember. And when was the last time you did that?
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Summary: Read it again and again
Review: As soon as you finish Life of Pi, you want to turn to page one and start reading it again. This is a well-written, imaginative, thought-provoking work. I had to give it to a friend and command her to read it right away so we could discuss it! I am recommending this book to all my friends, and even buying extra copies to give out. One bit of advice: Don't read this book quickly. Take time to savor it.
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Summary: Gripping Tale of Courage and Hope -- But No God Please
Review: No. I could not start believing in God as the book claims on the front cover. The story however is very good.
After the cargo ship sinks till the 100th chapter, it's a gripping tale of persistence and undying hope. A fair balance of humor and storytelling. Apart from that I do not see why God should have any role anywhere in it. In Ernest Hemingway's 'Old Man and the Sea' (which you are reminded of at a few places in this novel ), Santiago the protagonist while he is struggling with the waves in the sea, says to himself something like -- "we need hope and so we need faith". In another book about Logotherapy by Viktor Fank'l the author proposes something like "we live and have hope because we have a responsibilty towards life" . So whatever drives you to do the courageous things like Pi Patel does in 'Life of Pi' may or may not be your faith in God. It can simply be this feeling of responsibility that we all possess by birth or the unflagging hope that is just a given in some people and dormant in others. The story may or may not cultivate any belief of God in people who read it but it definitely fills you with faith and honor for life.
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