Rating: 
Summary: Better than the hype
Review: What can you say about a book that won what's probably the most prestigious literary prize in the world (England's Booker Prize)? Well for starters, Life of Pi doesn't read like a prize-winning novel. It's a funny, page-turning romp that moves from the former capital of French India to modern-day Canada by way of a 26-foot lifeboat. Marooned on the lifeboat is Pi Patel, a precocious 16 year old. The novel begins with the story of Pi's childhood, which has no shortage of wonder. Pi's days are spent between school, life at his family's business (the only zoo in former French India) and religious devotion (to Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam). But the novel really takes off when the ship ferrying Pi and his family to Canada goes down, and Pi is (literally) tossed into a lifeboat that's home to a wounded zebra, a hungry hyena, a prized orang-utan, and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. The boat's population undergoes a swift decline, and soon only Pi and Richard Parker remain, stranded, with no hope of rescue. For most writers, simply coming up with such a wild premise would drain their imagination dry. But not Martell. Every page of Life of Pi is crammed with charm, elegance, wit and wisdom. He never lets his reader down, even when he twists the story around in the final five chapters. The book is just magnificent. Stylistically, Martell is a born storyteller. He combines a never-failing array of similes with strong, clean sentences, and an easy charm. Intellectually, he enlivens the narrative with ideas and themes that kept me up at night days after I put the book down. I can't sing the praises of this book high enough. Just heavenly.
Rating:
Summary: The Better Story ...
Review: It is not so much that The Life of Pi, is particularly moving (although it is). It isn't even so much that it is written with language that is both delicate and sturdy all at once (which it is, as well). And it's certainly not that Yann Martel's vision filled passages are so precise that you begin to feel the salt water on your skin (even though they are). It is that, like Bohjalian and Byatt and all of the great Houdini's of the literary world, in the last few moments of your journey ' after you've felt the emotions, endured the moments of heartache, yearned for the resolution of the characters' struggle ' that you realize the book is not what you thought it was. The story transforms, instantly, and forever. And in those last few chapters, you suddenly realize that the moral has changed as well. You feel Martel's words lingering, suggesting, and you find yourself wondering whether you are his atheist who takes the deathbed leap of faith ' hoping for white light and love? Or the agnostic who , in trying to stay true to his reasonable self, explains the mysteries of life and death in only scientific terms, lacking imagination to the end, and, essentially, missing the better story? There is no use in trying to provide a brief synopsis for this ravishing tale of a young boy from India left adrift in the Pacific in a lifeboat with a tiger who used to reside in his father's zoo in Pondicherry. There is no use because once you finish the book you might decide that this was not, indeed, what the book was about at all. There is no use because, depending on your philosophical bent, the book will mean something very different to your best friend than it will to you. There is no use because it is nearly impossible to describe what makes this book so grand. Read this book. Not because it is an exceptional piece of literary talent. It is, of course. But there are many good authors and many good books. While uncommon, they are not endangered. Read this book because in recent memory - aside from Jose Saramago's arresting Blindness ' there have been no stories which make such grand statements with such few elements. As Pi says in his story 'Life on a lifeboat isn't much of a life. It is like an end game in chess, a game with few pieces. The elements couldn't be more simple, nor the stakes higher.' It is the same with Martel's undulating fable of a book about a boy in a boat with a tiger. A simple story with potentially life altering consequences for it's readers. As Martel writes, "The world isn't just the way it is. It is how we understand it, no? And in understanding something, we bring something to it, no?" Like Schroedinger's cat in the box, the way this book is understood, the way it is perceived, affects what it is. There has been some talk that this book will make it's readers believe in god. I think it's a question of perspective. To behold this gem of a novel as an adventure of man against the elements (the 'dry, yeastless factuality' of what actually happened) is certainly one way to go about it. But to understand this piece to be something indescribable, something godlike, is by far the greater leap of faith. Oh, but worth the leap, if the reader is like that atheist ... willing to see the better story.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Book!
Review: I read this book in two nights! I stayed up till 4-5am one night because I couldn't put it down, and I never stay up that late (I had to get to work that morning!). However it was worth the sleepy day ahead because the book was absolutely riveting. The story weaves in and out between reality and fantasy and I love that--it's a perfect allegory to the way humans perceive the world around them. The ending left me breathless and pondering the psychology of humans. You'll love it!
Rating: 
Summary: A novel idea but....
Review: Overall I was disappointed with this book. The first part, in India, was whimsical and appealing. The section on the lifeboat went on and on and on. It was very imaginative but at the same time, after a while I became a bit frustated with it. It was also the most gory story i have read in ages: lots of blood and crushing of bones and animal being consumed by animal or by Pi. The bit on the island, well, what was that all about? It was entertaining and imaginative, but what was the point? the same can be said of the whole book.
Rating:
Summary: HYPNOTIC, ENGAGING, ENTHRALLING
Review: Quite simply, I could not put this book down. I was obsessed with the next twist of the plot. It's kind of like Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea meets Kingsolver's Prodigal Summer. From beginning to end I completely lost myself in this story. When I started getting close to the end, I slowed my reading so that I could savor every second of it. When it was over, I was sad. This is the best book I've read all year.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Read
Review: I am generally a very unsatisfied reader. I usually confine myself to "classics" or books that will enable me to learn about this subject or that subject. These make for long reads with much delay in between sittings. However, at the airport yesterday, I picked up this book because I had read about it in Time or Newsweek or some other publication so it qualified at least as timely. I allowed myself to be pulled in by Martel's hypnotic prose and was so captivated that I awoke early this morning to finish off the rest of the book. I won't try and delve into the inner meanings of this book, although they are fun to think about as you read. This book is enjoyable on many different levels. It is a very easy and quick read, and I can't say enough about the author's skill with words. The passages are beautiful and fun. If you feel like a light read with some heavy overtones that you can think about when you wish without becoming bogged down in them, this book is for you.
Rating:
Summary: An utterly unique story
Review: Yann Martel's "Life of Pi" is the fascinating story of one Pi Patel, a castaway, stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on a lifeboat...oh, and his only companion is a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Thus is the stage for this genuinely unique novel. Couched as a meditation on the nature of God and faith, the novel succeeds more as a straightforward, albeit unusual, story of survival. Pi, the eponymous main character, is a boy of sixteen who despite being raised in the Hindu tradition of India (or rather around, his parents aren't particularly religious) has come to embrace both Christianity and Islam. Moreover, his belief in one faith in no way detracts from his faith in the others; rather, he takes the core beliefs of each, and uses them to enhance his understanding of the others. While this is certainly an unusual arrangement, it is perhaps not as shocking as Martel might have hoped, as the core beliefs of most religions are compassion, charity and faith in the divine. On the other hand, if he was striving to highlight the absurdity of strife in God's name, he certainly makes a compelling point. That said, the story, as I alluded to earlier, largely takes place on a lifeboat adrift in the Pacific. Pi's family were zookeepers, and in the process of moving to Canada, the cargo ship transporting them and their animals sinks, leaving Pi and a tiger by the name of Richard Parker as the only survivors. What follows are nine months of desperation, filled with small triumphs and journeys to the depths of despair. Richard Parker is too big and dangerous for Pi to attempt to kill him, so he must find a way to come to an accommodation with this dangerous beast. To do so, he is forced to call upon all of his experience as a zookeeper's son, while struggling to keep himself alive. I'm sure that many will find this brief overview of the plot somewhat far-fetched; more of a metaphor than an actual story, I assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. Martel has taken a completely bizarre circumstance, and turned it into something not only believable, but also plausible. "Life of Pi" is loaded with events that would be mundane if it weren't for the desperate nature in which they took place, and Pi's struggle for supremacy with the tiger is so pragmatic and deadly serious, any element of the fantastic goes right out the window. However, as I alluded to earlier, the meditation on religion that Martel was striving for seems to fall short. There are elements that echo parts of the Bible: a struggle with an unknown stranger (Jacob wrestling God/an angel), blindness and despair (numerous times in the New Testament), and Richard Parker certainly seems to fill an Archangel's duel role of protector and scourge of God. Moreover, it wouldn't surprise me to find that there are elements from other religions that I an not familiar with. All that aside, though, Martel never has Pi come to a true crisis of faith, a turning point in which only his faith in God can carry him through. While Pi has many low moments, his faith in God never seems to waver, and he never calls out in his hour of need. Of course, this does leave one alternative: that Pi is a modern retelling of the story of Job. Pi as a pious man (or boy in this instance) who is tormented by God for the sole purpose of testing his faith. Of course, this doesn't fit in with the traditions that Pi has embraced; the God of the new testament is compassionate, and I am unaware of comparable traditions in Islam or Hinduism (although that doesn't mean they aren't there, I am by no means a religious scholar). Ultimately, I think Martel is arguing that it is our quiet faith, our steadfast belief in something greater than ourselves, which carries us through in times of trial. If that was his goal, he succeeded admirably. Ultimately, these meditations on religions can be treated as completely secondary. "Life of Pi" is written with superb pacing, excellent narration and brilliantly conceived characters. Moreover, the premise is so unique as to be completely different from anything you have encountered before. Should the reader decide to look deeper, there is plenty to ponder, but it is completely enjoyable if approached solely as an adventure story. In the end "Life of Pi" is completely deserving of the praise it has received, and well worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Refreshing
Review: It was so refreshing and enjoyable to read this book. It is not a cookie-cutter adventure thriller that comes to a predictable end. On the contrary, once it gets started, one cannot stop reading just to find out how this boy manages to escape this predicament. Along the way, the writing is humorous while tragic and managed to be both spiritual and uplifting. Even when violent, the writer avoids the macabre. And just when you think the plot is over, an alternate scenario is provided.
The first part of the book is slow and rather self-righteous. However, upon reflection, Pi has every right to be.
Rating:
Summary: An imaginative and intriguing fable
Review: Pi is a boy from Pondicherry (old French India), attuned to spirituality in all its forms and a dedicated follower of at least three major religions. His father, a zookeeper, decides to move the family (along with a few animals) to Canda for a new start. Unfortunately, the boat sinks, leaving Pi the sole survivor on a life boat. The sole human survivor, anyway, for he shares his 26-foot space with an orangutan, a hyena, and a tiger. What follows is a tale of survival in its rawest form: the Young Boy and the Sea and the Tiger, if you will. Martel writes with a certain fluidity of style: the first third is a delightful rumination on spirituality and Indian life through the eyes of a young boy; the main part of the book is a strange blend of detailed, realistic survival memoir and fantastic allegory in the medieval tradition (instead of Here There Be Dragons, you get Here There Be Meerkats, believe it or not). The end, while probably disappointing for some, justified the entirety of the book to me, offering plenty of food for thought on the twin thirst for survival and faith. It's not the finest book I've read all year, but I can see why it won the Booker prize.
Rating:
Summary: Great story, mediocre writing
Review: Before I say anything else I should say that this "Life Of Pi" is at times an imaginative and compelling story. However, I only gave it three stars because the presentation is at times very uneven. Yann Martel is a promising writer but he too often settles for obvious observations. He is not a great prose stylist either; his sentences are often awkward and stilted. At times I found it difficult to focus on the story because Martel obviously didn't have control of the language. The narrative structure he uses is also somewhat problematic. Martel isn't able to consistently tell the story in his narrator's voice (like, say, Dickens) or let it fade into the background altogether. The result is an narrator that hardly resembles the external character. At times this book reminded me of Marquez , at times Melville, but it really didn't measure up to either. I got very little sense of this book as a whole. There really seemed to only be a couple different only coincidentally related stories. That being said, this book is worth reading. It has a lovely--if somewhat simplistic--ending and it can easily be read in a day.
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