Life of Pi

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: I read other reader reviews in disbelief! This replaced my previous favorite novel of 20 years--" Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Another reviewer mentioned Kurt, so I saw the connection. Their is such wisdom mixed with humor in Pi, not to mention generous doses of adventure. And so many passages of sheer beauty. I've highly recommended this to all I know. Do not believe the scathing reviews of pseudo-intellectuals; read this life affirming brilliant novel.

Rating:
Summary: A Bit Forgettable
Review: I was definately looking forward to this one. Booker Prize! Canadian writer! Lots of gushy quotes!
Well, I may have missed something, but while I felt the first half was wonderful and warm and surprising, and the rest of the book had its moments, I just couln't stay particularly excited about a book that turned into a how-to manual on surviving in a life boat with a tiger for 277 days. Or perhaps I could have taken this for 50 pages or so, but not 150. It really reminded me of a bunch of children's books I read back in the day: Swallows and Amazons, and Swiss Family Robinson and so on, only with less of a point, or a least less of an entertaining pay off.
Although I will say that the algae island was very good. And I did like Pi's name.

Rating:
Summary: Unbelievably wonderful awesome literature!!!
Review: I just want to thank Yann Martel for writing this book. It made the old english major in me feel alive again. I couldn't belive the depth of this book and how it affected me. After I read it I couldn't wait to talk to other people who read it to see if they had the same feelings about it and unanimously the answer has been yes!!!! You will love this book. I think that everyone owes it to themselves to read this book so that you will know what true talent is...and that's Yann Martel!

Rating:
Summary: What an awesome book
Review: This is fantastic! So deserving of the Booker Prize!

Rating:
Summary: Not the Best Mann-Booker I've Read
Review: I can't say I found as much in Life of Pi as I have in Roddy Doyle, J.M. Coetzee or Pat Barker, but I can't exactly dismiss it either. Pi's religious issues, his binary issues, and his species issues are all entertaining. I half heartedly looked for representations but can't say I was interested enough in Pi to go on. Compared to Coetzee and the characters from Disgrace or Barker's the Ghost Road (Mann-Booker winners), Pi doesn't stay with a reader long enough for deeper introspection. I thought the algae island and the two boat dialogs the highlight of the book.

Rating:
Summary: Original
Review: I don't usually pick up a book that has won a serious prize as I tend to think that they are too intellectual and too deep for me but the few words on the back cover caught my attention. I wasn't hooked immediately but was soon after Pi boarded his Noah's Ark. I felt like I was riding a wave of emotions as I accompanied Pi through his long struggle to survive. I felt his fear for Richard Parker and his triumph when the whistle he blew conquered Richard Parker. I could feel his joy and his misery of the downpours of rain and the scorching of the midday sun. The book is a wealth of discovery. How do you fish in the middle of the ocean? How do you know how to eat a turtle? How do you catch the rain? Not a book for the fainthearted though nor for vegetarians. The description of death of the zebra was not a pretty sight. And as for Pi salivating for the taste of Richard Parker's excrement, I must admit I was fascinated to find out Pi's degustation. A very original book which I would highly recommend!

Rating:
Summary: Great Read!
Review: No, it didn't make me believe in God--I already do, but I'm not sure it would have swayed me if I hadn't. Still, it was an amazing read. What an imagination Mr. Martel has! Excellent story telling--I would recommend.

Rating:
Summary: Wondering
Review: I don't know that I saw such symbolism in this story as other online reviewers here saw. I felt for one that that Pi's religious leaning never materialized much in the main meat of the story, when he was lost at sea. I was expecting more of an enlightenment to come during his time with Richard Parker, instead it remained to me a basic castaway story, with the routine "Oh God, why have you done this to me"'s scattered about. And the ending was the oddest I think I have ever read, making me wonder which was the real story? Could the truth have been the tale of murder and brutality that he told the investigators in the end, when they found his tale of being abandoned in a lifeboat with a tiger too farfetched? Could the main story of the book been all mere symbolism for horrors that Pi could not face and understand? I think the heart of the story was really a wonderful tale, but to me there were parts that seemed mismatched and disjointed.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and Thought Provoking Work
Review: I very much liked this book for its initial character development and scene setting. The story was well told, although like a number of other people who reviewed this book, I thought some of the material in the last quarter of the book did not fit easily in with the rest of the material. Still a highly entertaining and thought provoking work.

Rating:
Summary: Fifteen going on fifty.
Review: Altough I enjoyed PI, (and didn't have too much trouble buying into the Chef and Algae Island episodes) the final debriefing by authorities after Pi's rescue seemed to me less than credible. This is no longer a fifteen year old speaking - and even given the maturation that such isolation and survival must have had on Pi - he shifts into a persona that is impossible to accept. We've come too far with Pi as an ingenious and resourceful adolescent to cast him in the role of mystic guru even under the interrogation of such dolts. The book shifts from the voice of Pi to the voice of Martel and it left me feeling betrayed. Sorry, Yann, but even in allegories, characterization needs to remain consistent.