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Summary: Pi's Tiger Myth
Review: Martel gives us a timely, urgent account of why, after all, religion of both the group and individual type must be allowed to thrive. In a day when fundamentalism among many religions polarizes the planet, Martel's main protagonist restores our faith in the life-saving power of myth. For those who are ambivalent about, or who do not understand humankind's continued allegiance to religion, or those who refute others' differing spirituality, newfound respect and discernment might be found in the heart of this allegory.As may there be a renewed love for art in its infinite expressions. Pi's survival depends on his living a story. His story, whether a literal account of events or not, is his reason for psychological endurance. Nobody can refute the truthfulness of his story, neither his would-be "debriefers" towards novel's end, nor the reader. For Pi has lived one of the finest qualities of being human: To interpret reality through imagination in a way which ensures not mere survival, but happiness as well. Life of Pi is a beautifully written, detailed fable. It contains an adventure tending towards a great sea epic, with the brutality, at moments, of "Jack London on the high seas." Yet, ultimately, the story breathes a refreshment our embattled world yearns for in it's study of a fine-tuned, wordless relationship which develops between a boy and a Bengal tiger. It ends with a superb "ah!" twist.
Rating:
Summary: DEEP AND THOUGHT PROVOKING
Review: This book is deep, thought provoking, intelligent, charming, sad, imaginative, funny all rolled into one wonderful story with a spiritual tone. Definately worth the read. Also, when it comes to spiritual books my book club also recommends the book, I Talked To God And He Wants To Talk To You.
Rating:
Summary: Refreshing and wonderfully complex
Review: It's hard to add to the fantastic reviews already written about this book, but I'd like to voice yet another opinion about how wonderful it is. I thought the premise utterly intriguing from the first review I read about the book, and I was in no way disappointed. The character of Pi Patel is engaging and charming, and he's one of the most endearing characters I've "met" in recent fiction. Having finished this book just yesterday I am still in the process of digesting it. This is a book that will remain with me for a long time and one I plan to re-read at some point in the future. I'm positive it will hold up to my high opinion of it when I do get around to the re-read. This book has renewed my faith in contemporary literature.
Rating: 
Summary: It will make you believe in God
Review: At the beginning of the novel, Yann Martel outlined his objective for the story: he wants to give us a story that will make us believe in God. And in a way he did.
After introducing us to the very early years of Pi Patel, his childhood, how he got his name, his background with animals, Pi was then shipwrecked at sea during the journey from India to Canada. With a zebra, hyena, orangutan, and a 450 pound tiger named Richard Parker as his companions, Pi knew what he must do to survive in a cramp lifeboat alongside these wild animals. From here on, Martel gave us a harrowing tale of survival at sea, rich in details and fantasy. Plotwise, there isn't much; it's just Pi and Richard Parker inventing new ways to survive at sea. However everything does get illuminated at the end when Pi gave another version of his survival story, a story without the animals. Which story is more believable? Which is more interesting? If a story can't be proven based on scientific facts, why not go with the more interesting story even if it sounded more fantastical? This is Martel's premise of convincing us to believe in God: If the existence or nonexistence of God can't be proven based on facts, wouldn't it be more interesting and beneficial for us to believe that there is a god?
The ending of the novel will make you think, and Martel accomplished a great deal with this novel.
Rating:
Summary: An inventive journey
Review: First of all, when Pi begins his castaway journey I couldn't put the book down. The description, the terror, the combination of the various elements interacting with each other was brilliantly done. I had slowly chugged my way through the opening section, with Pi Patel's life in Pondicherry India as the son of a zookeeper; his observations of how animals are no freer in the wild than they are in zoos, and Pi's flirtations with three religions at the same time. At this point, it seemed too typical of recent novels, heavy on the philosophy and analysis but lacking in narrative and flow. This all changed when Pi became a castaway at sea. No spoilers here; I was glad I knew next to nothing about what this book was about before I read it, because it is quite the reading experience. Others are welcome to decipher all of the symbolism, but to Martel's credit he doesn't make it heavy-handed for those who just want to read for pleasure. For those who enjoy magical symbolism though, there is plenty here for you. The mysterious island still has me thinking.
Rating: 
Summary: A big disappointment
Review: This is the first Booker Prize winning book I've read that disappointed me. I can see why the book is popular. I have read more than my share of boy's eye adventure stories. However, they are all pretty boring to an adult reader. The overlay of puerile pop theology in this novel -- based on a false claim to incorporate all of the world religions -- is more than annoying: I find myself insulted by it. On to something interesting.
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Summary: Fiction and Reality
Review: I have just completed reading "The Life of Pi" and my overwhelming feeling is one of sadness because the book ended. I don't believe that I will find such a wondrous book to read for a long, long time.
"The Life of Pi" has humor, poetry, religion, adventure and mystery---all in 100 chapters of magical language and story telling.
Yann Martel was the winner of the Booker Award and he is without a doubt deserving of our admiration. I am only hopeful he will become a prolific author. I want more!
I will continue to think of Robert Parker and Pi for years to come. As Martel hints at the beginning of the book, fiction is a way of looking at reality. Piscine Molitor Patel unravels his story--- and at the end, given the choice between cold reality and fiction, you will choose to believe in fiction. Don't miss this book. "And so it is with God." This book is a wonder.
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Summary: I Will Survive or the New Book of Job
Review: One character of the book says that the novel is a 'story that will make you believe in God'. From my point of view this is a genuine statement but not a plain one. Ages and ages ago the biblical Book of Job formulated one of the most complex problem of human life - sufferings of a righteous man, and best writers and philosophers of all times and countries have tried to solve (or at least explain) it since - W.Shakespeare, F.Dostoevsky, C.S.Lewis and S.Kierkegaard, to name only the most outstanding figures among many others. Afflictions of sinful man often lead him to God but tribulations of right man can lead in both directions - to denial (F.Nitzsche) or to strengthening of faith (Job and Pi). The first part of the novel is a story of befores and afters of hero's ordeal: a good-humor version of Pi's life in India at a place that really was a zoo, of his spiritual search for true faith (he attracts 'religions the way a dog attracts fleas'), printed in normal type, is mixed with flashes of his present life in Canada, printed in italics. Narratives in both sections are meaningly placid save some inklings (e.g., 'The evil in the open is but evil from within that has been let out. The main battlefield for good is not the open ground of public arena but the small clearing of each heart', an allusion to well-known Dostoevsky's opinion) . The second part of the novel is a between, a description of the ordeal - a shipwreck and 227-days trek in the Pacific Ocean that change Pi's life profoundly and forever. It is a wonderful story about a human being and a beast that found themselves in one lifeboat and are forced to live together. But some fantastic elements in description of event (especially the island of algae) disturb our understanding and generate additional questions. The third part of the novel, its pinnacle and clue to understanding, gives a true perspective of the events. The shortest part of the novel, it is a recorded interrogation of Pi concerning the causes of the shipwreck. Be not deceived: masterly constructed dialogue will provoke smiles (especially in English interpretation of its Japanese parts) but eight pages of Pi's alternative story will harrow your soul and force you to think about this book long after you have read the last page. The young pious and righteous man does not pass his ocean ordeal but his faith gives him power not to sink in quagmire of despair and ruin his life. Like biblical Isaac in Soren Kierkegaard's interpretation ('Fear and Trembling') Pi lives nearly in silence, studying theology (and zoology), taking care of his new family and pets and trying to understand God's will and voluntarily accept it. Several words about novel's ordonnance. The structure of Yann Martel's book is exquisite: the author uses 'story inside story' technique which was so effectively used recently by best writers ('The Blind Assassin' by M.Atwood and 'Atonement' by I.McEwan are the most prominent examples). It gives possibility to give the plot bolt-from-the-blue quality comparable only with psycological thriller. 'Life of Pi' by Yann Martel, the winner of the Man Booker Prize 2002, is one of the best novels I've read in the last three years, an absolutely must-read.
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Summary: A BOOK TO DEVOUR
Review: Because of my job schedule these days, I mostly get to read just prior to falling asleep, after I get home at 2am. This usually means I read my books in 20 minute chunks, and it takes awhile!! LIFE OF PI was consumed in four nights of sleeplessness. It is a fascinating book with an absolutely outstanding, sympathetic central character. The setup is intruiquing: Youth is shipwrecked and set adrift on a lifeboat with only a tiger for companionship. I imagined a touching story of the bond growing between Pi and the tiger (named Richard Parker). This is NOT the case at all...and yet the direction the book takes in much more interesting. First, the book takes its time letting us get to know the character, who lives in India and is the son of a zookeeper. He is very religious, choosing to follow Christianity, Islam and Hindu all at the same time. He also has a name that his classmates make fun of...Piscene. He demands that it be shortened to Pi. Anyway, when he is cast adrift, we're already totally in this kid's spell, and his ordeal is unbelievably gripping. How he evaluates the tools he has at hand, how he deals with this Tiger on his boat...it's all great. Is the tiger tame, you might ask? Well, let's just say that the voyage starts out with a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan and a tiger. Within days, we're only dealing with a Tiger. You be the judge! His journey is very long, and it begins to get a bit weird towards the end, and we begin to doubt his sanity or perceptions or something. I have to admit the ending was a bit of a let down. I guess I expected something more conventional and less up-in-the-air. But the ending is fair, in its way, you just have to be willing to adjust your frame of reference to the book. Even with a modest let down at the end, it is still one of the best books I've read in YEARS. And I read a lot! You've never read anything like it. It's also a fast read, and I think would be great for youth (say 14 and above) to read. Should be a classic.
Rating: 
Summary: Hits Close To Home
Review: At first I was mildly disappointed, because I thought it was a children's book, and that's pretty much all I can read. Especially pop-ups. But as I read on, I found this story of a boy, his tiger and a boat to resemble an experience I had with Mr. Bubbles. Except replace tiger with drunken iguana, boat with the Key West HoJo's, and boy with Village Person....but I digress. Very enjoyable!
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