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Summary: A Literary Adventure
Review: Written by Yann Martel, this novel is about a young Indian boy who is traveling with his family to Canada. Pi's father is a zookeeper and along for the ride are a number of animals that he is selling to various zoos in North America to provide revenue to start the new life. The story builds when the ship goes down in a storm, and Pi finds himself on a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, and a tiger named Richard Parker. After the first three days, natural selection cuts the little boat's crew to two---the smartest (Pi) and the strongest (RP). Pi survives the rest of his journey with the big cat, and Martel is such a brilliant writer that you do not doubt for a minute that any of this is taking place. The literary nature of the story, combined with the tension of Pi's adventure, and one wicked twist of an ending make this novel one of my recent favorites.
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Summary: Life of Pi
Review: Destined to be a classic. One suggestion: Read it before you read the reviews. Too much of the story is given away.
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Summary: It will be considered a classic
Review: I'm an avid reader, usually a book per week, and this book is the best I've read in the past year, maybe longer. It is brilliantly imagined, impeccably written, whimsical, funny and thougtful all at once. There's always a danger in building a book up too much for other readers, so I'll just say this: this book reminded me why I read and what fiction is supposed to do for us. I was SMILING as I read it. I agree with the below reviewer that the "believe in God" promise isn't quite delivered on, but that didn't compromise the book for me. The book made me believe in the power of storytelling, which goes a very long way on a rainy day. Buy it in hardback. I'd bet good money this will be one day be considered a classic.
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Summary: The Life of Pi
Review: I wanted to live forever in this book. After I finished it I was upset that I must return to the real world and leave Pi and Richard Parker behind ! It touches the mind and the soul with humor and IMAGINATION!
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Summary: A seafaring religious experience
Review: Pi and Richard Parker were a wonderful pair as they rode the waves together on their 26 foot boat for over 200 days. At the beginning of the book I wasn't certain where the story was going with the zoo and animal descriptions, and the exploration of religions. But I never lost interest. And then the journey and the shipwreck and it all came together. I felt his thirst and hunger and fear and dehydration and sun burn. It was a wonderful summer read. And I loved Richard Parker.
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Summary: read it
Review: At first, I found Life of Pi funny and magical. Pi Patel, the narrator of the novel, is such a substantially articulated narrative voice that, despite his occasional didactics, is utterly his own, separated from any weight of authorial overbearance on Yann Martel's part. Thus, when, at moments when Pi seems awkwardly polemical (particularly some of his clever, but not necessarily revelatory comments about religion and animal life) it seems to be simply, quintessentially Pi, not a sermonizing by Martel as the author of the book. After a while, however, it becomes obvious that Martel is attempting to allegorize certain issues of faith, freedom, and the truth of God and the world against the truths that we understand, and this obviousness, I found, verges on being a distractiion to the novel's power. The moment when I began to doubt, though, was the precise moment when Pi finds himself shipwrecked on a 26-foot lifeboat with Richard Parker, a 10-foot(or somewhere around there) Bengal tiger. The section of the book that details Pi's life at sea, perfectly counteracted any doubts I had, as Martel steers away from the unengaging, not particularly astounding philosophical and religious insights to allow these issues to speak underneath and through the narrative. Pi's struggle for survival, visited in places by his consideration of what he observes, speaks much more powerfully than his earlier mere statements. Though not particularly poetic, there is a quality in Martel's writing, in Pi's voice, that is simply amazed, wondering at the breadth of marvel and danger in the world around him. In a way, it is the bare exposure of what he witnesses, his actual experience of natural beauty, that reveals danger; to know it is to know his place in it, to see and grasp his own death. Therefore, there is a terric, plainspoken lyricism to Life Of Pi. Pi's sense of awe is perhaps my favorite part of the book, because it is subtle and, through Pi's utterly convincing voice, true. Finally, Martel saves the best for last, and I won't give it away, though I will say that the end of Life Of Pi awakens Pi's character even further into my mind. He is more palpable as the truth of his life becomes more ambiguous and textured. Life Of Pi is thus a magical book that may reach a little in places, but, on the exuberant whole, is excellent and fraught with wonder.
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Summary: Brilliant plot, weak execution
Review: The premise of a boy shipwrecked and wandering on the sea with a dangerous menagerie in a journey towards faith seems fresh, exciting, and drew me to this book. However, despite some of the best reviews i have read for a book lately, I was completely dissappointed with the execution of what seemed to be such a promising novel. For the first 100 pages, readers are introduced to Pi Patel, an endearing boy who samples religions and declares himself a Hindu, Christian, and a Muslim. He finds himself torn between making a definitive religion his, and wants to follow a philosophy of faith and love. As he moves to Canada on a cargo ship with his family and the zoo animals they are relocating to North America, disaster strikes and he finds himself on a small lifeboat with a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra, and a bengal tiger. A Robinson Crusoe-esque journey ensues, as the novel is told through the perspective of the boy. While the first 100 pages left me salivating for more, I was utterly disappointed with Martel's follow up on his themes. Once Pi is castaway the novel becomes a survival narrative and the religious ideas are left behind and only shallowly explored. Imagination abounds in this novel, but it's promise of a story that will make you believe in God seems to be ignored for other interests within the narrative. The end result is a disjointed argument about religion and a plot that makes you feel as though you've read three different novels rather than one. The twists at the end of the novel raise issues of truth, but the themes of the novel seem to have been dropped for sheer adventure and drawn out shipwreck narrative so it feels as though it is merely tacked on at the end to try to regain more literary value. Life of Pi is a good read, boldly imaginative, but not as substantive as it could have been.
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Summary: Marvelous
Review: Yann Martel's Life of Pi is a wondrous novel, a marvelous novel--there is much to wonder and marvel at. The story is simple, yet complex at the same time and can be read on many levels. On the surface, this is the story of a young man who grows up in India and at sixteen, en route to Canada with his family, finds himself the sole human survivor of a shipwreck, afloat on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. The story is divided into two sectins. The first occurs before he gets on the boat and tells of his life as a young zookeeper's son. As a boy, he decides to become a practicing Catholic, Muslim and Hindu, all at once. His ruminations on zookeeping and religion lay the groundwork for how he could possibly survive on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. Beyond the story, however, is an examination of religion and of writing, of how to write about religion and the religious experience. It is an examination on the strengths (and weaknesses) of religious belief. The novel also ends with a philisophical bang, which I won't give away, but which did blow me away. It wasn't until I got to that point that I became truly impressed with what Martel has done here. Before that, I thought it was a very well done novel, but with the ending, it becomes much more. Life of Pi is not a typical novel. The story, its charming main character and his narrative style are all different than most everything else you can get today. That uniqueness makes it that much more special. I highly recommend Life of Pi. Enjoy.
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Summary: Fantastic Voyage!
Review: I ordered this book in part because I needed a break from my usual fare of spiritual readings, Oprah picks, and National Public Radio. Yawn, I needed some adventure! "Life of Pi" beckoned me to the lost hours of storytales from childhood, secluded in my bedroom on a hot summer day, wonderful stolen hours. Such was yesterday...a book about a boy, a boat, a tiger and God. What more could I want? There are priceless scenes I will undoubtedly return to time and again, particularly the "accidental" intersection of Pi's three wise men comprised of a priest, an imam and a pandit. A hilarious, yet truthful bird's eye view of boy meets dogma. Martel's writing of the sea, animal behavior and his apparent lust for life, meaning and irony are a feast to be savored. Richard Parker would have been impressed --- I left not a morsel. If you want a rollicking summer read without compromising your spirit of seeking, this one's the pick of the litter.
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Summary: BURRR!!
Review: Being on an iceberg, the pages froze together and I couldn't finish it. But I like the cover.
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