Rating: 
Summary: Like a Dream You Can't Shake
Review: Martel is successful in clearly constructing Pi's universe, leaving a reader to feel as if s/he is placed in the Life of Pi. I found myself gasping aloud and gripping my chest at certain parts. The story is an on switch of the imagination which serves to captivate a readers attention. The idea itself is luring and the story line is addictive. Even when I was not reading the book, it's tone stayed with me everday, even as I dreamed at night, the impression of adventure was always present.
Although some parts are gruesome, even the most sensitive of readers will not skip a line because of the value in every passing scenario. If I am ever abandonded on a life boat with wild animals, I am confident that I will survive because I have done so already with Pi Patel.
Rating:
Summary: I do not think this book makes you believe in God
Review: I have rated this book with 5 stars because I really liked it, I couldn't stop
reading it after I finished it, which implied losing a lot of sleeping hours.
However, my main concern regarding other comments I have read here is relating
the statement that this book makes you believe in God. I do not agree with this
statement. I think that no book can convince an atheist to believe in God, as
no book can convince a believer in God to change his/her mind. Furthermore, I
do not think that this is the aim of the author. Instead, my feeling is that it
talks more about the fact that we can not know the "true history", and, from
this point of view, every interpretation is acceptable and must be respected.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant! Brilliant book!
Review: Life of Pi is an engaging literary prose that will leave you spellbound once you have finished the book. With a tiger named Richard Parker, this book goes beyond the threshold of fables- A wondrous, wondrous treat...a literary masterpiece! Buy the book! You will not regret it!
Rating: 
Summary: numb
Review: This is a very gruesome story which has little to do with God. It would have been better without the last few chapters. There is very little mention of religion after the shipwreck. The book actually deals more with the dark side of man. Yuck.
Rating:
Summary: All About Faith
Review: If you want to read an outstanding novel about faith plus the jolt of adventure, then this is for you. It was the cover that intrigued me. But once you start reading the book, its well written and beautiful chapters unfold to form a different world of excitement and interest. The book starts out with the teenager Pi Pital who lives in Pondicherry, India. His father is a zoologest and runs a zoo in that city. He explains his experiences with zoo animals and what he has learned. This first part also explores his desire to know God and his decision to follow three religions: Catholocism, Islam and Judaism. The second part of the book focuses on his journey at sea. He is stuck on a large lifeboat with a haina, an injured zebra, a sick orangutan and a hungry Bengal tiger. Eventually, it is just him, the tiger and a small cooler full of different foods. The story continues to demonstrate his faith in God and how he attempts to survive at sea, plus his fluctuating mental state. This book takes an interesting approach to storytelling. It is told from Pi's point of view and that allows his mental state and faith to be easily explored. Although there is little dialogue in the main parts of the book, the descriptions and thoughts display the story successfully. Definately a classic and will be read in many high schools in the days to come.
Rating: 
Summary: A story about The Story
Review: By turns hilarious, brutal, believable, ridiculous, beautiful, harrowing - ultimately an allegory. My complaint is that I wish it had stayed a story and not become openly a meditation on The Story. If you liked this book, try John Gardner's Grendel. I rank that 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Captivating
Review: A wonderful read. It's been a month since I finished and still think about this book from time to time. Excellent writing and story telling.
Rating:
Summary: A Story to Believe In
Review: "I have a story that will make you believe in God."
"That's a tall order."
"Not so tall that you can't reach." Yann Martel won the prestigious Man Booker Prize for his 2001 original novel Life of Pi, a unique and entertaining tale that seems to defy one's ability to place it in a certain genre. It is, by parts, a picturesque account of the life of an Indian schoolboy and son of a zookeeper; a brazen tale of a castaway's survival on the open seas; a display of sardonic humor and wit. Life of Pi can be described by a host of words, and all would be correct: clever, imaginative, funny, dramatic, brutal, sad, triumphant, horrifying, serious, sweeping, impassioned, shocking, amazing; it is all of those things. Above all, it is a memorable and unique read that crams so many pages worth of story into a tightly wound, briskly paced, and highly enjoyable book.
Rating:
Summary: Truth or fiction? You decide
Review: I'd rate this as a classic story. First of all, the narrator has a juicy, irridescent curious and intelligent mind that enticed me to be just as curious as he was. Secondly, the adventures he went through were explained in an order that enhanced the reading experience, only to make it more entertaining. Thirdly, it promised to make me believe in God. Since I'm a skeptic, I didn't htink it was possible. Surely enough it wasn't - but it did give a very convincing argument why I should. Why accept "dry, yeastless factuality" when you can revel in the better story? This book about faith and natural beauty was very touching, and I think it'd be a pleasing experience for any reader.
Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking
Review: This is a book that will revive you spiritually. Pi Patel is a brilliant character, full of life and inspiration. A victorious ending was promised, but I can't bear it when something is so psychologically and emotionally painful that it has to be masked with a fabricated story. I don't know what exactly happened to Pi Patel, but it was a painful experience. Great book though. I'd like to meet him.
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