Life of Pi

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Summary: Life of Pi
Review: It sounds like the start of a bad joke: A boy, a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan, and a tiger are stranded on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific. The format makes it clear from the beginning who survives, but it is the how that propels the reader, as Pi's voice emerges with an as-told-to memoir quality that relays the tale of a young man who explores a variety of faiths and learns much about human nature through watching the animals at his father's zoo. Everything he discovers through his observations becomes applicable in the oceanic adventure that takes place after the sinking of the ship carrying his family and a few select specimens from the zoo toward a better life in North America. Although ordinarily science and religion are at odds, the lessons learned through spirituality and biology become Pi's salvation. The novel takes an allegorical twist when Pi reveals that his highly imaginative tale of animals corresponds to a more horrific one, peopled with family and crew from the sunken ship. The plot hooks, the writing is vivid, and the tone is engaging after a slow start. Although the gore and physicality are not for the weak of stomach or faint of heart, teens who enjoy reading to learn something about the world around them or themselves will delight in this Booker Prize-winning novel.-

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Summary: I missed the point
Review: I have to agree with Paul R. Gagnon. I liked the premise and Pi probably would have made a great short story. Unfortunately it really didn't pan out to a great novel.
I feel the author has talent but needs to get more of a story line to develop a fantastic story-telling ability.
I'm waiting for Martel's next book!

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Summary: False Pretense
Review: "I have a story that will make you believe in God." This is the presumptive theme of the book. But reader beware. After you have navigated Pi's fantastic South Seas adventure, the narrator will slap you in the face with a very different theme: "which story do you prefer?"; or in other words, God is good precisely because he is a fabulous relief from vile humanity.

If yours is a postmodern devotion, then you will enjoy this book from beginning to end. You probably also enjoyed Umberto Ecco's "Island of the Day Before."

Otherwise, you're likely to finish the book feeling disappointed after you skim through it, or manipulated if you read for meaning.

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Summary: Elegant, excellent, enjoyable
Review: This truly elegant (yet disturbing) little book found its way into my hands via a friend at work. While it's one of the most unusual stories ever to come out, what makes it unique is not the subject so much as the telling of the material. Martel has a knack for storytelling, and the elegant way the tale weaves in and out of various aspects (religion, survival . . . life) is pure magic. Highly unusual and very enjoyable, this book, along with two others (THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD by Jackson Tippett McCrae, and THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY) is one of my favorite reads. Not everything on a bestseller list is good, but these three are.

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Summary: Boooooooooring !
Review: Along with Cold Mountain, this is probably the most boring piece of literature I have ever read. I kid you not. I'm 55 years old, so I've read quite a few in my time. I almost threw it away a third of the way through... It's just a lot of Blah, blah, blah with absolutely NOTHING happening. Don't waste your money on this overly-hyped, meandering and pointless book. You have been warned !!!

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Summary: What reading a book should really feel like...
Review: I have always enjoyed short novels about murder mysteries or comedic mad caps. Books that could take you nowhere but tell a pretty good yarn. Books that last me about a week tops and then i feel as though I need to start another book because I am not completly filled up from the last.
Well, I had enough of that and decided to dip my hands into something alittle different from what I was used to. Books labeled literature. I admit I was scared, but I picked up Life of Pi anyhow. Now I must admit that the only reason I did pick up this book because the cover looked enjoyable. Now, I know basing a book by it''s cover is completely wrong, but I am glad i did. This book has changed my whole perspective on reading. How a book, a small, bound, pile of pages, inked and marked, could create such a world full of laughter, sadness, adventure and religion and at the same time keep it going with a strong plot and fantastic characters has not been seen by me. I actually felt like I was there with him and Richard Parker as they were on the boat, watching with wide-eyed wonder. The ending of this book still sends shivers down my spine and now makes me second guess even the simplist of explanations. If you want a book that takes you far away from the small fiction stories that just give you snapshots of a long series of events and will actually bring you along for an outstanding ride, pick up LIFE OF PI.

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Summary: Good reading
Review: I got this audiobook CD from the library. The first couple hours of the book are devoted to philosophical musings and odd insertions of observations from another writer from another time and place. The description of southern Indian life is interesting. The details of life at sea are very believeable and amazing in their detail. The book becomes confusing in the closing hour or so, where they land on some magical island. Other than that, the book is very believable and interesting.

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Summary: ABSOLUTELY MAGICAL
Review: Let us first get the negatives out of the way:

(1) Yes, you may find that the book is not about "anything much." If you are the sort of person who wishes to tie a novel to a chair and force a definitive plot out of it, then you'll be disappointed.

(2) Martel usually gets into a refrain about theological banalities, and for me, they were a bit difficult to trudge through without skimming. Good news is, you won't miss much even if you skim past such sections (only a few of them.)

(3) The book admittedly drags a little at the end.

That said, I have to confess that this brilliant long-story debut from Martel is a tour-de-force in contemporary fiction. Apart from his extraordinary command of language -- imagine a full-fledged novel without any discernible plot that still manages to grab you by the scruff of your neck for 300 odd pages -- the situations that his narrative veers around are both original and whacky, so you can expect frequent traces of restrained but intelligent humor, and almost a persistent undercurrent of themes that evoke ruminations.

But the thing that shines above all are its lovable characters, who are suffused with such neotenous wonder that reading about them is a fresh experience, a sparkling look at our habitual assumptions about religion, about zoos and the wilderness, about the ambiguous bounds of freedom, or even about -- gulp! -- God.

Almost anyone with a heart and a flair for thought can savour this novel. Do yourself a favor and get a piece of this Pi. Or share it with someone you love, it'd make for a very thoughtful gift..

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Summary: A Super-Alpha book
Review: Critics, as well as all my friends, agree: The Life of Pi is a fabulous book. I twas recommended to me by everyone. Coaches, teachers, and the crazy librarian at the Argonne Library. Thus, I stole it from my sister's book shelf and was taken into the lifeboat and met Richard Parker for myself. I learned with Pi how to teach others the Super-alpha training that comes from inner strength.
The Life of Pi is about Piscine, or Pi, Patel. He's a Hindu, a Muslim, and a Christian, all wrapped up in one package. His father owns a zoo, and he was raised being around animals his entire life. Pi associates life, as well as faith, with the animals. When his family decides to move to Canada he embarks on a journey across the Pacific with his family and some various zoo animals such as a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra, and Richard Parker; a Bengal tiger. When the boat he's on sinks, he has to learn to survive on a lifeboat with the tiger, or else he will be dinner.
There were plenty of lessons to be learned from this book. On page 5 there is the line "When you've suffered a great deal in life, each additional pain is both unbearable and trifling". This book also taught me about faith. Pi said on page 69, "I just want to love God". Throughout this book, throughout all the hardships that Piscine endured, he never lost his faith in Jesus, Mary, Muhammed, whomever. Not only did this book stretch the imagination, but I'm sure it inspired readers to strive for the kind of faith that Pi had; one that could surpass a 450-pound tiger. It was funny at times, sad, but overall enjoyable.
I now have joined the hundreds of people who rave about this book to anyone who would listen. While I don't read fiction very often, this book was actually based on a real story, so the overall effect wasn't that horrid. I learned to look out for my own Richard Parker in life, as well as to treat that Richard Parker like I'm a super-alpha animal , ready for anything.

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Summary: Beautifully inspiring
Review: This is by far one of the most unusual books ever to come out. The story of Pi can best be summed up by his statement, "It is pointless to say that this or that night was the worst of my life. I have so many bad nights to choose from that I've made none the champion." This after having been shipwrecked with a menagerie of animals while taking a freighter to Canada. And as if that premise weren't enough, Martel has given us the added bonus of having Pi try on various religions for size. The effect is mesmerizing and brilliant and opens the door for a wonderful commentary on not everything from life, love, survival, and faith, to basic human instinct and need.

Part fable, part fiction, part truth (at least in one character's mind) this brilliant work is at once beautiful and horrifying in its execution. That Martel is able to take us so completely into the world of Pi is remarkable and a wonder. If you have to read one book, this is the one to pick.

Also recommended: Bark of the Dogwood