I'm a huge fan of Yann Martel's allegorical story.
I read Life of Pi shortly after it had won the Booker, heavily intrigued by the story's improbable premise (boy in lifeboat with Bengal tiger). I was keen to see how the author could pull this off.
But pull it off he did, taking me back to a wondrous childhood of adventure tales and fables.
And you are welcome to whack me over the head with a leather-bound copy of War and Peace, but I am such a sucker for exotic book covers!
Please read the book, don't see the film: Ditto, Captain Corelli.

آه منك يا يان، آه منك
كيف استطعت، بقلمك الجميل ذاك، أن تجلو عن أعيننا هذه الغشاوة العظيمة من الظلام؟
وكأنك، يا يان، ولي صوفي، رجل من أهل الله، تحدثنا عن الله، كما لم يتحدث أحد من قبلك
تجليات، وممارسات، وظهورات نورانية، يبثها فيك، هذا الرجل، بقلمه، بأبطاله، بشخوص روايته كلهم
وبعبقريته الفذة، التي تتجلى لك، بمجرد قراءة الصفحات الأولى من روايته تلك.
"لديّ قصة ستجعلك تؤمن بالله"
هكذا ابتدأت قصته
أين هو الله؟ أهو رب الهندوس؟ أم رب المسيحية، أم رب الإسلام؟
من هو ممثل الله، ومن رسوله
كانت تلك الأسئلة هي ما تراود عقل هذا الفتى، باي.
فتى، وجد الله، في كل شيء، في المعبد، والمسجد، والكنيسة
وجد الله في قلبه، قبل أن يجده في السماء، وقبل أن يجده عند أولئك المتناحرين، حول الممثل الحقيقي للإله
يأخذك يان إلى رحلة، رحلة للماوراء
ما وراء المرئي، ما وراء المعنى، ما وراء الظاهر
رحلة للبحث عن الله، كيف يكون بحثنا عنوالله؟
في وجودنا، في ضمائرنا، في أفراحنا، وفي أتراحنا ومصائبنا كذلك.
يتجلى حضور الله في كل شيء، حتى في أصعب وأشد تلك اللحظات وطأة على النفس، وأشد تلك اللحظات ظلامًا، يتجلى حضور الله، في الأمل بالغد، في الأمل بالخلاص، سواء أكان خلاصًا مسيحيا، أو إسلاميا، أو حتى هندوسيا، في الأمل بالنصر، في نقطة النور تلك التي تأبى أن تنطفئ جذوتها في النفس، والقلب.
أظن أن يان، لو كان أراد أن يكتب ما يدفعنا للإيمان، بشكل بعيد عن اللاهوت، وقريب من القلب، لما استطاع أن يكتب أفضل مما كتب هاهنا.
رحلة ممتعة، وشيقة، ومؤلمة، مليئة بالأسى، والأمل، بالبؤس، والفرح، بالحزن، والسعادة، بكل متناقضات الحياة تلك، بالإيمان كذلك، كما بالشك، بالقسوة التي نجدها في القدر، والناس، والحنو الذي ينتظرنا، في الأخير، في الله
رواية تجعلك ترى الله، وتتأمل حكمته الخفية تلك، وتجعلك تزدري نفسك المغترة، بما ترى فقط، لتؤمن بما لم ترى، وما يتجلى في خفائه، أكثر من ظهوره
رواية عجيبة، عشت معها وكأني أحد أبطالها، أو بشكل ما أحد أناسها العديدين المشوشين
رواية تأخذك إلى الله

A young man, a lifeboat and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Read the book before seeing the movie. As splendid as the cinematography is, the images and themes the novel conjures are richer still.

A man very much aware of the literary elements (obviously an avid reader and serious lit student), Yann Martel proves that a classic can certainly be construed. First off, start with a ridiculous scenario &, doing the reverse of what the Bengal tiger does in the lifeboat, fill it up with meat. He layers the inspirational tale beautifully, & it really helps that the writer's note at the beginning takes you straight to the main source. He knows tons about storytelling. This could have been a 60 page novella, but that would be lesser than the main intention: to construct a sure-fire (pre-"classic") hit.

Let me say, though, that I WAS TURNED OFF by the constant-casual dollops of religion, perhaps what the novel's true main point is. But sometimes petitions are drags. I enjoyed the moments that transported me back to my favorite book in middle school "The Cay" and survival lit always does it's trick: makes you appreciate that you are where you are, and not in the middle of nowhere. Pi the boy is smart & verry patient, a detail that is perhaps even more fantastic than the premise itself. It seems cartoony at times, sure, but when the violence & gore get brutal... well, the combination is simply fantastic. Well done.

“It is true that those we meet can change us, sometimes so profoundly that we are not the same afterwards, even unto our names.”



As a sort of parable on the value of storytelling, Yann Martel's fantastical adventure, Life of Pi, is astonishing. In the most desperate of circumstances, while Pi is on his lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, imagination and storytelling are the keys to Pi's incredible story of survival. Issues about believability, what really happened on the boat, take a backseat to wonder, love, creativity and to a certain extent, madness. The novel is heavy on spirituality, but it is compelling and Pi's evolving relationship with Richard Parker keeps their 227 days at sea interesting.

Life of Pi is a wonder.

It is the story of a boy of sixteen who is stranded on a lifeboat with a Bengal Tiger. It is a tale of survival and man’s interaction with himself and the wild. It is a lesson in zoology and spirituality. And it is just plain great.

Part fable, part allegory, part memoir, part encyclopedia, and part philosophical text—Life of Pi is all of these things. But most of all, it is a story. And it reads like old-fashioned storytelling—the kind in which a circle of boys and girls sit cross-legged and rapt around an old man who, despite his calm demeanor and soft tones, fiercely commands the room’s attention.

In this case, the story he tells is mysterious and wondrous. It is unlike anything anyone has ever heard. And so the children’s parents linger around the outside of the circle, noting the teller’s words and sensing that something is percolating deep beneath the characters and the action, something that, with a knowing glint and a rare hint, the storyteller suggests but doesn’t let on entirely, some moral or truth, or maybe some insight into the human condition.

This teller is good. He has no use for guile, and so his clarity of thought and his simplicity of narration draw his listeners in. He has come to understand life’s essential elements, and so he unfolds his story plainly and without artifice. His listeners, in their complexity, are helpless against his honesty.

And so, a story—a truly sensational and dramatic story built around an often-bloody struggle for life and death—arrives in a voice that is even, measured, paced, scaled. And this voice opens the doors for everything else that is packed in: the vivid aquatic scenes, the reflections on human need and vice, the range and import of zoological understanding.

Faced with all this, the boys and girls and mothers and fathers learn and wonder, and perhaps some of them become aware that this man is not just a storyteller, but truly also a teacher, and that everything he describes—every quandary, every explanation, every detail, every revelation—everything serves to teach something more than the story of a boy and a tiger…

Do I recommend it? Absolutely. Thoughtful, fun, full of stuff.
Would I teach it? Yes, I think so. There’s a lot to work with in there.
Lasting impressions: Aside from some tremendous plot revelations, two things stand out to me: voice and story. There’s something about the simplicity of the voice that reminds me of The God of Small Things and I wonder if it has to do with Indian culture. And then there’s just the great storytelling.

I'm sorry. I know there's deep metaphorical meaning in this book. I know it's multi-layered, terribly clever, spiritual, evocative, beautifully written, all that.

I hated it.

No, hang on - I still hate it. No past tense.

I don't even know why I hate it so much, I simply do. Don't take this as a recommendation to read or not read, I'm simply venting my feelings towards the book.

As near as I can say, this should probably be 3.141592654 stars.

I was disappointed in this novel, but not really surprised at this. Rather I was somewhat prepared for it, because the ratings for it, specifically by my GR friends and reviewers (people I follow), are all over the place. While over half of these ratings are good (4s and 5s), fully 28% are bad (1s and 2s). This is the highest percent of bad ratings for a Booker award winner since 2000 among these people.

And, as indicated by my own rating, there were things I liked about the book. But before I get into any more detail, I will warn readers that there are some mild spoiler type comments in what follows. Most of these are general comments about the structure or message of the book. In one place where I say something very specific about the plot I have used the normal spoiler alert.

So … what I liked about the book was (surprise) probably most of it. I found the main storyline taking place in the boat not only an enjoyable read, but even quite believable. I would be willing (if most of the novel had been published as an actual memoir by a sea disaster survivor) to believe even the bit about the companion that he survived with. I thought the explanation given of how the relation developed between Pi and his feline companion made enough sense to believe.

But there were a number of things about the book that I really disliked.

(1) The Author’s Note which begins the book is probably something that many readers didn’t even read, since I know some don’t read prefatory material in books. I always read this stuff, and I was quite confused when I read this note. Of course I assumed it was a genuine comment by Martel, but finally realized that it is itself part of the fiction. Besides being confused by this material, I was amazed that the author seemed to be claiming that the story he was about to relate would make me believe in God. But more on that later.

(2) Skipping to the other end of the book, the last section, in which Pi is interviewed by the Japanese investigators, struck me first as a very lame attempt at humor (of a rather condescending nature, since it makes these investigators out as complete fools). The way in which Pi is represented as a superior being to these buffoons was more irritating to me than humorous. But the worst part of this section is the alternate story that Pi tells the men when they express disbelief in the story he tells them of his survival. Then, after relating this alternate story, he asks them to believe the one they “like best”. Not the one they think is more probably true, but the one they like best! And these simpletons take Pi up on his request, decide that they like his original story better (no small wonder) and conclude the investigation. Presumably readers are supposed to decide that we too will believe Pi’s story because we like it better than the grisly alternative? (But again, more on this later.)

(3) Several chapters near the end of the sea story seemed weak to me, for various reasons.  
- Chapter 85 (“Once there was lightning …”) seems like an obligatory couple hundred words on something that might happen at sea in a lifeboat, but plays no part in the story; rather, it simply provides a setting for Pi to blather on about how the experience of a close lightning strike swept him into paroxysms of wonder about divinity, God, etc. etc.
- Chapter 86 relates the (unlikely in the extreme) incident of almost being run over by a gigantic tanker (aimed straight at them from thousands of miles away no doubt), which of course has a crew to whom the lifeboat is entirely invisible.
- Chapter 88 (One day we came upon trash …) seems like a meaningless mention of the garbage floating in the Pacific – but it gives Pi the opportunity to pick up a corked (empty) wine bottle, put a note in it, and launch it back into the ocean and out of the story.
- Chapter 89. Now, all of a sudden, the narrative shifts abruptly, with no explanation. Up to this point it has been an interesting survival story, in which Pi is getting along pretty well, Richard Parker has been “tamed”, Pi seems to be having no problem catching both fish and rain water to keep himself and R.P. eating and drinking. All of a sudden he and R.P. are both descending rapidly towards first blindness and then death.
- Chapter 90. Here the nonsense really starts. The blind Pi’s boat amazingly bumps into another lifeboat being rowed by another blind man in the middle of the Pacific Ocean! This is a rather long chapter, filled with conversation between these two blind men, which I’m afraid went right over my head. The only thing I see it adding to the story is that Pi eventually gets some extra water from this man’s boat, and R.P. gets an extra several meals.
- Chapter 92 (“I made an exceptional botanical discovery …”) must be terribly significant, since it goes on for almost 30 pages, and indeed basically concludes the sea portion of the story. This chapter is completely unbelievable, could almost make someone think we are engaged with magical realism. Except it doesn’t feel like that sort of writing. These strange occurrence aren’t “magical”, they are simply weird, near-but-not-entirely-impossible - or perhaps “divine”. Perhaps the last two chapters mentioned are meant to introduce a “miraculous” element into the plot, so that the claim that the story will prompt belief in God can be “demonstrated”. Anyway, once Pi and R.P. have left this living island, we find them completely resuscitated, sight and health (but not spirit, oddly) restored, and in less than 100 words (Chapter 93) the boat is washing through the surf towards a beach in Mexico.

So, in conclusion I’ll make the following observations:
1. Much of the story was an enjoyable read for me; but much was irritating, as I’ve explained above. One thing I can be thankful for is that, although I could have spent the time reading any number of books I would have enjoyed more, reading Life of Pi at least saved me from spending money on the movie.

2. I have to believe that many of the things I found irritating were actually felt to be strong points by the Booker voters. To me, these unusual/irritating aspects of the novel often felt gimmicky. This extends even to the first person narrative, which I think was likely a point in favor of the book’s winning, but which I’m not sure I enjoyed as much as most people apparently did.

3. I’m pretty sure that many people who enjoyed the book were helped on that path by their view that the story, somehow or other, made them feel good about their religious outlook. Now this aspect of the book would certainly not appeal to me, but my perception that the book contained those ideas didn’t keep me from reading it. I have no problem with reading fiction about people who have different religious views than mine, and Pi certainly seems to qualify on that count.

4. Finally, and commenting further on the last point, I began to wonder, as I was putting this review together, whether Pi’s views of God are actually meant to be admired. Might it not be the fact that the author is, however gently and tactfully, perhaps holding them up to ridicule? I certainly have no idea about the author’s religious beliefs, but for all I know he might not be religious at all. Consider: First, in the Author’s Note we find the assertion (by the fictitious Indian man who tells the tale to the author) that the story will make the author (and us readers by extension) believe in God. Does that mean that the author doesn’t believe in God? And of course, the author of this fiction must know very well that a fiction could not possibly have that effect on a rational person. Second, in the final short chapter before the sea-story ends on the Mexican beach, “Pi” writes

The lower you are, the higher your mind will want to soar. It was natural that, bereft and desperate as I was, in the throes of unremitting suffering, I should turn to God.

Right, that’s pretty much what Marx said about religion being an opiate. So, is Pi revealing (presumably unintentionally) his real reasons for believing in God? Third, in the final segment with the Japanese investigators, Pi is able to get them to “believe” his original story “with the animals” by simply asking them

So tell me, since it makes no factual difference to you and you can’t prove the question either way, which story do you prefer? Which is the better story, the story with the animals or the story without animals?
Mr. Okamoto: That’s an interesting question …
Mr. Chiba: The story with animals.
Mr. Okamoto: Yes. The story with animals is the better story.
Pi: Thank you. And so it goes with God.

Thus, the story with God is the better story … we like it more … it makes us feel better … … … QED

"It's important in life to conclude things properly. Only then can you let go. Otherwise, you are left with words you should have said but never did, and your heart is heavy with remorse."
― Yann Martel, Life of Pi

I have struggled to write this review. Not because I didn’t love Life of Pi, because I absolutely did, but because it is difficult to put into words where this incredible tale has taken me.

Throughout the reading, I have found myself utterly horrified and fascinated in equal measure. I can honestly say I’ve never pondered life, religion, survival - and how far a human can be pushed - as deeply as I have since I began my journey with Piscine Molitor Patel. I questioned faith and contemplated how far it could carry someone who's hanging on by a thread. I asked myself if I could have survived even half of what Pi had endured? Probably not, but who knows how strong the will to live is until it's put to the test? This is undoubtedly a book that gave me pause for thought.

Nature is as volatile as it is beautiful and, as an animal lover, I must warn those who might be disturbed by scenes of savagery (i.e. the natural order of life and death as it exists in the animal kingdom).
This story is dazzling, funny, gruesome, allegorical and altogether unforgettable.
Life of Pi is a powerful read.

4.5****

Wow, what a story. It was unflinching and tragic but also lovely all at the same time, with moments of beauty in a grief-filled and survival setting.

I found my heart went out to Pi.

Here’s another book I read, but never reviewed. I’m going to give you a glimpse into my “creative process,” if you will, when it comes to reviewing.

First, I have to limber up . . .

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Then I rack my brain for inspiration . . . always making sure it’s super highbrow and spectacularly literary. In this case? This is a book about a boy . . .

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who survives a shipwreck only to find himself adrift on a life raft with an orangutan . . .

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a hyena . . .

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and a tiger . . .

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Yep, that’s about as good as it gets. Want to read an actual review? Click over HERE to see what Jess had to say. Her review is excellent and she deserves to be Goodreads Famous!

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Yann Martel has said his inspiration for Life of Pi came from a Brazilian book called Max And The Cats A Novel by Moacyr Scliar. The premise of a boy sharing a lifeboat with a big cat is the same and it's an obvious connection. Other than this basic premise, I don't know how much the two books have in common.
But for tone and feel, I think the real inspiration for Martel is The Little Prince, a beautiful children's book with a philosophical subtext presented in a gentle whimsical manner. Both books are about being stranded all alone and then suddenly having to deal with an unpredictable companion, forced to question what is important and how one ought to approach life. Any writer striving after Saint-Exupéry has his heart in the right place. It is a hard act to follow however, and Martel's material completely gets away from him.

Life of Pi has absolute moments of brilliance and I loved many things about it. How I wanted this book to succeed! I was cheering for it like a soccer mom at her kid's big game. Imagine my face falling then, when the kid has a breakaway and is running with the ball the wrong way to his own end zone...

One of the ways things go wrong in Pi is Martel's complete lack of faith in the reader. He assumes we just won't get "it". He explains pretty much everything as it happens, and then re-explains it again later. Although I must say I'm not bitter about it because he doesn't do it in an insulting way. No, he's more like an enthusiastic child who is bursting with delight and cannot hold back.

The larger flaw is his fumbling of ambiguity, and for this story ambiguity is its heart and soul. These fumbles begin with his discussions of religion and philosophy, but it's really bad in the ending. I do not wish to add a spoiler, but I'll say that where a hint, an incongruity or even a single well placed word could have cast a doubt in our minds, Yann chooses rather to blast away and spell the whole thing out.

I bought this edition at the Goodwill! My favourite store. They wanted to charge $4.00, but I *proved* it was a kid's book by showing the pictures, and got it for $1.49. The unsound ethics of buying books second-hand got just that little bit worse in my hands ;-)

Life of Pi really inspires visual interpretation:

I wish I could convey the perfection of a seal slipping into water or a spider monkey swinging from point to point or a lion merely turning its head. But language founders in such seas. Better to picture it in your head if you want to feel it.

A few of the illustrations from my edition:

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She came floating on an island of bananas in a
halo of light as lovely as the Virgin Mary


Lord avert their eyes from me, I whispered in my soul.



I quite deliberately dressed wild animals in tame
costumes of my imagination.
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Illustrations by Tomer Hanuka:

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Life of Pi covers:
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The Movie:
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The Soundtrack:n  n