Life of Pi
August 8th, 2002by Yann Martel
ISBN: 0151008116
I often have a difficult time writing about books I love. I feel like I won’t do them justice, or that I won’t be able to explain well enough why a person should go read this book right now. I feel that way about this book. It is an amazing novel.
So, how to talk about it? How not to spoil the magic by giving away too much?
I’ll start with the narrative structure. It is told as a story within a story in precisely 100 short chapters. The tone, the level of description, the pacing all grabbed me and sucked me in, and I knew I would keep reading (compulsively) until I was finished. Not so unusual, you might be thinking, but considering that you know early on how it will end, and how long it will take, that is something of a feat. This is the story of a boy who is shipwrecked, and survives in a lifeboat for months. With a tiger. And finds God with him as he floats across the Pacific Ocean.
Actually, a character in the book, who is quoted on the bookjacket, says it will make you believe in God, and asks if a reader can “reasonably ask for anything more.” Having a belief in a higher power before reading the book, I can’t really say if it will make a person believe or not. I think it will at least make someone who didn’t believe see why another person would. As Pi (who to the consternation of all around him, has followed a Hindu and a Muslim and a Christian path) says: “Faith in God is an opening up, a letting go, a deep trust, a free act of love–but sometimes it was so hard to love.”
Not that the author is proselytizing. He isn’t. He is telling his story and the twist in the end has to do with believability, but a reader is left with open options.
The book is beautiful, for its descriptions of animals (the main character’s father is a zoo keeper in India) and the ocean. And faith, and believability.
I can’t resist another quote. Near the end, when two men are questioning Pi, and doubting his story, he tells them this:
Love is hard to believe, ask any lover. Life is hard to belief, ask any scientist. God is hard to believe, ask any believer. What is your problem with hard to believe?
I will probably reread this book, and soon. L also read it, and we are thinking about reading it out loud to each other. It has catapulted itself into each of our mythical “top five novels” lists. I loved Life of Pi and can’t recommend it enough.
August 10th, 2002 at 4:43 pm
From your review, I am definitely curious about this book. I will put it on my to-read list.
Thanks,
a fellow reader
August 12th, 2002 at 12:45 pm
Thanks for stopping by. I’ll have to add the book roost (http://www.littleorangecrow.com/stacks.html) to my sidebar links.
October 18th, 2002 at 5:31 pm
I can’t agree with you more! I loved this book so much that I’ve been on what seems like a crusade to get absolutely everyone I know to read it. I’m counting down the days until the Booker Prize and praying it wins because then I know in 20 years it will still have a place on library book shelves where it will keep being discovered. I plan to read it again soon with a pencil to mark off all the incredible quotes that still float around in my head, his description of killing the dorado as “killing a rainbow” was so vivid.
I just found your site, I’m sure I’ll be back and I’ll try to pass on any other great books I read.
October 22nd, 2002 at 12:07 am
I read this book and I loved it! I would really like to believe that the story was true and not just a representation of what really happened. I would like to know other peoples opinions on the matter. Thanks
October 23rd, 2002 at 4:31 pm
Martel won the Booker!
http://reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=entertainmentnews&StoryID=1616637
October 30th, 2002 at 9:48 pm
This is the most inspiring book I have read in a long time. Inspiring because there are contemporary writers out there who are gifted masters of the brush and the pen. I read this book in 27 hours because I was not going to sleep until I knew Pi and Richard Parker, and now I do.
Joyce would have read this book and had another epiphany!
December 7th, 2002 at 5:53 pm
i loved the book. i was a bit unsure at the begining as it was a bit enigmatic but once getting to the end it had my mind working. i belive the story with the animals, simply because he wouldnt be able to go into so much detail if they werent really there….or would he?the son of zoo keeper..maybe he would.
ID RATHER believe the animal story, i side with the japanese inpsectors on this one.
Richard parker alter ego?
December 13th, 2002 at 1:12 am
Just finished the book twenty minutes ago and have since been scouring the Internet for comments/analyses. I’m having a hard time digesting the end.
I LOVED this book–was drawn to it in the most random way at the bookstore, on a day I hadn’t intended to go there or buy anything. God put it there for me to find? And consequently it is Pi’s final comment on God that I can’t yet grasp: where is Martel trying to direct us when Okamoto and Chiba choose the animal story? Is it human interpretation of reality/God he’s commenting on or is it a comment on God’s choice of “stories” for mankind? Or something else altogether?
I know what I want it to be, but I can’t yet make it work…
My vote for best passage: p. 161-162 (fear).
January 9th, 2003 at 5:25 am
Absolutely stunning piece of writing, I cannot recall ever being so enthralled by a book in all my life. The whole story A versus Story B does not even worry me but i am amazed to find myself immediately looking for others views almost as soon as I finish. Also astounded to find that people have had the self same reaction as I did with regards to reading it aloud to a friend or re-reading the book and highlighting some of the fabulous quotes that appear at almost every turn…awesome!!!
February 22nd, 2003 at 9:57 am
What a wonderful story. It is exactly the type of book that, after reading it, you want to find someone else who has read it and talk and talk and talk about it. The narrative is both so moving and, at times, horrifying, that you can’t help but get drawn into it. I agree with the first post by JS - it’s not that this book will make you believe in God, it’s that regardless of your stance on the matter it will make you re-examine your reasons why or why not you would believe in God. Life of Pi makes you ask questions and have a think after you finish it, even though it is clearly fiction.
This brings me to the post by John W, asking where Martel is trying to direct us when the Japanese choose the animal story. Like in most great books I think that this is left for you to decide for yourself - for me I keep thinking about how Pi keeps telling us how he would not have survived without Richard Parker. Yes, both stories are equally plausible and improvable, but only one story gives Pi the spirit to survive his ordeal. That’s what I take from it, at least, that in times of terrible ordeal it is often those who believe in God that have the will to endure. Without Richard Parker, Pi would have died - this is why the animal story is the “better” story.
I’d love to hear other people’s takes!!
March 27th, 2003 at 11:30 am
I was captivated by the third page and have thought about Pi and Richard Parker many times since finishing the book. Once you close the book the story does not end, rather it evolves into something new everytime you probe deeper into it. It’s rare to find a story like that these days, and is one of the things that makes Life of Pi such a charming tale. This book made me want to discuss it further with others who have also read it and so it is the first choice of a little book club I started, mostly to discuss this one book!! Thank you Yann Martel.
May 6th, 2003 at 8:37 pm
What a story.The better story, all I kept thinking about was the tree different mostly opposing stories of the Three Wise Men Pi and his parents meet while strolling in India. The better story - does he mean to say the better religion, since religions are all seemingly rooted in some sort textual document i.e. the stories in the Bible or the stories told by the Hopi Indians. Does the better story question make all religious documents nothing more than interpretive or precriptive stories base on some unknown reality. I really love his comparison of the final moment of the agnostic and the atheiest where he wonders if by not making a deathbed leap of faith the agnostic simply missed the.. better story.
May 29th, 2003 at 4:03 am
I thought I had read great literature before, but this novel tops my list! I can see that the story also had profound effects on others. I think it definately comes down to the better story concept. Maybe there is no god (the “believable” story), but maybe there is (the Richard Parker story), and since either is possible which would you rather believe. In my heart at the end of the novel I wanted to believe the Parker (better) story. I loved the analogy, I don’t know if it changed my opinion on god, but it made me question it. I’m amazed at that alone!
I already lent my copy out, wish I could be more specific, but so many passages cry out in my memory- the agnostic vs atheist vs believer I believe is the finest. The island is a great challenge to our belief in the story. It’s all so wonderful. I have read many reviews where the novel is criticized as being slow at first. I didn’t feel that way at all. Did anyone else?
So, if anyone has read something they consider on par with or better than Life of Pi please reply or send me an email. Everything I have read since has paled in comparison.
June 4th, 2003 at 2:35 pm
my friends and I can’t stop talking/thinking about this book- Is Richard Parker Pi’s alter ego? Are the Hyena, Zebra and Orangutan the evil cook, the sailor and Pi’s mother? What is the island? heaven and hell? Is Richard Parker the embodiment of God? Life force, death, stregnth? Mostly we are all wondering about the island- life supporting in day, death producing at night- what do people out there think about the island? This is easily the most provocative book I have read since “Slaughterhouse Five”. Spiritual.
June 5th, 2003 at 8:00 am
I finished this book last night, and like so many others, have been scouring the internet for discussions about it. Unlike the other commenters, however, it seems to me that both “stories” that Pi tells are true….the human story is what really happened, and the animal story is what kept him alive on the lifeboat. Richard Parker is Pi, and is also the strength of God that Pi found within himself — and allowed him to survive. The animal story is the “better” story — i.e., it is the more fantastical, and is the one that brings Pi (and his listeners) closer to God. But the “better” story, in this case, is not the “true” story…it is simply the story that, I think, Martel wants us to remember…because it will maybe bring us closer to God ourselves. (On another note, it seems to me important that the tiger’s name is “Richard Parker” — such a simple, common name — while such a great deal is made about the uniqueness of Pi’s name. Richard Parker is what Pi wants to be, what he strives for within himself; he is Pi’s internal voice. Gosh, I wish I had a book club!)
June 10th, 2003 at 4:41 pm
Hey. I was ‘forced’ to read this in my Grade 13 English class. I thought the first bit was pretty dry, but as soon as the accident happened, the book didnt seem as stale.
I ended up reading it over a second time just because I wanted to. It was overall a really good book.
June 22nd, 2003 at 5:21 pm
what a story,the end is doing my head in,which is the real story?is it all metaphorical?was the island real?some great quotes about fear.it did take a while to get going for me but after the accident it really gripped me.a brilliant novel
July 18th, 2003 at 7:23 am
wow. i really think this book is fantastic. I really wolud like to believe the animal story, but after reading the novel i have been through various websites. Does anyone know that the Tsimtsum wasnt even a proper ship, and that it is actually a religious word? Also Pi (as in the mathematical symbol) written in fraction form 22/7. This when calculated gives the answer 3.142…..Pi. Sorry to burst your bubble, and i was severly disappointed when i discovered this, but this novel is now in my top 3 favourite books. It was interestin to read everybody elses thoughts and it has made me think about it a lot.
October 5th, 2003 at 10:11 pm
“(On another note, it seems to me important that the tiger’s name is “Richard Parker” — such a simple, common name — while such a great deal is made about the uniqueness of Pi’s name. Richard Parker is what Pi wants to be, what he strives for within himself; he is Pi’s internal voice.)”
That may be so, but in India Richard Parker probably isn’t a very common name as it is.
“Also Pi (as in the mathematical symbol) written in fraction form 22/7. This when calculated gives the answer 3.142…..Pi.” And your point is? We already know that he purposely changed his real name to the nickname “Pi” meaning 3.14 etc…
October 5th, 2003 at 10:16 pm
Oh wait.. Never mind about that 22/7 thing. I get it
November 11th, 2003 at 1:19 pm
Hate to burst YOUR bubble Jen, but 22/7 is a highly inaccurate approximation for Pi which fails at the third decimal place. As Martel notes, Pi is a completely irrational number which can never be expressed to absolute accuracy. Similarly, the use of the word “Tsimtsum” is symbolic, so there;s nothing more to say there. Glad you liked the book though.
December 6th, 2003 at 10:44 am
I am still reading this book and I find it extremely captivating. I can hardly put it down. I would recommend “Life of Pi” to anyone.
February 13th, 2004 at 4:35 pm
i found this book very profound and almost original.
I totally fell in love with Richard Parker, loved him for his companionship with Pi, hated him for the way he left Pi…..he could have said some type of goodbye….that bit….really got my emotions going…and i cried my eyes out…and i never never cry!
that was cry number 1
cry number 2 was when the japs never believed him!
cry number 3 was the last sentence of the whole book!
ive lent this book out to all my freinds on the false pre-tence thats its a true story…otherwise they will not read it…and i want everyone to read it…..who wants to read a piece of fiction about a poor indian trapped on a lifeboat with a ten ton tiger called richard parker.
in my mind, its a true story……you just gotta let yr imagination run a bit wild ….my wife could well be richard…in fact she IS.!
loved it very much
Daz
February 13th, 2004 at 4:47 pm
sorry….just to continue a bit more…
having read this book a second time……dont you think that richard could have been his farther?….and he could have suffered abuse?…and!….maybe his second story to the japs was the real story?
sh/?t i keep forgeting its fiction
Daz
February 13th, 2004 at 4:56 pm
sorry….i wont post anymore after this…..
did anyone else get tearful after reading this masterpiece?
my wife thinks im stupid to cry over a dumb book.
February 16th, 2004 at 4:11 pm
Cracking story, but one bit almost ruined it for me. My problem is that I think Yann Martel has got agnostic & atheist mixed up.. remember the bit about how horrible it must be to die a unbelieving ‘agnostic’(Chapter 22 - p85 in my edition), whilst the ‘atheist’ dies seeing god at last. This is surely back to front. Personally, I’m an true unbeliver, and see no evidence for God, and feel no need for God - i.e. atheist. My girlfriend however, has not found her God, but believes there may be something out there - i.e. an agnostic. However - still a storming book! C
Either the printers has set the type wrong, I am reading it wrong or Martel is wrong.
March 27th, 2004 at 3:09 pm
Life of Pi takes us through the journey of a innocent boy, who truly belives in god. The Pi experiecnes wrecking situations where almost all hope is lost, however his imagination keeps him going. He makes the reader believe that intellect may be proved wrong, but your belief in God cannot. People that base eeverything on proof,are plain. A person needs to belive in what cannot be proven or seen,because that is what brings light to us when we are in complete darkness, the unknown. Like Pi and the tiger, we also need a companion throughout life, we can choose whether we want god as our companion or our imagination,it really is the same. Pi chooses a tiger as his companion, and that keeps him going, many other people choose god as their companion which keeps them going. The point is , people who do no belive in the unseen are more likely to give up on life in the most desperate situations than people who belive in the unseen and unknown.
May 2nd, 2004 at 6:06 pm
I totally loved this book! Also, I enjoyed this site- so many opinions! I was looking for a review for a project, but this was fun to read. If Daz reads this site again- I think Richard is really Pi’s many burdens in life, his doubts and fears. After Pi goes through this entire journey and finds his inner peace, Richard can leave, and symbolizing Pi’s freedom from his burden. Does that make sense? I completely agree with the anon comment from March (except that Pi did choose God as his companion). And I beleive the first story is true, not the story he tells the japs. (Remember the meerkats’ skeletons found in the boat?) Well, I want to believe that one!
May 18th, 2004 at 10:46 pm
I like all the interesting comments on this page and I am beginning to have more insight. Everything about religion and animals started to make sense on the third section to me. pi had a beleif and his spiritual knowledge gave him the attitude to ‘grab life by the horns’ and face his problems. Hence, the whole idea of the intincts of a tiger and the way tigers think- strength, loyalty, willingness, stubborness to face all problems that come his way. i guess from the real story, his father and Ravi died first because they had no beleif, his mother died later because she got excited sometimes of the spiritual beleif that pi had and then pi himself who survived till the end. what pi is trying to get out here is miracles, wonders and beleiving in the unknown and the “supernatural”
May 18th, 2004 at 10:48 pm
makes you a better person in life.
May 24th, 2004 at 8:18 pm
I read this book in my English class and I absolutely hated it! I thought that it was the worst book I had ever read…but then I had to right a paper on it, comparing it to George Eliot’s “Comment” on Realism. By the time I had finished the paper, I was a believer. I saw what I hadn’t seen before. This book is definetly worth a read or two!
July 18th, 2004 at 1:28 am
I found a completely different opinion, which is why i love this book so much, i feel that the different realities at the end pose as religious beleifs and real truths, his story of the tiger is a much nicer story it is what everyone including the reader wants to beleive even if it isnt true, the japanese men beleive it because it sounds better than a story about cannibalism and vengance, atheism would be to look at the truth and the falsity is to beleive the made up story, then again the stories could be switched and it still fits, people are unwilling to beleive the story of animals so they need to hear something that makes there lack of knowledge ok, then again there are religious undertones that try to boost gods image, its so twisted i dont know what to think although this book would never make me beleive in god, however i do like how it shows conflicting religions and it helps to show the foundations of religion, this boy pi loves to love a higher power he beleives in many reasons for the sake of love and not some stupid greedy reason of many ecclesiastical people these days, anyways thats my two cents
August 17th, 2004 at 11:22 am
After finishing Life of Pi, I’ve decided that I hate the book. I don’t want to believe that there was another “story” of what happened. Well actually, I don’t hate the book. I love it and how much of a fight it put through my head after reading it, my mind going back and forth, not knowing what to believe. I just hate the fact that it’s fiction.
August 30th, 2004 at 8:27 pm
If you really liked life of pi the book east of eaden by john steinbeck will blow you away.
November 6th, 2004 at 10:44 am
hi,
we read this novel in our grade 11,english class. overall i thought it was an O.K book…..definitely not my fav. but….i need help! we are to write an essay, and we can pick any topic[it has to relate to life of pi] so i picked the topic ” which story is better”…i read a lot of ur opinions in this site…if you guys have thing else to say….that would directly relate to my topic please email them to me. thank you
November 9th, 2004 at 6:51 pm
Yann Martel created a masterpiece
November 10th, 2004 at 7:07 am
Hi! I am reading this book as part of my higher english course and i must say i think it is facinating! I have not yet finished the book but will have by the end of the week. i have to write an essay on the book in the near future…It would be great if anyone could give me any tips or insights into the structure and the layout of my essay. I am currently thinking on the type of question i am going to set myself to write about in my essay. I enjoyed reading everyones opinions! it has helped me a great deal. Thanx
November 27th, 2004 at 6:03 am
Let me start by saying I think Richard Parker must be the part of Pi (himself) that makes him capable of things the familiar Pi would not be able to. (As a consequence, who killed/ate the other victims? Richard Parker as a cover-up? Somewhere in the beginning Pi tells us that he felt he had the absolute will for survival in him..)
The name Richard Parker:
By the way, in the story about Arthur Gordon Pym, by Edgar allen Poe, there is a Richard Parker who is killed and eaten by the other three victims of a shipwreck;
50 years later in 1884, in real life, a man was killed and eaten by his three fellow victims of a shipwreck (ms. mignonette) and this man’s name was.. also Richard Parker.(!)
November 27th, 2004 at 1:25 pm
Over everything else the greatest reason I consider Pi to be an odd character is his religion, or rather three religions. Just thinking about it makes a person laugh. Though the only religion he truly understands or has at least come close to understanding is Hinduism. Islam and Christianity are greatly similar. Both Christianity and Islam are monotheist religions. Muslims believe that there is one God and Muhammad is his prophet. Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. So Pi simply cannot be Christian or Muslim no matter how much he prays or goes to the church. Pi doesn’t truly understand the religions and the only reason he wants to be all three religions is to get closer to god. Rather than accept this Pi chooses to think he’s all three religions showing how ignorant he truly is. Beginning was broing and ending was better. I was forced to this book for class and we have an essay on it. Definitely not top ten material but not a bad book. This book wasn’t in any way religously inspiring sez the 15 yr old kid who it seems know much more than these guy swho wrote the comments and i don’t even consider myself smart. i was just looking for something to help me with my essay so i read the comments. those of u actually waste your time looking for comments on it on the internet need to get a life. i even read that some dum chic cried several times reading this book though she said that she usually isn’t emotional whereas in no way is this book emotional and there isn’t anything to cry about. what is this world coming to when Bush gets voted president of America even after the release of Fahrenheit 9/11. the only good thing that’s coming from this guys presidency is the alliance between Pakistan and America. that’s good for my country any ways. i lived in America 4 yrs and other places the rest of my life and the only thing i’ve ever heard about America from those who aren’t americans is that americans are ignorant of the rest of the world.
December 1st, 2004 at 1:34 pm
We just finished reading this book for english class.We enjoyed it but have nothing deep or meaningful to say about it.People please try to be politically correct when you are posting. They are called “the japanese” not japs. thanks
December 13th, 2004 at 8:07 pm
Vital Notes on Life of Pi:
-Two main themes: theology and zoology
-Main Points:
1) All religions lead to the same God.
2) People can be familiarized with anything.
3) Fear and despair are worse than physical dangers.
4) Companionship is man’s innermost desire.
5) People like to believe events that do not make them think.
-Age of Pi: 42 (as of July 2004)
-Mamaji (Pi’s family friend) says, “I have a story that will make you believe in God.” What that means is this story will make people re-think about what they have to lose and what there is to gain about believing in God.
-Richard Parker’s current status: most likely dead (28 years old - 10 years above normal tiger lifespan).
-This is a FICTIONAL story (although the author’s note may make you think otherwise).
-Family status: Wife, two kids (one boy one girl), cat.
-Suggested Reading: Oryx and Crakes (Margaret Atwood)
December 13th, 2004 at 11:30 pm
The point of this novel is not which story is the better, or which is the true story because it is irrelevant. What is important is that we the reader, want to believe the animal story. For those who have commented that they cannot understand the religious side to this story here is where it lies. We as the reader long to believe the animal story happened, as would a religious person from any faith (Islam, Hindu, Christianity) believe in their religious text, take it as the truth. Yann Martel puts a non-believer in the shoes of a believer. In choosing the animal story as the preferred one we are putting faith in the divine, putting our faith in the will of a boy to live, by keeping his faith alive (Richard Parker). Ultimately that is choosing god. If by reason we decide that we must pick the human story then we choose by our heart to believe the animal version. If in fact we take the human story as the reality we must ultimately admit that humanity is rooted in the animal condition. Pi’s need to become the tiger comes about because as Richard Parker he represents all that a tiger does and no longer is accountable to god. “…I noticed, with a pinching of the heart, that I ate like an animal, that this noisy, frantic, unchewing wolfing-down of mine was exactly the way Richard Parker ate.? (Page 225). Hope that helps with the essay’ dudes.
January 2nd, 2005 at 12:27 am
i dont understand this book very much. i dont understand the two stories in the book (one in bold and italized) and wats going on in the 2nd story where Pi is older. i was reading and i’m confused who richard parker is but i know that sometimes Pi refers the bengel tiger as r.p. and i thought that the bengel tiger drowned and did not dispatch all the other animals…please help me. because i want to understand this wonderful story..
send your response to : chunkiemonkeys@yahoo.com
January 3rd, 2005 at 2:24 pm
I loved this book, i just need a little bit of help on my essay, could someone elaborate on this, it would be greatly apprisiated.
“Yann Martel tells this story of Pi Patel as if it were true, which makes the reader come closer to the characters and question if this story of survival actually happened.”
January 6th, 2005 at 2:04 pm
here is a great discussion on the flesh eating island thing:
http://bookblog.net/bbarchives/000304.html
what a great f-ckng book!
those of you who don’t at all get why it should touch some of us inside the way it does are either young or people that by nature avoid self reflection. mho :P.
May 2nd, 2005 at 7:48 pm
Awesome, awesome book, started off okayish, got a lot better after the boat sank and the last few pages totally blew me away! I totally agree with Nick, the reason Pi was three different religions at once wasnt through ignorance, quite the opposite. The point was that all religions, when the rituals and ceremony are stripped away, are built from a core of faith in something that you can never prove to be true (i.e. ‘God is faith’ and all that malarkey). The two stories reflect two different attitudes to god, the animal one represents a religious view of the events, the ‘true’ human story the athiest standpoint. To be truly athiest requires as much faith as to be religious, athiests cant prove there is no god as religious folk cant prove there is one, and its all down to which story you’d prefer to believe, the beautiful story of the animals, or the brutal cold reality… ’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’ (p 317). He didn’t have athiest and agnostic mixed up, he challenges agnostic people for having no strong faith either way.
Interestingly, Tsimtsum is an old kabalistic term that means ‘contraction’, in the sense that God contracted within himself to make space for the universe during the creation, i.e. before he could make something, he had to contract to virtually nothing, in the same way that Pi’s real test of faith, an arduous yet defining ordeal that turned him into the man he is today, could only have taken place after he lost everything. Tsimtsum is also a link in the book to Judaism, although it sounds Japanese it’s actually a Hebrew word.
This book also has perhaps the best closing sentence I have ever read.
July 22nd, 2005 at 3:30 pm
This book was really good it’s just that when you try to find some good quotes to help you understand the book it makes it really hard.Is there a site were you can find some good quotes so i can understand the ful concept of the book.I also didn’t get the part about who orange juice is in the second part if any body can help me understand who or what that is please email me at chunkymonkey1491@yahoo.com thank you
January 24th, 2006 at 7:17 pm
I didnt really like this book because the ending spoiled the “magic.” Oh well
March 21st, 2006 at 3:56 pm
I HAD TO READ THIS BOOK FOR SCHOOL. AND IT WAS THE ONLY BOOK IVE ACTUALLY READ IN MY HIGH SCHOOL CAREER. I ENJOYED IT
March 25th, 2006 at 9:49 pm
This book totally blows. Hate it, hate it, hate it, ending makes no sense, don’t see how this book won a award… totally sucks.
April 14th, 2006 at 12:03 pm
Life of Pi is a book I have always meant to read and now having finally read it I am kicking myself for not reading it sooner. His story has so many layers, themes and depth, yet it is so easy to read.. He balances humour, irony, shock and sadness brilliantly.
My favourite theme is the way he questions religion, Pi chooses to worship three religions. And why not.. Religion is a personal choice, a way to find guidance and peace. Not just blindly follow the rules and conform. This is something I may have to disagree with the author, or rather say don’t tar India with that brush. India is one of the few countries wher you can see religions overlapping. I know many Indians that regularly go to church and temple. Christians wear white then change into red sari’s when they get married. The Dalai Lama sought refuge in India.. There are so many religions living in harmony, Hindu’s, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jews, Jain’s, Parsi’s the list goes on. There are public holidays for so many religions. In the book the fact that there are these three very different religions so easily accessible to Pi is a testimont to the true melting pot that India is.
May 10th, 2006 at 1:15 pm
Like most people on this blog I loved the book and most of all I loved ending. The very last paragraph is one of the best punch lines I’ve ever read.
However I seem to have a somewhat different way of looking at it then most people who read it and I failed to find someone who shares my view.
Ever since reading it more then a year ago I wondered if the conclusions that so obviously seem to present themselves, to my mind, are where Martell tries to lead us.
Reading some of the previous comments, I’m fascinated by how our different beliefs will steer us to very different conclusions. So here are mine:
I used to call my self and agnostic. But now, having read a passage on the issue in “The Salmon Of Doubt” by Douglass Adams (recommended), I realized what I really am:
Like Adams, I’m a “radical atheist”.
Religion still fascinate me greatly; the need for it by society and individuals, It’s constructive and destructive forces. Which one is greater? Do they balance each other?
And most of all what is truth? Does the truth matter?
That, I think is the main question posed by the book. And the obvious answer, as far as Picine (and maybe Martell as well) is concerned is that the truth does not matter.
The reader knows (at least towards the end) that for all practical purposes the tiger story is a complete fabrication.
But, it’s the better story. It’s more beautiful, longer and much less gruesome. What’s more it helps sustain Pi in his ordeal and saves his life.
To me, the analogy with religion is inescapable. Religion is a good story. It’s gives society a moral code, a focus for communal and family activity, easy answers to extremely complex issues, and hope in time of despair. So who cares about truth?
Well…, call me petty, but I do.
Why?
Before I answer I must touch on the issue of what is truth or reality is.
An individual can experience a certain space that can be very real to him/her.
If you feel God in your heart (in your brain actually, but never mind) as some people say, that is meaningless to me. You must point out to experiences that everyone can relate to for something to be considered a reality.
Science does not gives us the whole truth and nothing but. It does however give us a decent methodology for defining reality. An objective “due process” if you wish, for determining what can reasonably be accepted as a fact.
That so called Due Process should be free from the effects of the desired outcome, internal (of oneself) or external (someone who wish to exert influence on us).
Without it some of us will choose the “better story” and have life full of love and hope and all the answered they want. Others will choose or be steered to not-very-nice stories of hatred, self-righteousness and violence.
When making important decisions rather then asses the facts at hand some will act based on there adopted story.
Rather then slow population growth some will choose to ban condoms. Rather then prospering in peace some of us will drive the others, who’s story is different (and they hate) out of their “promised” land.
Rather then loving life some of us will blow themselves and others up and go to heaven to meet the seventy virgins awaiting them. (lovely story isn’t it)
June 4th, 2006 at 11:27 pm
I Reserved My Man For Rainbow Six War So That If I Ever Die I Will Forever Love The God Of The Strength Of Sprial Factor And If Anything Ever Happens To This Hunka Crap Book I Would Read It Dissatisfied Dumb Institute Canada Korea.
June 11th, 2006 at 1:32 pm
We were required to read this book in my high school english class in reading groups. There were four people in my group, and we all thought this book was terrible. Yes, we all understood the meaning of it and such (we’re senior English Honors under an ivy league professor, we learn a lot), but we thought it was terrible. The ending was horrible and does not lead to any conclusions. It kind of ruins the ending, and it ruins the magic you believe of surviving with a tiger. Yes, you know that the boy made it up and that’s what helped him to survive. The book was gruesome in details, had unneccessary plot lines, and did not make sense sometimes. I’m sorry to all that liked it, but the two groups that read it in my school and class, did not like it at all.
June 11th, 2006 at 1:34 pm
oh , and to add from my previous comment, I don’t care about how he got his name Piscine Molitor Patel, that was the most boring thing I have ever read in my life. The first 93 pages made me sleep.
July 5th, 2006 at 10:25 pm
the first, like, 3 chapters are pretty boring, but after that, i’m told that it’s pretty good.
July 19th, 2006 at 7:43 am
To those who have said that hated the book, that there was no plot line and no meaning.
To those who judge themselves to be better than the rest because they are (honours students) and the such.
You’ve missed the point.
The ending didn’t “spoil” the “magic”, it was the magic. Martel was giving us as readers the opportunity to make our own choices and to make our own leaps of faith. If you think the story with the tiger is the truth and the aesthetic content appeals, then so be it. Again, if you’re the kind of person who can only deal with reality, that conversations with tigers is out of your league, that’s fine as well.
But maybe, rather than saying “i’m right, this is what he meant” you should just accept that we all have our opinions, just like we have our own religions and our own stories.
Pi Patel is a character of love and acceptance, and maybe that’s what you should have taken from the book, if nothing else.
Just remember that not one of us can say “i have the ONLY answer”
Where do you think war and hatred orginates - if not in those words…
July 19th, 2006 at 7:56 am
Oh, and to LC’s comment on the 11th of June, firstly you sound as though you’re regurgitating the words of your peers. Try re-reading the book from your own perspective.
It is very hard to say the book is gruesome… try “a child called it” or even the newspaper. Do some research on the decimillation of the Rwandan people or read on what Ganghis Khan did to the people he didn’t like.
Each “gruesome” moment in this text is just an animal (or human) merely acting in self defence or for survival.
In all your honours student greatness - you should have understood that Pi’s name is an integral section of the story.
And finally, it is a fictitious novel and there is no evidence suggesting either way that the version with the tiger or the cannabilistic story are truth.
Does the truth matter?
July 19th, 2006 at 8:00 am
* decimation
August 9th, 2006 at 12:13 am
Wow! Okay, I finished this book last night and have been DYING to talk to someone else who read it. All during work today as I vacuumed I thought and wrote in my head. Anyway, I needed more opinions for my “essay” in my mind so I did a search online. This was all great. Nick’s (Dec 04) comment opened up the real meaning to me and tied it all together in a beautiful package. All the thoughts that were running through my head all day can now be summed up in a couple of sentences. The reason that this story makes you believe in God is that we can see life. It’s awful. The more I hear about political and world events the sicker I become about it. BUT, when I look at it through my religious eyes and deep seeded spiritual experiences I can understand and accept God’s purpose and plan. The story about Richard Parker is the story through religious eyes, so to speak. The dry, yeastless, factual story including Pi’s mother is the awful sickening truth. But the point is that it’s the R.P. story we WANT to believe. Just as it’s God’s reality that we want to believe. When I realize I want to see the good in life, I look for it, and I see God’s hand everywhere. And I know longer just want to believe, or just believe, but have a living growing testimony that he in fact exists and loves us, I know he does.
Okay, so maybe that’s more than a few sentences, but it’s shorter than my essay would have been AND there’s a deffinite conclusion, which my essay was lacking. I guess, contray to the moral of the story, I would have been left in doubt and indecision! To come to this conclusion so soon is surprising to me, since I just finished last night. But I am very thankful. Peace out.
August 15th, 2006 at 12:18 am
I had to read this book for school and its not a book that most 15 yr. olds would read but if your into those books then its a good book. I liked some of it but it just draged on to long for the pacific ocean part and it was very hard to concintrate on it. Dont let my remarks keep you from reading this book…just read it and be your own judge.
Kepp on lovin…
September 17th, 2006 at 7:24 pm
I have read this book and it is a very interestin novel. Of course, i would not walk right into a book store and happen to fall on this book, so basically , i was required to read it. It really challenges your imagination but i have to say, those of you out there that have weak stomaches, i would think twice. Great job Yann!
September 19th, 2006 at 8:37 pm
I really love this book. So wonder and beautifull story, but in some chapter there are some disgusting story. I skipped it.
Would you like to tell me, is the Life of Pi is true story or not?
October 1st, 2006 at 6:17 pm
I had to read this for my english class and I hated every word of it.
October 9th, 2006 at 7:55 pm
I had to read it for school. It’s a good book but my English teacher made me feel Pi’s suffering while reading it and writing notes and journals.
January 9th, 2007 at 2:20 am
Anonymous Said: March 27th, 2004 at 3:09 pm–
“A person needs to believe in what cannot be proven or seen, because that is what brings light to us when we are in complete darkness, the unknown.”
————————————————————————————————-
And for those who believe in God [or want to] we HAVE to believe in the animal story. It is our light. The story, animals or not, is full of suffering and death. By believing in the tiger Richard Parker, we are showing our faith that a God wouldn’t leave us on a lifeboat with none but a crazy frenchman.
The algae island is a challenge to our faith and belief. Yet, despite the lack of scientific evidence which could support such a geographical oddity, the reader KNOWS the island is real. To not believe in the island would shatter the whole animal story. So, though we can not prove or see it, we stretch our minds to accept it in order to preserve our faith in God and the ‘better story.’
—————————————————————————————————-
I’m not an outwardly religious person, but this book made me stop and pull out my Bible, find an online Koran, and dust off my notes from Hinduism lectures. I love the idea of full religious tolerance and wish more people would just let each other live with their own beliefs.
I love this book. I think that sums it up.
January 15th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
I definately liked this book. I think that Pi was alone the whole time and as a coping mechanism he made up Richard Parker, Orange Juice and the Zebra. The island was a sign that he was safe and then Richard Parker leaves, symbolistically meaning he didn’t need him anymore. Land means that he is safe and no longer needs support.
–
Anyone have any theories on such?
January 20th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
The story is so good, surely Pi has to be real. The animals, the events, all must be real. Then I read that Life of Pi is a novel. I am heartbroken. It’s just a story conjured up by a writer? No, I don’t believe its only a story. I feel sad, I feel angry, I feel naive. And then I thought to myself what if the writer told me it was all true, that everything on the life raft had really happened, would I believe him? I don’t know, but I want to believe.
May 2nd, 2007 at 8:54 am
I enjoyed the book. Can anyone explain the quote “Love is hard to believe, ask and lover…..”, as well as the meaning behind the blind frenchman?
May 21st, 2007 at 11:42 pm
I loved the book and can’t wait for the movie. I hope it might clear up the end a bit more though
June 3rd, 2007 at 11:38 pm
i’m wondering: the story of richard parker and the rest of the animals is pi’s unique manner of coping with trauma and the realization of who (what) he is and what humanity is. but is the beginning, the story of the zoo and the many religions, part of the “better story” as well? i mean, is the story set up as (1)reality, (2)better story, (3)reality or simply (1)better story, (2)reality? it’s safe to say that the story of the animals would not be the same without the religious introduction, but does that introduction start off the better story or only the novel?
i’m probably not making much sense, so i’ll put it a different way. do you think the part of the novel before the shipwreck is truth or is it just another part of pi’s “coping mechanism” as someone above put it?
July 9th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
I tpp loved the book and found the insight into atheism and agnosticism fascinating.
I still want to have a better understanding about he symbolism of the carnivorous island. What do the plants, the tree, the pools, and the meerkats represent?
July 28th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
i loved this book and i can see that so did many other people.
i now have to write an essay on why everybody likes this book so much and i was hoping i could get some feedback cos i’m not very good at putting my feelings into words and i cant think of much to write.
i just need to know things like why did you enjoy? what made it one of your favourite books? why would you recommend it ? you know those kind of things
kk well anything will be useful thanx
August 11th, 2007 at 12:51 am
What captures my attention most in the Life of Pi story is how the people reacted when Pi shared his adventures in the sea with “Richard Parker”, the 400 pound tiger from his father’s zoo. It shows how human beings fail to recognize the truth and facts because their minds are often clouded with their “ideal truth.” It also shows that we often seek to defy nature by questioning its validity, its reasons; in return, what we see are the stories created based on imagination…
September 21st, 2007 at 2:23 am
Humans are all romantics, they choose to believe the animal story becuase it shows off the remarkable nature of life than mankind’s ulginess and horror.
Tsimtsum sounds oddly to me as a Japanese word. (I studied Japanese)
Not sure if it is a romanised error or what.
Yann fabricate the fiction into a true story.
Who wouldn’t want to believe such life’s triumphants, the miracles, the gratifying wonders of a friendship between man-eater and man does exist.
It gives life so much wonder and hope.
When Pi washed his boat at the algae island and threw off the carcasses, I wonder why he didn’t kept some to verify his amazing story should he be rescued later on. perhaps when one is in survival mode he doesn’t concern such things?
The two company men disbelieved his story. Why hadn’t they run a forensic test. Surely there would be the tiger’s paw prints, feces, urine, saliva, hair, signs of damages caused by animal’s struggle (hyena’s, tiger vs shark fight, etc).
DNA profiling may or may not be employable yet in 1978 but forensic study could tell. Why isn’t this mentioned in their investigation report?
I had an Indian friend from Pondicherry, he might tell me if there was a zoo there before. If you find this report on the internet, let me know.
I picked up this book cos it says it would make me believe in God. After finishing the book, it doesn’t convince me so.
Pi’s uncle said so because he thinked that God’s protection helped Pi survived through these ordeals. I think a companion is neccessary whether it be imaginative (God?) or physical. It helps keep you on, hang in there, when it might have been better to die than suffer such desoluteness, and unforetell future.
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:08 pm
This has probably become my all-time favorite novel. I read this for my English class, and when my dad told me he wanted to talk to me about it when I was done told me right away that it was a great book. He never wants to talk about books. I just finished it tonight, and I cannot believe almost everyone else had the same reaction I did. I literally pulled up my internet browser not 5 minutes after I finished it, trying to see what everyone else thinks about the ending. I personally believe in the Richard Parker story.
I loved how at the onset Martel describes the differences between the agnostics and the believers. Then, he gives the reader at the end the choice of becoming an agnostic, or becoming the believer. Remarkably done.
November 19th, 2007 at 7:31 am
absolute pants
April 11th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
i have to read it for my geography class, and i don’t understand what the moral of the story is! u can call me stupid (i didn’t read it all the way through), but it is so BORING!!!!!!!
May 29th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
In Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, the great devotion of love and faith is tremendous and incredible. Not only does he believe in three religions tahat are completely seperate from each other in so many ways but Piscine Molitor Patel practices them with the rigor and devotion that most of us can only wish that we had.. For anyone in need of a faithful pick-me-up, the book to read is Life of Pi and the character to follow is none other than the scrawny fifteen year old boy who is a devout Hindu, Caatholic, and Muslim.
August 23rd, 2008 at 3:40 pm
I have to read this for my English class. I have to say, that this is the most stupidest and boring-est (haha a word?) that I have ever read. There is no clear concept and its stupid how he brings those animals aboard a ship. I don’t get the concept and Pi keeps switching on his topics and its very confusing. I have to use Spark Notes for this book, because its so hard for me to become intrested, because the book has no excitement (to me). You may think otherwise on my opionion, but thats what I think.
September 14th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Does anyone understand Thanh’s comment (the one where every word is capitalized)? It was oddly beautiful. Anyway, I found Pi the most annoying character in all literature.
September 24th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
I loved the book. Besides the first part of it, the part that was solely about Pi’s background and his origins, but it wasn’t until the second part of the book that started to make me hook on. I’m very surprised that some of you had to read this book for a higher up grade english class. I had to read it over the summer for an advanced english class, and I’m only in 9th grade! I found it very confusing, and all of my classmates said the same. But they hated it, and I loved it/ Great job on it.