HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Life of Pi: Deluxe Pocket Edition by Yann…
Loading...

Life of Pi: Deluxe Pocket Edition (original 2001; edition 2013)

by Yann Martel (Author)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
43,474101240 (3.9)3 / 1313
Martel's novel tells the story of Pi--short for Piscine--an unusual boy raised in a zoo in India. Pi's father decides to move the family to live in Canada and sell the animals to the great zoos of America. The ship taking them across the Pacific sinks and Pi finds himself the sole human survivor on a lifeboat with a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra with a broken leg and Bengal tiger called Richard Parker. Life of Pi brings together many themes including religion, zoology, fear, and sheer tenacity. This is a funny, wise, and highly original look at what it means to be human.… (more)
Member:amolm74
Title:Life of Pi: Deluxe Pocket Edition
Authors:Yann Martel (Author)
Info:Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2013), Edition: Deluxe, 416 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:
Tags:None

Work Information

Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Author) (2001)

  1. 92
    Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (tandah)
  2. 70
    The Elephant's Journey by José Saramago (jordantaylor)
    jordantaylor: Both books involve an exotic animal (a tiger and an elephant) and a young man who journeys with them. Both have a spiritual undertone.
  3. 137
    Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse (JFDR)
  4. 40
    Lost in the Barrens by Farley Mowat (Bcteagirl)
    Bcteagirl: Both are Canadian survival stories, involve animals, are dark at times but never depressing.
  5. 30
    The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht (souloftherose)
    souloftherose: Both books contain elements of magical realism and tigers!
  6. 52
    Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (Booksloth)
  7. 52
    Lord of the Flies by William Golding (Hedgepeth)
  8. 31
    Mr. Vertigo by Paul Auster (Smiler69)
  9. 10
    Incendiary by Chris Cleave (LDVoorberg)
    LDVoorberg: Both are graphic stories about (in part) how people deal with trauma. Narrative style is also similar.
  10. 10
    The Elephant Keeper by Christopher Nicholson (Booksloth)
  11. 22
    In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick (BIzard)
  12. 11
    Max and the Cats by Moacyr Scliar (JGKC)
  13. 11
    We Bought a Zoo by Benjamin Mee (Smiler69)
  14. 44
    The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (Smiler69)
  15. 00
    The Dolphin People: A Novel (P.S.) by Torsten Krol (Booksloth)
  16. 11
    From the Mouth of the Whale by Sjón (rrmmff2000)
  17. 00
    I Am an Executioner: Love Stories by Rajesh Parameswaran (FFortuna)
  18. 12
    Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (sipthereader)
    sipthereader: A true story of survival at sea.
  19. 01
    The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (sturlington)
  20. 01
    Nothing by Janne Teller (Freiesleben)

(see all 28 recommendations)

Asia (1)
Canada (11)
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

» See also 1313 mentions

English (971)  Dutch (14)  Spanish (5)  Italian (4)  German (4)  Swedish (3)  French (3)  Finnish (2)  Catalan (1)  Russian (1)  Hungarian (1)  Norwegian (1)  All languages (1,010)
Showing 1-5 of 971 (next | show all)
loved this book . Immediately wanted someone to talk to about whether the tiger was the one doing the eating or not. Really a great read ( )
  cspiwak | Mar 6, 2024 |
This book took a really long time for me to get into, but once it picked up, it was really hard to put down. All in all, a good read. ( )
  thatnerd | Mar 2, 2024 |
Unlike majority of the books I've read this year, which I sought after and bought, this book found me. I stumbled across it in a coffee shop which offered customers free books. And I am forever grateful for that coffee shop. Like most people my age, this book is not as popular as the movie and I've seen the movie before. So I pretty much knew the story and I am someone who doesn't enjoy spoilers. However, I decided to give this book a go since the memory of the movie was quite faded in my mind and therefore I could not recall all the details of the story accurately. That was a great decision on my part.

In short, this book absolutely blew me out of the water (pun intended). Every page was as interesting as the last and it was such an absolute pleasure to read. The themes of god, religion, life and death were never overdrawn and every element of the novel seemed to be in balance without being given too much or too little attention, which in turn accentuated the overall plot. Lot of the novels that I have read this year focused on literary complexity which needs to be dissected in order for the average reader to wrap their heads around the story and although complexity is admirable, the author often sacrifices the reading experience for it. But the author of this novel did nothing of that sort, he used direct and concise words without adding unnecessary complexity. That is not to say there is no literary complexity at all; there is plenty of space for detailed literary analysis. This novel also has a very compelling story-telling which makes it a bliss to read.

The novel ends with an unusual cliffhanger where the readers are offered the choice between two completely different stories. Neither of those stories will change the overall ending of the novel, but either, will topple the experience of the novel on its head and the feeling left behind.

I would highly recommend this novel to everyone, even if you have watched the movie. The movie obviously skips out quite a few details - although not crucially important to the overall plot - that changes the overall pace and the tone of the story. The novel, without a doubt is the superior of the two. ( )
  buddhawithan.n | Feb 29, 2024 |
With 'The Life of Pi' Yann Martell tacitly promotes a positive, imaginative approach to life. The young protagonist Pi reveals his tale of a potentially tragic voyage across the sea in a life boat accompanied by a zebra, an orang-utan, a hyena and a Bengal tiger. After an inital slow start this compelling tale gathers speed from page 80 onwards and concludes with the greatest ending to a book I have read; a magnificent prestige. ( )
  Dzaowan | Feb 15, 2024 |
Very well written adventure story that begins after a hundred or so pages. A great survival tale if taken at its simplest level. ( )
  dlinnen | Feb 3, 2024 |
Showing 1-5 of 971 (next | show all)
The story is engaging and the characters attractively zany. Piscine Molitor Patel (named after a family friend's favourite French swimming pool) grows up in Pondicherry, a French-speaking part of India, where his father runs the local zoo. Pi, Hindu-born, has a talent for faith and sees nothing wrong with being converted both to Islam and to Christianity. Pi and his brother understand animals intimately, but their father impresses on them the dangers of anthropomorphism: invade an animal's territory, and you will quickly find that nearly every creature is dangerous
added by dovydas | editThe Guardian, Aida Edemariam (Oct 23, 2002)
 
Granted, it may not qualify as ''a story that will make you believe in God,'' as one character describes it. But it could renew your faith in the ability of novelists to invest even the most outrageous scenario with plausible life -- although sticklers for literal realism, poor souls, will find much to carp at.
 

» Add other authors (30 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Martel, YannAuthorprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Adam, VikasNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Allié, ManfredTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Baardman, GerdaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Bützow, HeleneTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Bridge, AndyCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Castanyo, EduardTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Ching, JonIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Engen, BodilTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kempf-Allié, GabrieleTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Marshall, AlexanderNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Martel, EmileTraductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Nubile, ClaraTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Ottosson, MetaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Southwood, BiancaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Stheeman, TjadineTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Targo, LindaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Torjanac, TomislavIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Woodman, JeffNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

Awards

Distinctions

Notable Lists

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Dedication
à mes parents et à mon frère
First words
My suffering left me sad and gloomy.
This book was born as I was hungry. (Author's Note)
Quotations
The reason death sticks so closely to life isn't biological necessity — it's envy. Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it, a jealous, possessive love that grabs at what it can. But life leaps over oblivion lightly, losing only a thing or two of no importance, and gloom is but the passing shadow of a cloud.
Evil in the open is but evil from within that has been let out. The main battlefield for good is not the open ground of the public arena but the small clearing of each heart.
I know what you want. You want a story that won't surprise you. That will confirm what you already know. That won't make you see higher or further or differently. You want a flat story. An immobile story. You want dry, yeastless factuality.
Animals in the wild lead lives of compulsion and necessity within an unforgiving social hierarchy in an environment where the supply of fear is high and the supply of food is low and where territory must constantly be defended and parasites forever endured.
If you take two steps toward God, God runs toward you
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
This is the book. Please do not combine with the film.
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (2)

Martel's novel tells the story of Pi--short for Piscine--an unusual boy raised in a zoo in India. Pi's father decides to move the family to live in Canada and sell the animals to the great zoos of America. The ship taking them across the Pacific sinks and Pi finds himself the sole human survivor on a lifeboat with a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra with a broken leg and Bengal tiger called Richard Parker. Life of Pi brings together many themes including religion, zoology, fear, and sheer tenacity. This is a funny, wise, and highly original look at what it means to be human.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
After the sinking of a cargo ship, a solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild blue Pacific. The only survivors from the wreck are a sixteen-year-old boy named Pi, a hyena, a wounded zebra, an orangutan—and a 450-pound royal bengal tiger.
-Amazon
Haiku summary
Boat on the ocean
Was there really a tiger?
We will never know.
(mamajoan)

LibraryThing Early Reviewers Alum

Yann Martel's book Life of Pi was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Current Discussions

OT - Suntup: Life of Pi in Folio Society Devotees

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.9)
0.5 28
1 337
1.5 26
2 673
2.5 145
3 2252
3.5 546
4 4340
4.5 568
5 3768

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

Canongate Books

3 editions of this book were published by Canongate Books.

Editions: 184195392X, 1841958492, 1847676014

HighBridge

An edition of this book was published by HighBridge.

» Publisher information page

HighBridge Audio

An edition of this book was published by HighBridge Audio.

» Publisher information page

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,186,946 books! | Top bar: Always visible