Life of Pi

Life of Pi by Yann Martel will probably go down as my most surprising book of the year. A book of wonder and delight, very different from what I was expecting. Obviously a master story-teller, the author makes believable the fantastic story that Pi has to tell,

The character of Pi is one of the most likeable ones I have read about. His devotion, his determination, his instinct for survival are equally strong. He simply refuses to give up, and although at times is bowed by despair, he always fights back and overcomes each challenge. Written beautifully and whether giving a insight into the philosophy of life, or simply delivering a biological fact about animals, this book always gives the reader something to ponder and reflect upon.

A show more boy, a lifeboat and a tiger. In the end the author throws down one last challenge, do you believe? I certainly did and I highly recommend Life of Pi to anyone who wants to get carried away on a grand adventure. show less

There’s something about reviewing classic and well-renowned books that strikes me as unnecessary. It’s like walking into a church, shaking the pastor and screaming in his face that God is real, that he must accept Him into his life. It’s announcing something people, especially avid readers (and I assume you are if you’ve been reading my reviews), already know. Some books, like Life of Pi, are gold. It’s because of that fact that I’m still pulling out my laptop, shifting through all the thoughts and feelings this book has left me with, and preparing yet another review for a book that hardly needs the promotion. Despite their classic status, I can’t help but want to put my feelings about a book like this on paper, if only show more for my own benefit.

If you don’t know the tale, Life of Pi is the story of Piscine ‘Pi’ Molitar Patel, a young Indian boy who grows up on a zoo in India and relocates with the animals to Canada with his family. While crossing the Pacific Ocean, the boat sinks, leaving Pi stranded on a lifeboat with an orangutan, a hyena, a zebra with a broken leg, and a 3 year old adult Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Not only does Pi have to survive over two hundred days at sea in a lifeboat, but he has to do it while juggling the delicate ecosystem created between himself and the animals.

I began reading Life of Pi in the hospital after my best friend of over 10 years was in a serious car accident that nearly killed her. I admit, I grabbed the book in part because I knew of its religious connotations, and I was searching for some sort of comfort in an idea of something bigger than myself. After all, Pi Patel is a Hindu, Christian, and Muslim simultaneously, mostly due to an unbidden love of God and the word of Him, no matter what form it takes. I am not at all religious, but I am fascinated by religion. Pi’s take on Christianity, Hinduism and Islam was enlightening and light-hearted. At Pi’s first introduction to Christianity, he tries to understand the logic behind Christ’s sacrifice in such an innocent and non-judgemental way that it had me cracking up laughing. As well, I felt a connection to Hinduism’s spiritual side, and the fantastical reaches of its stories, to the calm, serene peace that Islam and prayer brought him. Despite all this religion, the book itself is not preachy nor does Pi have an obsessive devotion to God that would make non-religious readers uncomfortable. In fact, most of the religious moments were contained within the first part of the book, where the author goes into Pi’s backstory, how he came to all these religions, and his childhood growing up in a zoo. Once Pi hits the lifeboat, he spends very little time mentioning God or prayer or religion, really only mentioning it in passing detail. This I think was very vital in not having the religious tones overwhelm the rest of the story.

As for the rest of the story, what a story it was! It wasn’t the situational story of Pi in the lifeboat with these animals that made the book so great—it was all the set-up done in the first part of the book, establishing zoos and how they function, how zookeepers think, how life worked this boy from Piscine, to Pissing, to Pi. All this backstory involved such creative and interesting characters, from Mamiji, to his school teachers, to his religious teachers. Each piece added an integral part of the book for when Pi was actually on the lifeboat. Without all the buildup, the reader would have been unable to see how Pi’s thoughts worked while at sea. Whereas, by getting to know Pi Patel so intimately before the conflict sets in, the author didn’t even have to mention a lot of Pi’s direct thought process for us to understand why he did what he did. I was fascinated how intimately I was in Pi’s head—it’s something that I’ve rarely found, and never to such an intense level.

To the untrained eye, the first part of Life of Pi may appear to be one long info dump. After all, as writers, aren’t we warned away from dumping out a character’s entire history before getting to the inciting incident? There are three main reasons that I believe this isn’t an info dump, and why it amounted to the book’s success. For one, the tension builds throughout the first part, in the solid teasing of the sinking of the boat, and the continual hinting of Richard Parker. For at this stage, we have no idea who Richard Parker is, whether he’s actually a person or what. He is a ghostly figure that “haunts” Pi Patel, long after the story has ended. And though the mentions of the lifeboat are what propel us forward (as that is the story the reader believes they’ve come for), the mystery of Richard Parker, who he is, and why he haunts Pi, is what keeps the reader intrigued and engaged. If this book had one of these tension tricks but not the other, I don’t think it would have been nearly as successful.

The second reason to the backstory’s successes lies directly in the title. The book is the Life of Pi, and we see as soon as we get to the portion of the lifeboat, every little detail, right down to the nickname “Pissing Patel,” helps to keep him alive on the boat. He applies all these incidents in his life and what he’s learned from his parents and mentors, and it keeps him alive. The key to his survival isn’t the tiger or his wits or even dumb luck—it was the circumstances of his life that made him able to live so long. And this becomes apparent long before the book is over, meaning that the reader isn’t frustrated by all this information that’s coming to them that would appear superfluous. Because the author draws the reader’s attention back to the main conflict through little “tension teasers,” it helps to draw the reader’s quiet realization that all these rich stories are coming together and interwoven into the main conflict. Readers hate feeling like they’re wasting their time reading something that doesn’t matter to the main story, but the author kept Pi’s backstory interesting while subtly drawing back to the main issue, as to reassure readers that they hadn’t run off together on a tangent.

And finally, the true mark of infodumping is Telling, not Showing. With Pi’s backstory, the author took us on a firsthand experience, and though there was a lot to explain, he still showed us the richness of the zoo, what classes felt like, and strong memories that stick out for one reason or another. Many authors, when trying to convey as much information as possible, jump to telling, which is why their “infodumps” get scratched out in editing. Telling is boring to read. But with every chapter of Pi’s childhood, I couldn’t wait to see where we would go next, central conflict be damned.

Really, I believe this book is essential for writers. If the religious elements make you shy away, don’t fret. This book is an intellectual look at religion and faith, not one that demands your audience in church pews. The symbolism in this story is really what gets me, time and time again. For that reason alone I know it will stick with me, and will definitely be a book I can’t help but reread, time and time again.

All in all, 5/5 stars. Life of Pi is such an incredibly well-written tale that is so magical and whimsical while still remaining completely realistic. You won’t be disappointed. show less

Pi är en ung man som växer upp i 70-talets Indien med en far som äger en djurpark i Pondicherry. Hans barndom spenderas sida vid sida vid djuren men även om det delvis är kärleksfulla vänskaper ser Pis pappa till att hans söner kommer ihåg att djur alltid kommer att vara, tja, djur. Men han har inte mycket att oroa sig för egentligen för majoriteten av Pis tid och tankar tas up av religion. Han involverar sig inte bara i hinduismen utan även islam och kristendomen; något som skapar problem hos den lokala brahmanen, prästen och imamen som alla anser att han måste välja.

Men Pis envishet att dedikerar sig åt alla tre religioner visar sig möjligtvis vara skillnaden mellan liv och död. När Indira Gandhi utlyser krisen show more under mitten av 70-talet bestämmer sig Pis pappa för att sälja djurparken och dess djur för att tillsammans med sin familj utvandra till Kanada. Tillsammans med en del av djuren ska de ta sig till Nordamerika med hjälp av ett japanskt fraktfartyg. Men strax utanför Manilas kust förliser skeppet.

Av en ren olyckshändelse hamnar Pi i en av fartygets livbåtar. Dock är han inte ensam. Där finns även en hyena och en zebra – och de får snart sällskap av både en orangutang och en bengalisk tiger. Det dröjer inte länge förrän det bara är han och tigern Richard Parker kvar. Trots detta överlever han 227 dagar till sjöss i den enkla livbåten. Det här är historien om hur – eller kanske varför.

Första delen av boken utspelar sig som sagt i den indiska staden Pondicherry där Pi växer upp. Martel målar upp en fantastisk bild av staden och indisk kultur – det förvånade mig när jag insåg att han inte har någon större anknytning alls till Indien eller dess historia och kultur. Trots det faktum att han aldrig har levt i Indien eller Pondicherry, speciellt inte under 70-talet, så är miljön otroligt levande och ger en liknande känsla som de filmer eller böcker om indisk kultur och historia, men framförallt indiskt vardagsliv, som jag tidigare har sett eller läst.

Däremot utspelar sig majoriteten av boken tills havs – på en livbåt. Jag hade lite svårt att se båten framför mig baserat på Martels beskrivningar då när jag väl hade fått en mental bild så visade det sig vara något helt annorlunda han beskrev. Det var förvirrande men även liten underhållande med tanke på att resten av hans beskrivningar är målande och fulla av liv. Men det kan även vara jag som borde lära mig mer om båtar och termer kring dem; det är inte ett ämne jag är särskilt påläst i. Dock kändes det aldrig som att den miljö på och kring Pis kamp för överlevnad på livbåten var utan liv; den var bara svårbegriplig.

Piscine Molitor, som är döpt efter en fransk simbassäng, är bokens huvudkaraktär. Han är även berättaren – medelålders Pi som berättar historien om hur han överlevde skeppsbrottet som ung för bokens författare och även läsaren. Redan innan detta traumatiska äventyr så är han en vis ung man som är väldigt intresserad av andlighet och törstar efter kunskap. Hans kunskaper som son till en djurparksägare kommer bra till hands – stor del av hans utveckling under bokens lopp handlar om hur han använder sina kunskaper om rovdjur för att komma över sin rädsla och bli Richard Parkers alfa för att kunna överleva tillsammans på båten med honom. Men lika viktig är hans starka tro på det andliga; något som får honom att fortsätta även när det verkar hopplöst.

Språket påminner mig mycket om Stephen King; speciellt när Martel målar upp unge Pis liv och vardagen i Pondicherry. Det är målande och romantiskt men samtidigt realistiskt och ja, vardagligt. Möjligtvis inte riktigt på samma sätt som i Kings berättelser då det finns en helt annan, lite magiskt mysteriös stämning över världen Martel bygger upp. Jag skulle vilja beskriva Martels drömlika stämning som ett bra exempel för färgglad magisk realism inom fantasy – speciellt som jämförelse för den magiska realism som hittas inom skräckgenren, som hos King, eller mer samhällskritisk fantasy.

Däremot måste jag erkänna att även om jag älskade den första delen otroligt mycket på grund av den värld som den byggde upp så var jag rätt säker på att det inte var mer än en bra bok i mängden; speciellt under första halvan av Pis månader till havs. Det som verkligen gav denna bok sitt eget liv och som är anledningen till att det plötsligt visade sig vara en bok jag kommer ha svårt att komma över är de sista hundra sidorna eller så. De gav boken, och dess berättelse, ett helt annat liv som förbryllade mig på alla de bästa sätten. show less

A delightful read, this is one of those rare books that I literally "could not put down". It is a dream-like book and at the center is Pi and his adventures, the most amazing of which occurs only after he leaves India and the ship he is on is wrecked (shades of Robinson Crusoe). As the only survivor of the shipwreck, he is stuck in a lifeboat with a dying zebra and a hyena. Pi sees another survivor floating in the water and only after throwing them a life preserver and pulling them aboard does he realize that “Richard Parker” is actually the 400 pound tiger from his father’s zoo. He immediately jumps overboard until he realizes that there are sharks nearby. Upon reentering the boat he wedges the tarpaulin up with an oar and show more decides he might survive if he can stay on top and keep Richard Parker beneath it.
If that bit of the plot does not raise your interest then do not go further. For in this book the theories of Darwin and the psychology of Jung are partners, with some Kierkegaard in the mix. The unlikely bedfellows of existentialism and faith find common ground here. This is a map of the spiritual realm scientifically diagrammed. This is both philosophical and mystical but mainly an adventure yarn, an allegory and a series of essays on animal behavior, and perhaps a bit more.
As I read this and the subsequent events of the story I was enthralled by the fantastic world created by Martel as the boy at sea and beyond had adventures that both piqued my interest and amazed me to the very end. show less

I enjoyed talking about this book with my book group, but I still admire it more than I like it.

I would love to read an essay comparing and contrasting this boy and his tiger to Calvin & Hobbes. When and how does Hobbes seem like a tiger? When and how does Richard Parker seem like a friend? How does the reader decide which narrative is the truth?

Piscine Molitor Patel, son of a zookeeper from Pondicherry, India, moves with his family by boat to Canada in search of a better life. The boat sinks and Piscine (aka Pi) finds himself stranded on a lifeboat with a few animals and limited provisions. Among the most noteworthy of the animals is Richard Parker, a ferocious Bengal tiger. Pi sees no human survivors, spies no land, and is aware of only limited provisions on the lifeboat.

Absent any religious dogma, this is a book about religion. It’s about what individuals believe and how those beliefs make for a fuller, richer existence. It captures wonderful insight into animal psychology, particularly of large cats. Well written, this novel does not have its full effect until after the show more book ends. Then is the time to reflect on what was presented, ask more questions, think about the subject matter, decide one’s own personal theology, and provoke others into discussion. Don’t miss the chapter about the skies, seas, and winds. Outstanding! One caution: there are some very graphic descriptions of animal and human cruelty. Brace yourselves. show less

I read this over 10 years ago, and I can still recall in vivid detail some of the scenes on that boat. This book made me physically ill at times and made more more tense than anything I've ever read—that's dang good writing.