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Life of Pi (2001)

by Yann Martel

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
42,89399840 (3.9)3 / 1312
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)
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    Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (tandah)
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    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.
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    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)
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    Incendiary by Chris Cleave (LDVoorberg)
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    Max and the Cats by Moacyr Scliar (JGKC)
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    I Am an Executioner: Love Stories by Rajesh Parameswaran (FFortuna)
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    sipthereader: A true story of survival at sea.
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(see all 28 recommendations)

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Canada (11)
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» See also 1312 mentions

English (959)  Dutch (14)  Spanish (5)  Italian (4)  German (4)  Swedish (3)  French (3)  Finnish (2)  Catalan (1)  Russian (1)  Hungarian (1)  Norwegian (1)  All languages (998)
Showing 1-5 of 959 (next | show all)
Okay, I understand the hype around this book now. I felt the beginning was a little slow and it took a bit to get to the ocean, but it's necessary background. The story itself is fantastical and awe inspiring, especially with the ending. I can see how a film adaptation would struggle to tell this story right, despite the cinematic visuals that Pi describes. I probably won't reread this book any time soon, but I'm glad to have read it now. ( )
  BarnesBookshelf | Nov 28, 2023 |
Reread this book in preparation for seeing the stage performance by the National Theatre filmed live and presented at Cineplex.
When I read the book the first time, I was lost at the cannabilistic island. I’d followed the story eagerly until then, but at that point I wondered if Martel had run out of ideas and needed some extra words. I’m still not convinced that scene adds anything except as an indication of Pi’s madness. Which is perhaps the point, perhaps Pi himself was the island…
And I remember being horrified as the “real” story was revealed. Horrified and disappointed. I wanted the Robert Parker version to be the true one.
Now, second time through, I see it as more of a philosophical treatise than I once did. Clever, vibrant, with unexpected depths and meaning. If you haven’t read it lately, it’s worth a revisit. ( )
  Dabble58 | Nov 11, 2023 |
I hated this book. I had to read it for school. And it sucked.

Yeah I spent however many pages reading a made up tale about animals eating each other - when it was humans eating each other. It just made me sick. The whole thing. I hated it. ( )
  funstm | Oct 24, 2023 |
This is better than it has any right to. The concept would make no sense off of the page but Martel's story telling makes it completely enjoyable. ( )
  everettroberts | Oct 20, 2023 |
A good read, witty, imaginative,. ( )
  Craftybilda | Aug 27, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 959 (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

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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
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Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

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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)

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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.

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HighBridge Audio

An edition of this book was published by HighBridge Audio.

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