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Loading... Life of Pi (2001)by Yann Martel
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![]() ![]() 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.
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 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. Belongs to Publisher SeriesThe Canons (12) Fischer Taschenbuch (15665) Keltainen kirjasto (350) Keltainen pokkari (55) Has the adaptationWas inspired byHas as a reference guide/companionHas as a student's study guideAwardsDistinctionsWhitcoulls Top 100 Books (26 – 2008) Whitcoulls Top 100 Books (8 – 2010) Notable ListsThe Big Jubilee Read (2001)
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.
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LibraryThing Early Reviewers AlumYann Martel's book Life of Pi was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers. Current DiscussionsOT - Suntup: Life of Pi in Folio Society Devotees Popular covers
![]() GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:![]()
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