Life of Pi has been on my to-read list for several years. I remember seeing dozens of fellow-commuters reading it on the train, but I was into other things then. Now it’s the first in my Booker Prizewinner Challenge. (Library book)
Life of Pi
by Yann Martel
Life of Pi is a fantasy adventure novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist, Piscine Molitor “Pi” Patel, a Tamil boy from Pondicherry, explores issues of spirituality and practicality from an early age. He survives 227 days after a shipwreck while stranded on a boat in the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. (Goodreads)
My Review
Engrossing.
I knew Life of Pi was about a boy stranded on a small boat with a tiger. I didn’t know why or how, and I didn’t realise that Pi was the boy’s name. Nor that there was lots of book before the boat, written with love and humour about how a boy with the nickname Pissing gets to belong to three conflicting religions and find sense in all of them. A lesson for the world, maybe.
Despite the drama of Pi’s situations (small boys get lots of dramas), it is a beautifully told, relaxing read. You can immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of Pondicherry in Southern India, discover the animals in the zoo, and learn a thing or two about animal behaviour in the process. And then learn how to live on a boat with a hungry tiger.
It does get somewhat horrific. And then it sort of does a loop. I set it down feeling slightly disappointed, but then I decided on the ending I wanted.
So, I loved it. My first Booker prize challenge read. Why have I waited so long? Because they are very varied, as someone pointed out!
A great review Jemima it’s a strange one but as you say a good one 💜
Saw the movie and it was quite interesting.
I have read the book, not when it came out but still many years ago, so my memories of it are not good. I do remember finding the bits about the boy’s life before the boat more interesting. I haven’t seen the film.
I read the book back when it came out, or at least a long time ago. I remember both liking the early parts and being unhappy with the ending, though I didn’t remember why. Your review tells me probably why. I don’t do so well with that sort of thing.
Hi Jemima – I’ve tried to read it but never finished it; I’ve also seen the film and still couldn’t get my head round it. I have oddly enough just posted about a Polish poet who wrote a poem about the number Pi … I found it via the auspices of Maria Popova and her excellent little book ‘The Universe in Verse’ … again on my latest post. Great you’re reading the Booker Prize winners … cheers Hilary