I enjoyed it mostly, but as a whole I think this book is not as amazing as the hype suggests. There are two distinct parts to the book, and they seem almost completely unrelated. The story is introduced as a story that will “make you believe in God”, but that whole arc seems to be abandoned half way through and is never concluded. The story changes into a survival story which is rather interesting and I did really enjoy it. But I felt the book was completely ruined by the ending. I found it to be completely unnecessary and left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

If you are going to read it, I recommend skipping the ending. Stop when you get to the part where he gets to shore. The rest doesn’t add to the story at all.

I had this book for an incredibly long time and always told myself I’d get around to reading it. I finally traveled to another country and brought this book (along with 15 other books) and decided to give it a go. I heard multiple reviews, but the overall consensus was that I had to read it. Someone told me that the beginning was incredibly boring, but if I got through the first 100 pages it would be worth it. For me, I read the first page and was hooked. This book was amazing, insightful, and graphic. I cringed and laughed and turned away at appropriate times. I am not a religious person, but the way he described religion really struck me. I loved when he quoted Gandhi to the three men and his family. Seriously, I recommend this book so much. I loved it! Even when I finished it, I randomly came back and flipped to any page and just read. I don’t think I can recommend it enough.

My friend Denise adores this book. We have similar tastes in books. She thinks that I’d adore it also. She let me borrow it back in August. I’ve read the 1st couple of chapters. It’s not a horrible story or anything. I just can’t get into it at the moment.

For now, I’m giving up on it. I do plan on coming back to it.

This one my reading while riding the buss to work. It was soooo good. It is the ultimate struggle for survival, with philosophical moments. Looking back on this book I would read this again and again. It is definetly worth staying in my book collection.

How would you fair on the open seas with a voracious tiger?

It terms of humor this definetly has its moments, and it’s adventurous and mezmorizing once you into the main characters story.

For an animal lover, this isn’t the greatest book in the world. A good portion of the book deals with vivid descriptions of how animals are killed and eaten by man or by beast.

And let me save you about 100 pages. The whole entire first part can be skipped. Pi likes animals. His family are zookeepers. His dad thinks tigers are the most dangerous animals on the planet. Pi secretly goes around practicing Muslim, Christian and Hindu religions until they all find out about each other’s roles in Pi’s life and try to convince him to choose one – theirs. And because money isn’t good and India is falling apart his family decides to get on a boat with all their animals and move from India to Canada.

There, 100 pages saved – completely skip that part of the book.

The remainder of the tale is nearly its equal in boredom. Maybe I’m just not “proper” enough to “get it” but it wasn’t my favorite book. The most interesting part was when Pi finds a floating island of flesh-eating algae. And the final conversation with the Japanese men who want a believable tale about why their boat sank was also interesting.

The rest of the book I could have skipped.

Beware of the New York Times bestseller list.

Part survival story, part mediatation on the natures of god, man, and beast; it starts slowly, but the delightfully dry tone offsets the wildly improbable nature of the story, and had me engrossed by the fourth chapter or so.

I loved the twist at the end!

“I must say a word about fear. It is life’s only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life. It is a clever, treacherous adversary, how well I know. It has no decency, respects no law or convention, shows no mercy. It goes for your weakest spot, which it finds with unerring ease. It begins in your mind always. One moment you are feeling calm, self-possessed, happy. Then fear, disguised in the garb of mild-mannered doubt, slips into your mind like a spy.” (page 178)

This is one of the best fictional books I’ve read in a very long time. I struggled with the first few chapters, but in hindsight, they were necessary to set the context for the rest of the book. Once I hit the half-way point, I couldn’t put it down.

Briefly, the novel tells the story of Pi Patel, a sixteen-year-old Indian boy from Tamil Nadu. Pi boards a ship with his family and some of the animals from their zoo, but the ship sinks enroute and Pi is stranded on a lifeboat, fighting for survival.

I particularly enjoyed the allegorical elements of the story, both spiritual and literary (the latter didn’t become obvious until the very end of the book). My background in Hindu lore and scriptures added an additional dimension to the story for me – Pi makes many references to Indian gods and heros. Arjuna and Sri Krishna, of the Bhagavad Gita, both get a mention!

The ending of this book had me reeling; I was completely caught up in the story with unquestioning enthusiasm so the conclusion took me by surprise. This is one of those rare books that I would like to read again.

Why? You must read it to find out! No spoilers here! ;-)

I loved every page of this book. A must really.

One of my favourite fiction reads in about the last six years. I didn’t care about the controversy about plagiarism blah, blah blah. It was such a thrilling ride.

I loved the main character in this book — he made me chuckle to myself many a time while reading. Being vegetarian myself, I have to admit that I skimmed certain sections in the middle of the book (you’ll see what I mean), but otherwise I loved every bit of it.

I do think that those who are more into religion will get more out of this than I did, but even if you don’t consider yourself religious in any way, it’s an interesting adventure story.

I went on a six month trip to backpack around Europe, this was the book that I was reading during the plane ride overseas. I left my copy in a book exchange in an Amsterdam hostel. Ahh… memories.

Fiction for people who don’t read much fiction!

This book has some great quotes in it. I am listening to it on CD and that is enjoyable, though I think it’s easy to miss some of the gems if you get distracted (as I generally do). Here are a couple of quotes I like so far:

Martel describes reason as “that fool’s gold for the bright”. The context is this: “A number of my fellow religious -studies students-muddled agnostics who didn’t know which way was up, who were in the thrall of reason, that fool’s gold for the bright-reminded me of the three-toed sloth…”

Later, when explaining why agnostics bother him more than atheists he comments, “To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.”

I started reading it ages ago and couldn’t get into it. Now I’m on a roll with it and I’m really loving the story, the character, and the unique writing style that Yann Martel has.

This book was absolutely exceptional. From page one I was drawn in and by the last 50 pages I couldn’t put it down. Highly recommend this one to anyone!

Starting to “read” the audiobook. So far, a realistic setting with texture and out-of-the-ordinary edges you can take hold of. Literature drawn from life, not from other books.

Yann Martel spins a magical story with Life of Pi. In this book, he recounts the boyhood of Piscine Patel whose parents were zoo keepers in India. Pi is fascinated both with God (simultaneously practicing Islam, Christianity, and Hinduism) and zoo animals. When the ship he is taking with his family and some of the animals sinks in the Pacific, Pi finds himself castaway on a 26 ft life boat with an injured zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, and a 450 lb bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Soon only the tiger and Pi are left on the boat and Pi is left to use his wits to survive the elements and keep from being eaten by the tiger. Pi realizes that he can’t kill the tiger and must learn to become his master in order to survive the ordeal. The interactions with the animals and Pi’s journey are all metaphors for living a spiritual life. The underlying current of the book is that Pi must master his own dark-side, his fear and despair with vigilance and compassion. Much like the Buddhist saint Milarepa who finally mastered the demons who were torturing him by accepting them and befriending them, Pi masters himself and the tiger Richard Parker. There’s much more too it, but telling more would give away the story. Simply, the book left me with sense of wonder and sadness from how one man survived the tragedy of losing his family and the 7 month ordeal of being lost at sea.

Really worth the hype, a lovely story!

http://www.livejournal.com/users/livredor/87737.html

Shipwrecks and wild animals, what’s not to like? The religious conceits of the novel never pay off in any significant way, but the story is still a pleasure.

Completed 2004.