Life of Pi
by Yann Martel
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Book Summary Information
Author: Yann MartelEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-05-17
ISBN: 184195392X
Number of pages: 348
Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd
Book Reviews of Life of Pi
Book Review: A 21st century parable.
Summary: 5 Stars
Part One: a child/adolescent tries to sort out which religion is the "right" religion. By the end of Part One, Pi chooses them all.
Part Two: an adolescent is the sole survivor of a shipwreck. Interrogators are sent to determine the reason why the ship sunk. In their interview they listen to the entire story that Pi has presented in Part Two -- which sounds to them like a fantasy. So, Pi gives them another story which they believe. The interrogators never do pursue their original purpose: to determine why the ship sunk.
Part Two is one big metaphor for Part One.
I found myself completely disenchanted with the entire book as I plowed through it; it seemed amateurish, some of it was directly from Robinson Crusoe (both diaries ended abruptly due to running out of ink/paper), etc.
Robinson Crusoe is so much more believable.
And that was my attitude: plowing through the book. Drudgery. And then slam bang hit me in the face two pages near the very end that, an epiphany, explained it all. I was blown away -- after all that reading, in just two pages, I was blown away.
I think that if the author had written in a more sophisticated style (like the great late 19th and early 20th century writers), the book may have appeared to be better literature. But written in an adolescent style makes sense -- it was being narrated by an adolescent.
So, the book is not great literature in terms of sentence structure, vocabulary, metaphors, etc., but the way it hits you at the end will keep you thinking about it for quite some time.
One question: is there more hidden in the book that I might have missed? Is it worth reading a second or a third time once one has discovered the message? It might be.
But regardless, Part Two is a parable every bit as good as any parable in the Bible -- just a whole lot longer, and requires Part One as background to explain to the reader why the author wrote this book. In fact, had there been no Part One, the book would have made no sense. Part One is crucial to understanding the message in Part Two.
So, five stars for overall impact; three stars for "fun to read" as great literature. It is probably written at the 8th grade level, but its message is probably too deep for those not yet at college level reading.
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