Life of Pi by Yann Martel Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Life of Pi
Book Review: A Beautiful Work of Fiction, So Unbelievable It Almost Has to Be True.
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is worth spending the money and the time to own and read it. Even if it turns out not to be your favorite, it will probably rank pretty high. It appeals to the more religious of us, and those with no religion at all. I'm agnostic (not an atheist, but without religion), and I loved it, but so did my friend Claire ("That's one of the best books I've ever read!"), who is considerable more religious. Complex characters, the power of description, and honest fiction make this book unforgettable. You forget it's fiction it seems so real. This book breathes.Book Review: A Book For Thought
Summary: 5 Stars
Usually when reading a book I devour it! Completely! Within hours! With Life of Pi I found myself reading a few chapters and then putting it down -- not because it wasn't good, quite the opposite! It was because the book was SO good I needed time to reflect on what I had read. Life of Pi isn't one of those "fluff" novels ... it promotes thinking. I finished the book a few days ago and I STILL can't get it off my mind. Admittedly, as mentioned in the above reviews, there are a few areas that read a little slow; however, I don't believe that is a reflection of the work itself ... perhaps the parts that read slow for me are due to a lack of prior knowledge or interest. This novel does provide a lot of food for thought ... from the idea of zoos, to biology, to religion, to the instinct of survival. Overall, top marks for Martel's book! P.S. At the end of the novel "book talk" questions have been added. Excellent for book clubs or even personal reflections.Book Review: A Book That Challenges, and Entertains
Summary: 5 Stars
"Life of Pi" was not the sort of book I would have purchased for myself. It took my Mom sending me the book while I was passing time in the desert in Kuwait, waiting for my year-long deployment to end (the clock is still counting). Well, I finally picked it up one day and started reading. That decision was the best one I made in the long month of January.
Pi Patel's story kept me up late, and reading with every spare opportunity I could find. The book has a number of 'phases': foray into religion, the initial weeks on the boat and lost at sea, and the final courage to survive. Each portion of the book is well crafted and ties into the others seamlessly. I can easily see how "Life of Pi" is recommended for both adolescents and adults; the reader is forced to think in new ways, and is inspired while doing so.
Book Review: A Book That Really Makes You Think
Summary: 4 Stars
Piscine Molitor Patel is a religious teenage boy who gets stuck on a lifeboat in the middle of the pacific ocean,with a 450-pound bengal tiger, an orangutan,a zebra, and a hyena, after losing his family in a shipwreck. Soon the animals eat each other, and Pi is left with just the tiger. This story tells of Pi's survival. The first part of this book was mainly about Pi's background(his family, the zoo they owned, and how he came to practice 3 religions--Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam.) This part got kind of boring, but it had many important details. The second part is about the actaully shipwreck and his survival on the lifeboat for 227 days, and is more interesting. In the end Pi is interviewed by 2 Japenese investigators, and he gives them two stories of his survival. One story is with animals and the other has no animals but all humans. It's up to the reader to decide what story they believe in. Throughout the book, there are chapters that are told from Yann Martel's(the author) perspective. This makes Pi's story seem more realistic. In the beginning of this book a character says that this story will make you believe in God.That depends on the reader. Although this book really makes me think, it did NOT convince me, considering that this is a fictional novel.
overall: this is an interesting and witty story, that flows nicely, and reminds me of the movie CAST AWAY. I recommend this book to people who like books about animals, cast aways, or a nice summer read.
Book Review: A Book on Faith
Summary: 5 Stars
If you've read any of the other review you probably have an idea what the plot of this book is what I want to comment on is the books meaning. Throughout the story one central question seems to continually reappear. The question is which story do you believe? The creative wild story told in detail or the fathomable reasonable story told in short. Those who believe in the less likely story may represent those who have faith, who are able to believe in something even if there is no concreate evidence that Pi was stranded with a Bengal Tiger. Those who believe in the second story may represent the agnostics who Pi says he cannot stand because to the end they never have the guts to take a leap of faith and belive the unimaginable.