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A review by dullshimmer
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
3.0
I really don't know what to think about Life of Pi. It wasn't a book I disliked that much, but yet it was also a book that I didn't really enjoy or connect with in any meaningful way. I always hate when I feel this way about books like this. Am I just not getting it? It's won awards so it must be me, right? Maybe it is just me, maybe I'm not getting what Yann Martel is going after.
The back cover of the book says this is about a 16 year old boy named Pi who winds up shipwrecked with a collection of animals; a wounded zebra, a hyena, an orangutan, and a Bengal tiger. However the book takes its time getting us to that point. We learn about Pi's childhood, about how he learned to swim from one of his father's friends, life in the zoo, how he was named after a swimming pool, and how he took on the nickname Pi in school to avoid another rather unflattering nickname that was based off of his full name. It also speaks of how he starting following Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam all at the same time.
To be honest I felt like this first section dragged. While some of these details maybe helped you understand and believe the story to come, it felt like it was about twice the length it really needed to be. However, it was fine and you got some insight into the character you would be with the entire time.
The second section of the book is where we get to the shipwreck and Pi's ordeal as a survivor of the shipwreck. This section of the book felt a bit more what we had been advertised. It was a bit bleak and maybe a bit unbelievable, however the story woven does make for a largely believable account. It does get a bit weird near the end of it with the carnivorous algae island and the other shipwrecked blind man that Pi meets when he is near death. Otherwise the middle section was as interesting as detailing life stranded on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific could be.
Personally while it was kind of interesting seeing how he went about surviving especially with a Bengal tiger aboard his lifeboat, there was only so much variety that could be expounded on here. I won't say that it felt like it dragged too much, but it did at times feel a bit repetitive. Which is okay, since I imagine that it is supposed to in some degree. That would be generally the life of a survivor one of repetition and lack of variety of actions. It just doesn't necessarily translate into interesting story.
The third and last section is probably the most volatile of sections depending on how you take it. I think it could torpedo the whole book for some people, but it also adds a layer of interest as well. This section talks about two Japanese investigators who are investigating the sinking of the ship Pi was on. Pi tells them his story, but they don't believe him. So Pi tells them a different story that he thinks they may find easier to believe.
How you view this retelling of the story will definitely impact your view of the book. If you view Pi's original story as a fabrication you'll view this whole endeavor as a way to sidestep the truth and present a better story just for the sake of ignoring reality. So the idea of God is just an escape from reality, something to make life more palatable or more interesting even in the midst of the awful. I can understand disliking this ending very much and even though I am one who believes in God I think this is a poor reason for believing.
If you view Pi's original story as the truth, then I think what Pi is saying to the investigators is very different. He is saying that even though something may seem to be more rational, humans being horrible to each other and even killing and eating other humans, that doesn't make it a better story or even more true. It may appeal to us as not being as fantastical, but that doesn't mean that it is the true account. So I think Pi would be saying here that just because belief in God may not always be 100% rational and not based off of our limited perception, it doesn't mean that it's not the better and more truthful story.
At the end I'm not sure which story is true, of course I guess neither really is. Even within the context of the story it doesn't matter because either way something rather fantastical has happened that there is proof of within the fictional tale. Pi survived being at sea for 227 days. He was a 16 year old boy who either survived dangerous animals or a dangerous human/being completely alone for 7 1/2 months. Something being hard to believe doesn't make it untrue. Given that I think the story we're told at first by Pi is actually the true one and presenting the message of just because you don't think it's possible, doesn't mean it can't be true. I think having the story we've been told being just a fiction really tanks the story of the book and would probably lead me to rating it even lower than I have.
So those are my thoughts about the book. It's one of those books that kind of overstays its welcome and really makes you think, at least at the end anyhow. I can't say that it is my favorite book and that it was maybe not as profound as it would have liked, but it did give me something to mull over with the way the book ended. I'm not sure if this will be a book that stays in our collection or not. It's fate will probably ride in what my wife thinks about it when she reads it.
The back cover of the book says this is about a 16 year old boy named Pi who winds up shipwrecked with a collection of animals; a wounded zebra, a hyena, an orangutan, and a Bengal tiger. However the book takes its time getting us to that point. We learn about Pi's childhood, about how he learned to swim from one of his father's friends, life in the zoo, how he was named after a swimming pool, and how he took on the nickname Pi in school to avoid another rather unflattering nickname that was based off of his full name. It also speaks of how he starting following Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam all at the same time.
To be honest I felt like this first section dragged. While some of these details maybe helped you understand and believe the story to come, it felt like it was about twice the length it really needed to be. However, it was fine and you got some insight into the character you would be with the entire time.
The second section of the book is where we get to the shipwreck and Pi's ordeal as a survivor of the shipwreck. This section of the book felt a bit more what we had been advertised. It was a bit bleak and maybe a bit unbelievable, however the story woven does make for a largely believable account. It does get a bit weird near the end of it with the carnivorous algae island and the other shipwrecked blind man that Pi meets when he is near death. Otherwise the middle section was as interesting as detailing life stranded on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific could be.
Personally while it was kind of interesting seeing how he went about surviving especially with a Bengal tiger aboard his lifeboat, there was only so much variety that could be expounded on here. I won't say that it felt like it dragged too much, but it did at times feel a bit repetitive. Which is okay, since I imagine that it is supposed to in some degree. That would be generally the life of a survivor one of repetition and lack of variety of actions. It just doesn't necessarily translate into interesting story.
The third and last section is probably the most volatile of sections depending on how you take it. I think it could torpedo the whole book for some people, but it also adds a layer of interest as well. This section talks about two Japanese investigators who are investigating the sinking of the ship Pi was on. Pi tells them his story, but they don't believe him. So Pi tells them a different story that he thinks they may find easier to believe.
Spoiler
As the second story he tells the investigators that he made it to the lifeboats with three other people. A sailor who had broken his leg, a French cook, and his mother. The Frenchman was this rather horrible person who wound up killing the sailor and Pi's mother. Pi winds up eventually killing the cook. Pi thinks the cook lost the will to live and left Pi the means to kill him.How you view this retelling of the story will definitely impact your view of the book. If you view Pi's original story as a fabrication you'll view this whole endeavor as a way to sidestep the truth and present a better story just for the sake of ignoring reality. So the idea of God is just an escape from reality, something to make life more palatable or more interesting even in the midst of the awful. I can understand disliking this ending very much and even though I am one who believes in God I think this is a poor reason for believing.
If you view Pi's original story as the truth, then I think what Pi is saying to the investigators is very different. He is saying that even though something may seem to be more rational, humans being horrible to each other and even killing and eating other humans, that doesn't make it a better story or even more true. It may appeal to us as not being as fantastical, but that doesn't mean that it is the true account. So I think Pi would be saying here that just because belief in God may not always be 100% rational and not based off of our limited perception, it doesn't mean that it's not the better and more truthful story.
At the end I'm not sure which story is true, of course I guess neither really is. Even within the context of the story it doesn't matter because either way something rather fantastical has happened that there is proof of within the fictional tale. Pi survived being at sea for 227 days. He was a 16 year old boy who either survived dangerous animals or a dangerous human/being completely alone for 7 1/2 months. Something being hard to believe doesn't make it untrue. Given that I think the story we're told at first by Pi is actually the true one and presenting the message of just because you don't think it's possible, doesn't mean it can't be true. I think having the story we've been told being just a fiction really tanks the story of the book and would probably lead me to rating it even lower than I have.
So those are my thoughts about the book. It's one of those books that kind of overstays its welcome and really makes you think, at least at the end anyhow. I can't say that it is my favorite book and that it was maybe not as profound as it would have liked, but it did give me something to mull over with the way the book ended. I'm not sure if this will be a book that stays in our collection or not. It's fate will probably ride in what my wife thinks about it when she reads it.