A review by deathmetalheron
Life of Pi by Yann Martel

adventurous reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Never has a book that effectively describes one of the most repetitive existence in the most fascinating and engaging fashion. The vast majority of chapters are essentially "man on boat in ocean lives" but the book is shockingly easy to get through and was a certified page-turner.
Life of Pi is one of those books you wish you read in high school, you hope your English teachers assigns. This should be The Great Gatsby, the one book where everyone at school goes and actually unironically loves it. It's a bona fide classic.
What makes a book truly a classic is that it has enough depth for the scholar, but can easily be enjoyed by a pedestrian reader. There is so much metaphor and symbolism to be read into, Pi's role as a storyteller/unreliable narrator can be questioned, whether or not his animal friends represent concepts or other people--but like Pi in his interview at the one, he asks which story is better. The one with the tiger, of course. Honestly, you could hack off the third part and this book would still be incredible, maybe not as deep, but still incredible.
I think the most brilliant part of the ending is a part I didn't see touched on often enough--
Richard Parker leaving Pi on the Mexican beach unceremoniously. It shows that it truly was a relationship of convenience, there is no "boy and his big cat" element here, they were two kindred spirits. It is excellent for a book that clearly loves animals and their lives to establish that wild animals are still wild. But it also plays into the concept the tiger is some sort of survival instinct/id of Pi and as soon as he finds civilization again it leaves, no longer needed.
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