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A review by aseroff
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
3.0
The first third of "Life of Pi" is an exceptionally engaging portrait that appears to be leading to greatness. Given the book's jacket summary divulging the future shipwreck, I was sold on the first portion's substance to receive great payoff throughout the duration of the book, yet it was his time on land that I felt was a more interesting read.
I do not fault the novel for conveying the trials of Pi at sea to be long and drawn out, but it is its lack of immediate substance that is the fault I quickly grew weary of. My narrative journey felt very similar to that of the protagonist's - stranded on a slow-moving ship, aware of the deep ocean of potential, yet only able to be engaged by what floated at the surface. The only thing keeping my reading going was the hope that maybe the next page would deliver something other than the barren sea, though I doubt it was crafted so intentionally self-referential.
Along with its strong start, the other fields the novel excelled at were the gruesome realities of survival, zoological curiosities, and a strong internal voice, which is satisfactory to keep the novel afloat. Ultimately, however, religious allegory remained mostly a mirage.
I do not fault the novel for conveying the trials of Pi at sea to be long and drawn out, but it is its lack of immediate substance that is the fault I quickly grew weary of. My narrative journey felt very similar to that of the protagonist's - stranded on a slow-moving ship, aware of the deep ocean of potential, yet only able to be engaged by what floated at the surface. The only thing keeping my reading going was the hope that maybe the next page would deliver something other than the barren sea, though I doubt it was crafted so intentionally self-referential.
Along with its strong start, the other fields the novel excelled at were the gruesome realities of survival, zoological curiosities, and a strong internal voice, which is satisfactory to keep the novel afloat. Ultimately, however, religious allegory remained mostly a mirage.