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A review by jacobg
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
5.0
Life. Death. Hope. Fear. Love. Hate. Boat. Ocean. Boy. Zoo. Tiger. God.
These are some words that come to my mind when I think of Life of Pi, the famous story about a boy named Pi getting stuck on a lifeboat with a Royal Bengal Tiger. It has won lots of awards and is hated by some and loved by others. There seems to be no one who just likes it, you have to love it or hate it. My mother was one of those who hated it, my grandfather was one who hated it, but my mother’s sister loved it. I apparently needed to read it, to see what my thoughts were about it. So here I am, telling you my thoughts.
So you know how the main plot of this is the boat sinking and him being on the boat with the tiger? Well you’ll have to be very patient as it takes 97 pages for him to even get on the boat for it to sink.
Yep you read me right, 97 pages.
So what happens in those 97 pages?
Well it is the life of Pi. By which I mean it is all the backstory about him possible. You’ll learn about why he is called Pi, what his religious theories are and just plain old who he is. Some people stop there simply because it’s boring.
I actually thought it was interesting to read.
I felt like when I was reading it I was actually hearing about a real person, which really isn’t a bad thing. Pi is a real character and is unlike any other person in both the book world and the real world. I liked him. I also learned about many different animals, how zoo’s work and what Hindu, Christianity and Muslim do and what their true beliefs are. It’s all interesting and that and I have the feeling that reading it in a zoo or a church would have helped set the mood. It feels like a completely different book and I would hate it in any other books but I’m glad someone tried it at least once.
That’s Part 1 of the story.
But of course everyone wants to hear about the tiger. Well it’s time for Part 2 of this story.
I’m going to tell you now that all that waiting is worth it. You’ll never want to stop reading it. I felt so sorry for Pi for having to put up with all the crap he went through. But it’s also a statement one man’s will to live. Some people will fall before others but no one ever just gives up at the start, they fight until they can’t fight no more. Pi is one determined basterd I’ll tell you that right now. But there is that problem of a certain tiger and while you may not be able to think of a way a skinny 16 year old boy could survive with a tiger without killing it (the reason why he doesn’t is actually pretty smart) Yenn Martel has very clearly thought about everything and came up with the perfect way to do it. I’ll simply leave it at that as if I talk to long about it I’ll start spoiling stuff.
But I will tell you this now, be prepared to be shocked and amazed. It’s truly amazing.
Now for part 3.
Part 3 is going to be the part that has the shortest bit in this review as it would spoil everything. But it will make you finally figure out if you hated the book or loved it. It deals with the simply question of what is real. I’ll leave it at that, as it makes you think deeply about everything you have read in this book.
So what did I think of the book in general?
I loved it.
I thought it was clever how everything is written and how everything is done. The fact that all 3 parts of the book feel like completely different books is some kind of magic as you still want to read it, even if it’s not quite what you thought it would be. It answers you questions but doesn’t at the same time. It is amazing.
I understand why people hate it and I don’t really think it should have gotten so many awards, but this is truly one of the most interesting books I’ll ever read. I’m glad I did read it and basically loved every moment of it.
Also the movie for it is supposed to be a filming masterpiece, so I’ll have to give that a look as well.
But man that ending. It’s the only way I could imagine it ending. Truly amazing.
Part 1 8/10
Part 2 10/10
Part 3 9.5/10
These are some words that come to my mind when I think of Life of Pi, the famous story about a boy named Pi getting stuck on a lifeboat with a Royal Bengal Tiger. It has won lots of awards and is hated by some and loved by others. There seems to be no one who just likes it, you have to love it or hate it. My mother was one of those who hated it, my grandfather was one who hated it, but my mother’s sister loved it. I apparently needed to read it, to see what my thoughts were about it. So here I am, telling you my thoughts.
So you know how the main plot of this is the boat sinking and him being on the boat with the tiger? Well you’ll have to be very patient as it takes 97 pages for him to even get on the boat for it to sink.
Yep you read me right, 97 pages.
So what happens in those 97 pages?
Well it is the life of Pi. By which I mean it is all the backstory about him possible. You’ll learn about why he is called Pi, what his religious theories are and just plain old who he is. Some people stop there simply because it’s boring.
I actually thought it was interesting to read.
I felt like when I was reading it I was actually hearing about a real person, which really isn’t a bad thing. Pi is a real character and is unlike any other person in both the book world and the real world. I liked him. I also learned about many different animals, how zoo’s work and what Hindu, Christianity and Muslim do and what their true beliefs are. It’s all interesting and that and I have the feeling that reading it in a zoo or a church would have helped set the mood. It feels like a completely different book and I would hate it in any other books but I’m glad someone tried it at least once.
That’s Part 1 of the story.
But of course everyone wants to hear about the tiger. Well it’s time for Part 2 of this story.
I’m going to tell you now that all that waiting is worth it. You’ll never want to stop reading it. I felt so sorry for Pi for having to put up with all the crap he went through. But it’s also a statement one man’s will to live. Some people will fall before others but no one ever just gives up at the start, they fight until they can’t fight no more. Pi is one determined basterd I’ll tell you that right now. But there is that problem of a certain tiger and while you may not be able to think of a way a skinny 16 year old boy could survive with a tiger without killing it (the reason why he doesn’t is actually pretty smart) Yenn Martel has very clearly thought about everything and came up with the perfect way to do it. I’ll simply leave it at that as if I talk to long about it I’ll start spoiling stuff.
But I will tell you this now, be prepared to be shocked and amazed. It’s truly amazing.
Now for part 3.
Part 3 is going to be the part that has the shortest bit in this review as it would spoil everything. But it will make you finally figure out if you hated the book or loved it. It deals with the simply question of what is real. I’ll leave it at that, as it makes you think deeply about everything you have read in this book.
So what did I think of the book in general?
I loved it.
I thought it was clever how everything is written and how everything is done. The fact that all 3 parts of the book feel like completely different books is some kind of magic as you still want to read it, even if it’s not quite what you thought it would be. It answers you questions but doesn’t at the same time. It is amazing.
I understand why people hate it and I don’t really think it should have gotten so many awards, but this is truly one of the most interesting books I’ll ever read. I’m glad I did read it and basically loved every moment of it.
Also the movie for it is supposed to be a filming masterpiece, so I’ll have to give that a look as well.
But man that ending. It’s the only way I could imagine it ending. Truly amazing.
Part 1 8/10
Part 2 10/10
Part 3 9.5/10