I read this book sometime back and had posted a review on Shelfari. I am replicating the same for the viewers of this blog. The Life of Pi by Yann Martel has a distinct “high-school text-bookish” narration, with a lot of inherent philosophy. I am sure this book will be loved by boys who want to be men and men who want to revive boyhood fantasies. I can already imagine some film-maker toying with the idea of bringing this story to the silver screen.
To understand the deeper significance this book needs to be read again and again with a notebook handy. I personally liked the part about Pi’s romance with all the three religions in India, and the sensitivity and tolerance with which his parents handled his religious fervor. I think this was the biggest message in the beginning of the book. Reviewers hinge on the survival part of the story, but the real spirit of tolerance and oneness of the being with nature is beautifully described in the beginning of the book.
No one God is attributed to Pi’s survival, no one God is the cause of his fantas
tic visions and no one God the cause of his suffering. The end was brutal and maybe a little too fast - Martel did not waste many pages and words in describing the “real” course of events. I am still fascinated by the episode of the carnivorous island. Sometimes, you are so near salvation, so near the ultimate truth and peace and strength engulfs you, and then suddenly you catch the signs of distress and disaster that complacent living offers you.
There are no free lunches, there is nothing like an easy life; each one to his own struggle for existence in the little niche of his world - I think this is the crux of the story. I will not highly recommend this book because I know of some readers who found the story disappointing, even disturbing. But there are some who have really loved the simple way in which an intense philosophy was rendered for readers. It can make a good read when you have nothing else better to do and are in need of some food for thought.
For readers who want more insight into the author and his book, here’s an original essay by Yann Martel - How I wrote the Life of Pi
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Vignesh Says:
July 29th, 2008 at 11:31 amLife of Pi- was a book to remember, so simple so different but deep in philosophy…Loved it when i read it, have to re-read to “read b/w the lines”- you can find my review here–
http://amazwi.blogspot.com/2008/05/unputdownable.html
felinemusings Says:
July 29th, 2008 at 1:05 pm@Vignesh, Thanks for visiting my blog - As I had mentioned in the review, the Life of Pi is a book that can be quite a hit with boys (and men!) I was more subtly influenced by it than you, may be because Anne of Avonlea and Jane Eyre influence me the best
I read your blog, and I must say I totally agree with you that Chetan Bhagat is not a literary genius but a self-imposed Bollywood script writer - but then he has his own audience!!!!
Tagged: “To write five quotes from the books that I have read” | Feline Musings Says:
September 2nd, 2008 at 2:16 pm[...] “Tree took account of road, which was aware of air, which was mindful of sea, which shared things with sun. Every element lived in harmonious relation with its neighbor, and all was kith and kin.” And I am tempted to add another quote from the same book: “If Hinduism flow placidly like the Ganges then Christianity bustles like Toronto at Rush Hour.” Yann Martel, Source: Life of Pi [...]