Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

 

I finished reading this book for the second time, in the first week of January, but I didn't want to review it yet because I was waiting for my book club meeting, and I thought it would be great if I could post what the group thought about the book.

 

It was supposed to be our first book and our first meeting, and I was so excited because *finally* I found a real-life book club.

 

Unfortunately, the meeting kept getting postponed, one week after another, and at this moment, I'm not sure if we will ever meet, in fact.

 

So I've decided that I'm just gonna go ahead with my review, and offer this book up for discussion on my online real-time book chats.

 

As I've said, this is the second time I've read this book, and surprisingly, I loved it more the second time!

 

For those who don't know what the book is about, Pi Patel is an Indian boy whose family have decided to migrate to Canada for a fresh start.

 

The ship they were on capsized, however, and Pi found himself on a lifeboat. With a zebra, a hyena, an orang-utan, and a Royal Bengal tiger.

 

The book tells the amazing story of how Pi survives living in close quarters with a tiger for the many months he was lost at sea.

 

The first part of the book covers Pi Patel's background in India. His father's a zookeeper, and we learn many things about the nature of animals. It also covers Pi's spiritual quest, and about how he learns and embraces all different religions. Some people find this part a little boring, but I thought it was a perfect set-up for what was to come in the second part of the story.

 

The second part of the book is where things get interesting. The ship has capsized, Pi is on a boat with wild animals, and he needs to find a way to survive against the dangers of the sea *and* of the animals.

 

I can't say much more without giving away spoilers, except that while I'd expected the whole story to be really far-fetched (c'mon, surviving on a boat with a tiger in the middle of the sea?), the author actually made the whole story *very* believable!

There were a lot of research, a lot of logic explanations, and while I'm not sure it could actually happen in real life, I completely believe that it could happen in the circumstances that the author gave us.

 

There's much more to the book, of course, on topics about the animals, religion, and survival. And of course these are the reasons we chose the book for our book club, because there's so much to discuss. I'm really disappointed that didn't work out, but I'd be thrilled to discuss it on the online book chats, if anyone's interested.

 

Find out more about the book chats here. Sign up on this page, if you want to discuss the book with me.