Life of Pi by Yann Martel

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Title: Life of Pi

Author: Yann Martel

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Length: 319 pages

Published: 2006

Publisher: Seal Books

Brief Synopsis (taken from Goodreads: Life of Pi is a masterful and utterly original novel that is at once the story of a young castaway who faces immeasurable hardships on the high seas, and a meditation on religion, faith, art and life that is as witty as it is profound. Using the threads of all of our best stories, Yann Martel has woven a glorious spiritual adventure that makes us question what it means to be alive, and to believe.

My Review:

I give this book a 4 out of 5. 

Life of Pi was a fascinating tale of how one young man survived being lost at sea for 277 days after his ship went down. The novel starts out with details of Piscine (Pi) Patel's life as the son of a zookeeper in Pondicherry, India. It follows his zeal for religion and God, as he begins following not only Hindu beliefs, but Catholic and Muslim as well.

When the Patels decide to move to Canada, they sell the zoo and the animals. They board a cargo ship (with some of the animals that are being sold to zoos in the United States) as passengers. Most of the crew speaks either Japanese or Chinese. Then, four days out of Manila, the ship sinks. Thus begins Pi's fantastical journey across the Pacific Ocean with a lame zebra, a hyena, an orangutan, and a Bengal tiger.

I found Pi very endearing. He was realistic in the way that he admitted he was frightened, he admitted his grief over the loss of his family, and he made serious mistakes that could have cost him his life. 

Throughout the book, I found myself being frightened for Pi and encouraging him as he gathered his strength to train Richard Parker, the Bengal tiger he had as a traveling companion for most of his journey.

At the end of the novel, Pi shares another version of the story of his journey, one that seems much more realistic, but perhaps is more frightening. The author leaves it to the reader to decide which is the true tale: the fantastical journey where Pi spends his days with a 450 lb Bengal tiger, or the story involving no animal companions at all. 

I enjoyed the book, though I found it hard to read more than a couple of chapters at a time. I'm not exactly sure why I had such a hard time, as I liked the author's writing style and definitely enjoyed the story. Some parts of the book reminded me vaguely of Robinson Crusoe, where Pi shares over and over what he is doing on a daily basis. Perhaps it was a lot of the philosophizing that Pi does through parts of the novel that caused a hang up in reading the book. 

One of my favorite things about this novel were the short chapters. I hate having to walk away from a book mid-chapter, so being able to go through a few short chapters helped make it easier to put down. I definitely think everyone should pick up Life of Pi and read it. I have yet to watch the movie based on the book, but I will now that I've finished the book. 

You can purchase Life of Pi through Amazon in either hard copy or Kindle format. 

Have you read Life of Pi? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.