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A review of Life of Pi

by Yann Martel

Let your imagination run wild with this surreal tale of life and survival

Reviewed by: Helen Harvey
About Helen Harvey

Life of Pi Shortly after picking up this book, I was consumed with the certain knowledge that this book would win the Booker Prize. That it had not even been short-listed at that time did not matter, so strong was my conviction. Had it not have won, I should have thought the greatest injustice in contemporary literature had taken place. I am not saying that this book is the greatest I have ever read, but it is good. Very good, in fact, and a refreshing departure point for anyone looking to delve into surrealism.

I do not generally read surreal works, preferring my literature to have its feet firmly planted in reality, yet media reviews and murmurings had roused enough interest for me to be unable to resist picking up a copy.

The story concerns the unfortunately-named Piscine Patel (Pi), the precocious, 16-year-old, son of a zoo keeper, who during his childhood in Pondicherry, India, explores different faiths, attracting “religions the way a dog attracts fleas.” He forsakes his native Hinduism for Christianity, and Islam, nonchalantly practicing each as the mood takes him.

Pi’s father decides that the family should emigrate to Canada, and, after selling most of the animals, they set sail for their new homeland, accompanied by the remainder of the animals from the zoo. During the voyage across the Pacific the ship sinks, leaving Pi in a life raft with a hyena, an orangutan, an injured zebra and a 450-pound Bengal tiger curiously named Richard Parker. After Richard Parker has dispatched the others, Pi is left to survive for 227 days with his large feline companion on the 26-foot-long raft, using all his knowledge, wits and faiths to keep himself alive, as they traverse the shark-infested waters, battling the elements, and fighting hunger and dehydration. In vivid, hallucinatory passages, Pi recounts the harrowing journey as the days blur together, cleverly recounting the endless passage of time and his struggle to survive: "It is pointless to say that this or that night was the worst of my life. I have so many bad nights to choose from that I've made none the champion."

This book not only cries out to be added to your bookshelf, but growls out in the deep bellowing fashion of a Bengal tiger.

Click here to buy this book, or read more about it at Amazon.com: Life of Pi

Copyright © by Helen Harvey, 2003

Reviewed by Helen Harvey:
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