I was putting away some books at the library one day when I happened to spot Life of Pi, a fantasy adventure book by Yann Martel on the shelf. The cover was interesting and the synopsis made the story seem unique. It was about Pi, who is an adult living in Canada reminiscing about his childhood in India to a writer who comes to his house. Pi tells the writer of his journey from a somewhat well-off life in India to his fight for survival at sea when the Japanese freighter he travels on sinks. Interestingly enough, Pi ends up sharing the freighter's lifeboat with a Bengal tiger, a zebra, an orangutan, and a hyena, who were animals from his family zoo.
When my brother mentioned to me that Life of Pi had been adapted into a film and would be out possibly in November, I realized I had better get started on reading this book before the movie came out!
To be honest, I don't know if Life of Pi is for everyone. It's not a terrible book or anything, but it is slow paced and more drawn out than other books I usually read. My brother started reading the first few chapters, but after that, gave up, unable to finish it. And let me tell you, in my opinion, the book moved along faster in the beginning than it did in the later chapters.
Despite all this, I did finish the book and I do appreciate the reading, but I don't know if I could ever read it a second time since I found myself skimming through some chapters very quickly. I don't blame the author though, but I get impatient after reading about someone being on a boat day after day, learning how to survive for the longest time ever. I guess I get bored easily, but alas it's a great peace of literature nonetheless. I value the uniqueness of the plot and I feel for the character Pi, and at the same time I grew to love his boat mate, a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. One thing that was hard for me to imagine even as a reader, was how a tiger could actually have his own area and sense of privacy on a lifeboat and how a young boy such as Pi could create an elaborate system to purify sea water. You really have to use your imagination with this book. And to think that in the beginning of the first few chapters, I thought Life of Pi was a nonfiction that had been wrongly labeled as fiction! Hah!
Another aspect that I enjoyed about this book was the description of Pi's life in India, which included the zoo his father owned and that he grew up in, his family life, his relationships with others, exploration of life itself (particularly when it came to religion), and his identity at school. I really liked the short story behind his name, Piscine Molitor Patel and the struggles he went through with it in school. Those who have unusual, hard to pronounce names, or names that can be easily made fun off can relate to this. Pi's parents are also interesting characters, particularly his father who definitely has an uncommon and somewhat disturbingly funny way to teach his kids a lesson! What a way to learn new parenting skills...
In the end, Life of Pi left me feeling a little empty because I felt as though I wanted something more to justify the journey I had gone through with the characters; but in a way, the ending made sense because it made the story the narrator told even more compelling. I guess it's because I'm such a huge Richard Parker fan.
Here's a picture from the movie Life of Pi, directed by Ang Lee. The lifeboat looks rather nice compared to how I had imagined it and the picture makes it seem almost whimsical and fantasy like in nature. It's a beautiful photograph and the colors blend well together. Richard Parker looks as gigantic as he should be and Pi...well he kind of reminds me of someone from Aladdin. :) I wonder if this is a promo picture or an actual photograph from onset? This makes me also wonder how Ang Lee made Pi's family zoo in Pondicherry look like.
Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox
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