Life of Pi | Yann Martel | A 21st century parable.

Life of Pi | Yann Martel | A masterpiece!

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Life of Pi

	Life of Pi Yann Martel Harvest Books, 2003 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 1836 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A 21st century parable.

Part One: a child/adolescent tries to sort out which religion is the "right" religion. By the end of Part One, Pi chooses them all.

Part Two: an adolescent is the sole survivor of a shipwreck. Interrogators are sent to determine the reason why the ship sunk. In their interview they listen to the entire story that Pi has presented in Part Two -- which sounds to them like a fantasy. So, Pi gives them another story which they believe. The interrogators never do pursue their original purpose: to determine why the ship sunk.

Part Two is one big metaphor for Part One.

I found myself completely disenchanted with the entire book as I plowed through it; it seemed amateurish, some of it was directly from Robinson Crusoe (both diaries ended abruptly due to running out of ink/paper), etc.

Robinson Crusoe is so much more believable.

And that was my attitude: plowing through the book. Drudgery. And then slam bang hit me in the face two pages near the very end that, an epiphany, explained it all. I was blown away -- after all that reading, in just two pages, I was blown away.

I think that if the author had written in a more sophisticated style (like the great late 19th and early 20th century writers), the book may have appeared to be better literature. But written in an adolescent style makes sense -- it was being narrated by an adolescent.

So, the book is not great literature in terms of sentence structure, vocabulary, metaphors, etc., but the way it hits you at the end will keep you thinking about it for quite some time.

One question: is there more hidden in the book that I might have missed? Is it worth reading a second or a third time once one has discovered the message? It might be.

But regardless, Part Two is a parable every bit as good as any parable in the Bible -- just a whole lot longer, and requires Part One as background to explain to the reader why the author wrote this book. In fact, had there been no Part One, the book would have made no sense. Part One is crucial to understanding the message in Part Two.

So, five stars for overall impact; three stars for "fun to read" as great literature. It is probably written at the 8th grade level, but its message is probably too deep for those not yet at college level reading.

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A masterpiece!

This is really an amazing story! Completely original in its plot and all the characters on it.... Its really 3 books into 1, the first part being very funny and adorable, the second part being the most amazing experience a human can have at sea... with a TIGER (no more explanation needed)! And then the end, where you are challenged to rethink the whole book, and its up to you in what you believe or want to believe in the end, and maybe that is the 'message' that lingers on after you've finished it.

I remember when I watched the movie 12 monkeys, that in the end you start 'reviewing' the whole movie because you understand that is something completely different, so in a way it was 2 movies in 1. The same happened with The Life of Pi.... I had to re-think everything to make a second interpretation of what I had really read on the first place.

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Awesome Book!

This book is one of the best books I have read in a while. While some parts may seem to drag, the ending is what is killer! I highly recommend this book.

Life of Pi

When I first began this book I was not too impressed. However as I continued with the story I became very involved with the main character and wanted see how the story ended.

reviews: 1, page 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

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