Life of Pi by Yann Martel. Masterly Woven and Thought Provoking

When my Aunt first recommended Life of Pi to me and told me the premise (a boy is shipwrecked and survives alone on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger,) I though she had lost her mind. That does not sound like a book I would be interested in reading, it sounded like a weird children’s story. Weird? Maybe. Children’s story? No. Worth reading? Every last word!

I think it’s safe to say that this beautifully written tale of adventure and survival is the best book I’ve read in years (and I read a lot!) Aside from the obvious adventure and survival story between the covers of Life of Pi, there is a deeper meaning and a masterfully woven tale.

I don’t want to give too much of the story away, because I want you to discover this wonderful story for yourself, but here is a quick overview:

Pi is a young boy who lives in India with his older brother Ravi, their mother, and their zookeeper father. His full name is Piscine, which the kids at his school lovingly shorten to ‘P*ssing.’ Needless to say Pi is displeased with the moniker, and chooses to call himself ‘Pi’ after the Greek letter that, as you’ll remember from geometry, represents an infinite number that cannot be calculated to perfect precision.

At the start of the book, Pi studies several religions with various holy men, and comes to find infinite wisdoms and great truths with each, as students of religion often do. Meanwhile, his father has decides that the zoo business is unstable in their native India, and decides to move the family to Canada where some of the animals have been sold to other zoos. The family and animals (including a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, due to a typographical error) board a Japanese ship bound for Canada.

It is in the first part of the long journey across the Pacific that an explosion on board causes the ship to go down. Pi is thrown overboard onto a lifeboat along with a hyena, a zebra who suffered a broken leg from the fall, a beloved orangutan and of course, Richard Parker. It is not long before all the other animals perish, and Pi is left alone with the tiger.

Surviving alone aboard the lifeboat with the animal in the middle of the ocean is what makes-up the greater part of this fantastical tale. It’s a bit unsettling, and readers may find it monotonous at times (my husband describes this portion of the book as a ‘weird version of Old Man and the Sea,’ a book he found incredibly dull.) Do trust that if you hang-on through the boring, weird, and monotonous bits, you will be handsomely rewarded come the end of the book.

Yann Martel has prooven himself a capable and masterful storyteller with Life of Pi, and he will not disappoint!

It’s been almost a year since I read Life of Pi, yet the book and it’s message are still on my mind. Life of Pi is one of those rare finds that readers will find a million different deep meanings in, but everyone will find a meaning.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a great adventure story, anyone interested in religion, or anyone who is looking for a book that will make them think!