I am usually skeptical when all the book reviews for a particular book are glowing. But the Life of Pi deserves all the positive recognition it has received. Yan Martel effortlessly carries his readers along the waves of a story about man vs. nature through magical realism.
Pi, an Indian 15 year old boy is fascinated with religion, God, and nature. Raised as a zookeepers son he learns the habits of all the animals under his father's care. His father, a man of science, is careful to teach his children that wild animals regardless of their conditions can be dangerous to their keepers. Pi's family is befuddled when they learn that their son is practicing not 1 but 3 religions: Catholicism, Islam, and Hinduism. They gradually accept their son's decision to observe the 3 religious practices as a passing phase.
After some Indian political upraise Pi's family must move to North America. It takes the family about a year to make the necessary arrangements to close the zoo and travel across the ocean to their new home. Unfortunately the ship does not make the journey leaving only Pi surviving the demise of the sea craft. The narrative from Pi's perspective is simple and yet hard to set down. If you need a book that draws you in, I think this is it. In times of adversity humanity can do extraordinary things to survive.
Pi, an Indian 15 year old boy is fascinated with religion, God, and nature. Raised as a zookeepers son he learns the habits of all the animals under his father's care. His father, a man of science, is careful to teach his children that wild animals regardless of their conditions can be dangerous to their keepers. Pi's family is befuddled when they learn that their son is practicing not 1 but 3 religions: Catholicism, Islam, and Hinduism. They gradually accept their son's decision to observe the 3 religious practices as a passing phase.
After some Indian political upraise Pi's family must move to North America. It takes the family about a year to make the necessary arrangements to close the zoo and travel across the ocean to their new home. Unfortunately the ship does not make the journey leaving only Pi surviving the demise of the sea craft. The narrative from Pi's perspective is simple and yet hard to set down. If you need a book that draws you in, I think this is it. In times of adversity humanity can do extraordinary things to survive.
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