Author: Yann Martel
Story: Growing up in Pondicherry, India, Piscine Molitor Patel - known as Pi - has a rich life. Bookish by nature, young Pi acquires a broad knowledge of not only the great religious texts but of all literature, and has a great curiosity about how the world works. His family runs the local zoo, and he spends many of his days among goats, hippos, swans, and bears, developing his own theories about the nature of animals and how human nature conforms to it. Pi’s family life is quite happy, even though his brother picks on him and his parents aren’t quite sure how to accept his decision to simultaneously embrace and practise three religions - Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam. But despite the lush and nurturing variety of Pi’s world, there are broad political changes afoot in India, and when Pi is sixteen, his parents decide that the family needs to escape to a better life. Choosing to move to Canada, they close the zoo, pack their belongings, and board a Japanese cargo ship called the Tsimtsum. Travelling with them are many of their animals, bound for zoos in North America. However, they have only just begun their journey when the ship sinks, taking the dreams of the Patel family down with it. Only Pi survives, cast adrift in a lifeboat with the unlikeliest oftravelling companions: a zebra, an orang-utan, a hyena, and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Thus begins Pi Patel’s epic, 227-day voyage across the Pacific, and the powerful story of faith and survival at the heart of Life of Pi. Worn and scared, oscillating between hope and despair, Pi is witness to the playing out of the food chain, quite aware of his new position within it. When only the tiger is left of the seafaring menagerie, Pi realizes that his survival depends on his ability to assert his own will, and sets upon a grand and ordered scheme to keep from being Richard Parker’s next meal.
Start: january 10th 2013
End: january 21st 2013
Comment: I heard so many good things about "Life of Pi". I found this book by accident at a bookmarket, for only 1 euro. Lucky me, because it's one of the most extraordinary books I have read. We follow the life of 15-year-old Pi, the son of a zookeeper. He survives a shipwreck. He thinks he's the only survivor but his lifeboat is occupied by a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, an injured zebra, a hyena, and an orangutan. I know that sounds stupid, but you can't even imagine how amazing the story is. The way the story is told is beautiful, I love Martel's writingstyle. He tells the story so vivdly. Some moments gave me goosebumps, like when he saw the whale. Or the terrible moment where he found his brother. Pi is a loveable character, there is really no way you can dislike this boy. And because there is only one character of real importance,there is enough room for character development and you really get to know Pi. I was so captivated by this book that I felt that I was on that boat with Pi. This is truly amazing, it won me over. "Life of Pi" is such a beautiful book that I can recommened to anyone.
Rating: 5/ 5
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