Life Of Pi 1st Edition

Life of Pi is an extremely well-written tale of the true grit and determination of a survivor. Once you start, its hard to put down this book. The language is simple, flowing and easy. It portrays the courage of a 16 year old boy in the face of terrible calamity and just his will to survive. It could easily be a true story. I would rate is as one of the best books ever read. No wonder it won the Man Booker prize.

Even though the Life of Pi is a fiction, somewhere in the first quarter of the book, Yann Martel makes you believe that it is a biography of someone (Pi) who was born in Pondicherry, India, grew up till his teens, with a zoo in his backyard, and with the political scene in India becoming unstable (1977), the family along with a few animals that remained behind, after selling off most of the zoo inhabitants, boards a Japanese cargo ship to Canada. And after this act of making you believe, all the action takes place in the 227 days that runs between the days Pi gets into the sea as a castaway in a 27-feet lifeboat with a 450 pound Bengal Tiger and till the day he lands in Mexico. It is this belief that makes you cling to the novel and move forward catching hold of the link one after another, but at a slow pace, and when there are times just when you think the links are falling apart (losing interest), belief bonds you together with the story. But at certain places, you get the idea that a few facts about the South-Indian culture are a bit incoherent (just 2% of the entire story telling). Altogether, a great read, no doubt about it!!

Truly worth Man Booker prize...

What a story.. I cant think anyone could write so many chapter about life on a lifeboat..

It has a perfect blend of a book, at least for me. It has story, it has its spiritual content, it has the interesting aspect about it, and it has - a very impressive part - of facts and knowledge... At the moment, I think I can tame a tiger, if I am stranded with it on a lifeboat surrounded by ocean... If not tame a tiger, I am pretty sure I can live off land, on the water, in a lifeboat!!

And I also think, no person, after reading this book, will ever give up his will to live, what may be the situation...

Goes to my favorite books shlef..

It is indeed a story that will make you believe in God (you will understand, if you've read the author's note of the book)...

I had bought “Life Of Pi” way back in 2010 seeing that it has won the prestigious Man Booker Prize but the other books in my stock kept me busy. One day when I visited a mall, I saw movie posters of the same book which said, “One Boy, One Boat, One Tiger…” and it was that line and hype that compelled me give this book a priority.

“Life Of Pi” is a fable of a Tamil boy named ‘Pi”. His father owns a zoo in Pondicherry (India) but due to some happenstance their family decides to migrate to Canada. Many birds and animals of their zoo also travel with them on the same ship. During the voyage, a nocturnal hurricane gain supremacy over the ship and leave Pi as the only human survivor. He finds himself on a life boat with a hyena, a zebra (with one leg broken), a female Orang-utan and 450 Pound Bengal tiger named, Richard Parker. The rest of the pages of the book tells about the struggle and adventure, hunger and hope, loneliness and belief & defeat and determination. Pi, who explores the deep affairs of sprituality in his early age helps him in his exertion and endeavor.

I really loved the book as the book circumnavigates around elements like desire, belief, motivation, hope, expectation, determination, God, nature, invisible forces etc. Some people say that the the ending was not good but according to me, it was fine. I completed the book in 3 days. I rate it 4/5.

Life of pi should be listed in the category of spiritual and not fiction because it is all about keeping the human spirit alive which is always adventurous in the contemporary world.Lets wait and see whether Ang Lee will surmount the task of visually narrating the story.Pi always pins his hopes to the horizon beyond which a life in the form of ship awaits him.In that way this book might remind you how superficial are our whining about not leading a content life. The Bengal tiger Richard Parker could have been a valid reason for pi to give up and perish in the sea.But he chose the co-existence which points to the overlooked harmony and order in the universe and the incomprehensible fountainhead of creation..GOD