Life of Pi by Yann Martel

First Published: 2002 by Cannongate Books Ltd (Edinburgh)
Date Started: 30th March 2013
Date Finished: 04th April 2013
Genre: Adventure
Read for: Casual/1001 Books
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Life of Pi tells the extraordinary story of young Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi) who is on the way to Canada with his family to start a new life, along with some of the animals in his father's zoo. When they are on the ship there, a sudden turn of events leads to Pi being stranded on a life boat in the Pacific Ocean. However, he is not alone. He is not with his family though, or any other people for that matter. In fact, he is with some of the animals who were on board the ship with him, including a Royal Bengal Tiger by the name of Richard Parker.

I loved reading about such a strange yet exciting adventure. At times I got so hooked reading it, I just needed to know what happened next. Before Pi ends up in the Pacific Ocean, Pi tells us about his upbringing, including his knowledge of zoology, both from studying it academically and living in a zoo. With this in mind, I was curious as to how Pi would use this in order to survive on the boat with Richard Parker and any of the other animals. The book is written in a way that as a reader, we can learn and understand the facts of animals and the choices Pi makes, and not be confused about it (I don't know about you, but I'm not a zoologist).
The animals in the story, especially Richard Parker, have been written to have their own characteristics. Although they are animals, I believed they were like their own people. Each animal is different in its own way, and it helps give a better element to the story in portraying Pi's adventure.

Religion is a theme that runs throughout the book and is very important to Pi. Being a Christian, Muslim, and Hindu, Pi is a character who is a big believer of faith and religion. He partakes in religious beliefs and acts, like praying, for all three religions, before and when on the life boat. At the beginning of the book, it does go on for a bit about Pi trying out all three religions and I did sometimes get bored by this. It wasn't till later on in the book that I realised how important this was, but at the beginning, it did seem to me that it could drag on a bit too much.

Clearly Yann Martel has done his research when it comes to showing how a person would survive in conditions like Pi is faced in. Martel made the decisions that Pi made seem like realistic choices that a person in real life in those same conditions would do. He made it fun to read and the more I read the book, the more closer I got to Pi. I could really understand his choices which reflected both his characteristics and the effects of being in the conditions that he was living with.

I won't reveal too much about the ending, but it was a surprise to me. It was a great twist to the story and makes you wonder what really did happen to Pi when he was out there. It is never told what is true and what is false in his adventure, but I'm glad it isn't. The overall theme and message to me is about faith and choosing what you want to believe in your life. Read the book and you'll understand why.