Skip to main content

Life of Pi by: Yann Martel


A cargo ship sinks in the Pacific and all that remains is one lonely lifeboat. The lifeboat's crew is: a hyena, a zebra with a broken leg, an orangutan, a Bengal tiger by the name of Richard Parker, and Pi, an Indian boy. As the crew members begin to assert their places in the food chain, Pi has to focus on getting to the top and how to deal with a Bengal tiger that grows hungrier by the day. Will Pi survive an impossible journey?

At the mention of Life of Pi most people begin to gush about how amazing the movie was and how much they loved it. Followed by their shock at the fact that I haven't seen it yet. My reason? My general experience has been that reading the book is a more enjoyable experience than watching the movie. The book is usually richer in terms of content, context, and backstories. I didn't want to spoil the experience of reading the book by watching the movie. Life of Pi sat on my to-read list patiently waiting and I finally go to it when an extra credit opportunity in English class involved it.

I had a very hard time slipping into the book. I just couldn't do it. For the longest time, I was bored and didn't feel like the story was moving forward at all. But I kept pushing through it the way you have to keep pushing in the last leg of a race. I felt the story begin to pickup as the backdrop for the shipwreck began to be set up. this is going to sound very sadistic but... hear me out: The shipwreck and Pi's struggle to survive were the only good parts of this book.

Another problem I had with Life of Pi was that it was very dense. I thought that Yann Martel was trying really hard to capture the culture of India and to infuse the book with the color, brightness, and exuberance of India that he forgot about his plot for awhile. In my opinion he had way too many details and very few plot devices.

The last and final reason for this book leaving me unsatisfied was that it felt very disjointed to me while I was reading. The author kept switching for past to present to his own thoughts which bothered me and basically turned me off from the book because it didn't stay on one topic or one setting for the story to really catch hold. I honestly felt like it was a super confusing time travel story.


I give Life of Pi 2 stars because it was okay. the shipwreck and Pi trying to survive it was entertaining enough to balance out the struggle to get into it, the denseness, and the disjointed character of the book. The adjective that comes to mind is mas o menos which literally translated means more or less as in it wasn't satisfying enough to be good but it wasn't disappointing enough to be classified as bad.

Comments

  1. Thanks for tagging me, Tosh :) I agree with your review. It was way too slow and I couldn't even get myself to finish the book.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No problem! I don't blame you for not being able to finish reading it. The only reason I pushed through and read it was because of the extra credit for English class.

      Delete
  2. Haha, so you read it only recently? I remember asking you to review this a long time ago no?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good that you you admit frankly that you didn't like it.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

The Dangerous World of Butterflies by Peter Laufer

Peter Laufer used to believe that butterflies and flowers are an analogy for tranquility. He needed an answer for a persistent question and as a journalist he was tired of war and the horrible things in the world, so on a whim Peter Laufer said he was going to write about butterflies. Little did he know that an American lady living in Nicaragua would take him seriously and invite him to her little piece of land to begin exploring the world of butterflies. Peter Laufer had no idea what a treacherous world he was about to step into.  The Dangerous World of Butterflies is this story of exploration. Peter Laufer discovers collectors, criminals, and cops all obsessed with these tiny and miraculous creatures. He explores the roles of butterflies in history and different cultures’ mythology and art. He stumbles into stories of organized crime, ecological devastation, and a growing list of endangered butterflies. Your garden, the creatures in it, and the world will not look the same to

Things I Can't Forget by Miranda Kenneally

According to Kate's friends at school and at church, Kate has always been a good girl. Maybe too good. But little do they know about the secret that she carries. This summer Kate is a counselor at Cumberland Creek, a Christian camp. Surprisingly, this summer Matt is also a counselor, but he isn't the nerdy kid he used to be. Matt is flirty and he has his eyes on her. Kate used think that life was black and white. Turns out life may not be that simple... I picked up Things I Can't Forget  because it was by Miranda Kenneally. I had really enjoyed Catching Jordan , Stealing Parker , and Racing Savannah  (all by Miranda Kenneally), so I picked it up. I was a bit apprehensive to read it because of the fact that Kate is a church goer. I expected a lot of messages of faith, and things like that. But Miranda Kenneally kept it to a minimum. Another reason I liked Things I Can't Forget  was because I got to see Kate transform and grow up and mature. I would give Things I C