“You must take life the way it comes at you and make the best of it” (Yann Martel, Life of Pi).

Written by Yann Martel, Life of Pi is a novel about a young man named Pi, who survives a shipwreck with the company of a Bengal tiger. Throughout the book, themes of hardship, loyalty, grief, and faith are explored in Life of Pi. 

Summary:

The novel begins with the author interviewing an older Pi as he describes his journey. He starts with his youth, as his family operates a zoo in their hometown of Pondicherry, India. Pi is unique in that he follows many faiths and is often not accepted by any of them. He also has an unusual pull towards the Bengal tiger, despite his father’s warnings. When he was a teenager, his family decided to sell the animals from their zoo and immigrate to Canada by ship. However, a tragic storm leaves him shipwrecked on a lifeboat with dangerous animals, the most important being a Bengal tiger. As he is adrift on the Pacific Ocean, he must not only fight for survival, but also make a relationship with his only company. Throughout the novel, one can see how Pi survives despite the hardships he faces. 

Review:

The author’s writing style is very unique, as this book is set in a way where the author is also a “character.” Martel is shown to interview Pi, and throughout the book, he makes comments and shares his own opinions. This writing style is interesting because we can see the thoughts of the author, and it gives a casual, even humorous relief to the heavy content of Pi’s story. 

There aren’t many characters in this book; however, those that are present are all complex, dynamic, and vital to the novel. Pi, the main character, has extreme character development throughout his youth and adult years, which is very apparent to the reader. The author also does a great job of making the reader resonate with every character, even the Bengal tiger. 

The novel explores heavy themes of survival, faith, loyalty, and hardship as Pi struggles to make it out alive. 

The plot is mostly a flashback of Pi’s journey, in chronological order. There are quite a few time jumps as the author asks questions or leaves comments when interviewing “future” Pi. It might be hard to keep up with the timings at first, but eventually, the time jumps add greatly to the plot because they express not only the author’s opinions but also Pi’s. 

I liked the unique plot in this book. There were many components that I had never read before, and that made it an interesting read. Many parts of the plot were unexpected, and it was exciting to see how Pi survives with a Bengal tiger. 

I did not like the pacing of Pi’s youth. Going into the book, many people know of it as a shipwreck, survival story; however, more than half of the novel was of Pi’s youth. I felt this was a bit slow and made it difficult to get through the book. This also took away from the more exciting part of the novel, Pi on the lifeboat. 

My overall impression of this book was great as it was not only interesting, but had comedy, morale, and depth. It was a short but impactful read, as it left me impressed with Pi’s journey and resilience. 

I would rate this book:📚📚📚📚📖 – it was a great book, but I didn’t enjoy the pacing enough. (4.5/5)

Love,

Saavri

GFB Ambassador