Book review -- Life of Pi
Yann Martel's Life of Pi is like no other piece of fiction I've read. I am as much in awe of Martel's storytelling as I am with Salman Rushdie's mastery of language.
The biggest challenge, perhaps, is in sticking it out. The value of the novel is not immediately obvious, but therein lies the beauty of its storytelling. During Pi's mundane routine of fish-catching and tiger-taming, my mind raced to think of what other books I could compare this against. I momentarily regretted never having read Robinson Crusoe, well, at least, nothing beyond the children's Ladybird version of it.
Joseph Conrad's Typhoon came to mind, but there was little to compare; Conrad told his story on the back of his experiences as a sailor, and whilst I have yet to read up on Martel, I'm guessing that all the experience he needed for his novel was to spend a month in the company of a pet dog or cat. His imagination, from then on, was the tool he used to perfection. Apples and oranges, really.
The promise to make the reader "believe in God," caused widespread disappointment, but that is only because they have mistaken this promise to be Martel's; it is, in fact, Pi's promise, and part of the storytelling. For all my praises, I cannot quite believe (nor expect) that anyone who did not believe in God, would be converted as a result of this novel. (And if they did, it would be a terribly false impression of God, but that is a different debate altogether.)
If I could pick out one other flaw, it would be the theological inaccuracies. Martel, having worked his storytelling prowess to such sublimity, could have so easily avoided this; He could have brought his novel one step closer to perfection.
I always feel that the personality of the reader is an essential factor in determining how deeply a book impacts him or her. So whilst I would never actually say that it's a book that you absolutely have to read, I do think that the refreshingness of this novel is worthy of any try.
For me, it was awfully tedious to read, yet rewarding enough, in the end, to justify the arduousness. It also restored my dying hope in novels, and for that, it gets a 9/10 (in storytelling) from me.
The biggest challenge, perhaps, is in sticking it out. The value of the novel is not immediately obvious, but therein lies the beauty of its storytelling. During Pi's mundane routine of fish-catching and tiger-taming, my mind raced to think of what other books I could compare this against. I momentarily regretted never having read Robinson Crusoe, well, at least, nothing beyond the children's Ladybird version of it.
Joseph Conrad's Typhoon came to mind, but there was little to compare; Conrad told his story on the back of his experiences as a sailor, and whilst I have yet to read up on Martel, I'm guessing that all the experience he needed for his novel was to spend a month in the company of a pet dog or cat. His imagination, from then on, was the tool he used to perfection. Apples and oranges, really.
The promise to make the reader "believe in God," caused widespread disappointment, but that is only because they have mistaken this promise to be Martel's; it is, in fact, Pi's promise, and part of the storytelling. For all my praises, I cannot quite believe (nor expect) that anyone who did not believe in God, would be converted as a result of this novel. (And if they did, it would be a terribly false impression of God, but that is a different debate altogether.)
If I could pick out one other flaw, it would be the theological inaccuracies. Martel, having worked his storytelling prowess to such sublimity, could have so easily avoided this; He could have brought his novel one step closer to perfection.
I always feel that the personality of the reader is an essential factor in determining how deeply a book impacts him or her. So whilst I would never actually say that it's a book that you absolutely have to read, I do think that the refreshingness of this novel is worthy of any try.
For me, it was awfully tedious to read, yet rewarding enough, in the end, to justify the arduousness. It also restored my dying hope in novels, and for that, it gets a 9/10 (in storytelling) from me.
posted by Laughingcow at 3:00 am
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