Life of Pi

[SaMaster14]

Has anyone ever read this book? If anyone has, I would love to have a discussion about the book.

And if nobody has, I really recommend this book, its great!

[VidelCoolGirl]

I read it back in High School. It WAS A good book. I would probably have to read a description for me to remember all the details however, its been years.

[SaMaster14]

I read it back in High School. It WAS A good book. I would probably have to read a description for me to remember all the details however, its been years.

Oh nice! Well Sparknotes.com has a good description I think. I have never used sparknotes, but I heard they are ok.

I read it this year, in 9th grade, and I did love it!

[shinri]

I read it a couple of years ago, and remember enjoying it quite a bit. It was a fascinating look at how traumatic events were presented through an assumed, and quite incredible view up until almost the very end, when an alternate (and quite possibly much more realistic explanation) was voiced.

Now that I think about it, (I remember most of the details even now), it was probably a survival mechanism that prompted the kid to process the horrible events in a way that made things easier for him at the time, through a child's imagination. How else can one deal with one's mother being killed in front of your own eyes? (Assuming that's what really happened of course, since the reality of the actual events after the shipwreck is never clearly stated).

[SaMaster14]

I read it a couple of years ago, and remember enjoying it quite a bit. It was a fascinating look at how traumatic events were presented through an assumed, and quite incredible view up until almost the very end, when an alternate (and quite possibly much more realistic explanation) was voiced.

Now that I think about it, (I remember most of the details even now), it was probably a survival mechanism that prompted the kid to process the horrible events in a way that made things easier for him at the time, through a child's imagination. How else can one deal with one's mother being killed in front of your own eyes? (Assuming that's what really happened of course, since the reality of the actual events after the shipwreck is never clearly stated).


Exactly, it makes the reader choose which story to believe. I don't know. I kinda like the animal story better, even though it was highly un-realistic. It was odd how the last page of the book was the report that the Japanese shipping company sent out and they picked the story with the animals.

Oh, by the way, I wrote an essay on this book and in my essay tried proving that the Tiger was God and in turn Pi(since he portrayed himself as the tiger in his second story), got a glimpse of what God truly is. What do you think of that?

I would love to have a literary discussion on this book, so what topics should we discuss?

[shinri]

The Japanese shipping company probably chose the animals storyline because for legal/liability reasons, it's much easier to blame the actual animals than real people who were employees of the company, and by doing so avoid any possible future lawsuits. The people doing the interviewing probably realized that it was far better for the kid's future mental/emotional health to support his version of the events, and so recommended the company take that stance as well. Couple that with the history of some animals and their supposedly magical powers in Japanese folklore, and I'm personally not surprised at all that the company chose to take that stance.

Anyway, there are a ton of topics one can discuss here. Anybody else care to pick up the discussion while I head off to catch some ZZZ's?

[SaMaster14]

Hmm.. well taking a logical standpoint that does make much sense. I'm going to go to sleep as well... but I will leave with one last discussion question.

The author says that he wrote this book because he was hungry... so what emotional nourishment has this book fed the author?

-My answer was the belief in a God like figure. I have evidence to back this up too, since my essay was basically on the idea of believing in a God to insure survival through the roughest times.

[goddessofanime]

I think I'll pick this up next time at the library. It's been one of those books that I've always wanted to read, but never did.

[Anamin]

I've started it, but couldn't really get into it. I might try again, but probably not anytime soon.

[Meggles]

@ Anamin-The beginning can be a little dry for some since it pretty much explains how he became Christian(Catholic?) Muslim and Hindu and how his family and community accepted him. I actually was pretty intersted through the entire book. I can be pretty philosophical so the beginning was just as engaging as the middle to end.

@SaMaster14(Answering the discussion question)-Belief is a very logical answer but I personally think he gained was a mixture of hope and faith by writing this story. Pi lost his family, he was trapped in the middle of the ocean, and on top of all that he was trapped with a hungry tiger, but with his faith(s) he was able to persevere and he survived in the end. Maybe Martel(author) was losing hope that his religion would save him so he wrote the book to prove to himself that no matter how bad it seems, if you have hope and if you believe god(allah, etc.) will save you, you can make it. That's my interpretation at least.

[goddessofanime]

I tried reading it, but I couldn't get into it either. Maybe at some point, I'll pick it up again.

[StandingAlone]

http://pi.ytmnd.com/