LifeOfPiI have to mention that I love reading but it has been quite a long time since I managed to finish any book at all. And this is the first book that managed to make me engrossed. There are two parts in this book. Let me share with you my emotions and thoughts as I go through those pages. 

Going through the first part, it seemed like reading a National Geographic magazine with lots of facts about animals, not forgetting the examples given. Not one or two but a list of 10 of them. I was irritated by this in the first place, but once I got used to it, I enjoyed these information.  Religion is also the subject in the first part. It’s interesting to know the thoughts of one that have faith in multiple religions since I have a friend like that.

The second half was where the adventure started. Being stranded in a boat with an adult Bengal tiger, hyena, orang utan and zebra and the struggle to survive story was what kept me turning the pages. There’s a few gore scenes that made me uncomfortable. But truly, this harrowing journey of his was unforgettable. 

When the moment Pi retells the story at the last part in a more mundane but believable way, I felt a little cheated. At that time, I didn’t know which one was real and which one was not. It also made me doubted whether this was really a story that was told to the author. When I got to the last word, and finally close the book, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. 

But whatever the underlying theme of this book is, whichever story was real, what i realise from this book is that it is a tale that juxtaposes fact and fiction. That made sense to the ample of information given in the first half. It also made me think that we are after all storytellers, expressing our life experiences in a story form. I couldn’t express this better than Steve Koss did in his review at Amazon.com so I’m pasting it here:

“LIFE OF PI is an allegory, the symbolic expression of a deeper meaning through a tale acted out by humans, animals, and in this case, even plant life. Yann Martel has crafted a magnificently unlikely tale involving zoology and botany, religious experience, and ocean survival skills to explore the meaning of stories in our lives, whether they are inspired by religion to explain the purpose of life or generated by our own psyches as a way to understand and interpret the world around us. 

Martel employs a number of religious themes and devices to introduce religion as one of mankind’s primary filters for interpreting reality. Pi’s active adoption and participation in Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity establish him as a character able to relate his story through the lens of the world’s three major religions. Prayer and religious references abound, and his adventures bring to mind such Old Testament scenes as the Garden of Eden, Daniel and the lion’s den, the trials of Job, and even Jonah and the whale. Accepting Pi’s survival story as true, without supporting evidence, is little different than accepting New Testament stories about Jesus. They are matters of faith, not empiricism. 

In the end, however, LIFE OF PI takes a broader view. All people are storytellers, casting their experiences and even their own life events in story form. Martel’s message is that all humans use stories to process the reality around them, from the stories that comprise history to those that explain the actions and behaviors of our families and friends. We could never process the chaotic stream of events from everyday life without stories to help us categorize and compartmentalize them. Yet we all choose our own stories to accomplish this – some based on faith and religion, some based on empiricism and science. The approach we choose dictates our interpretation of the world around us.”

What do readers want? An incredible story or a story filled with dry facts? 
“I know what you want. You want a story that won’t surprise you. That will confirm what you already know. That won’t make you see higher or further or differently. You wan a flat story. An immobile story. You want dry, yeastless factuality.” (from the book)

The author brilliantly shows us how we would rather believe almost anything than be presented with unappealing truths. 

One thing for sure, Yann Martel is a master storyteller. I never have read a book that made me think and have emotions in this way.

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