Life of Pi
by Yann Martel
This book was certainly not a favourite for the group although some of us enjoyed it in parts and it certainly engendered a spirited discussion.
The novel is in three parts and for many of us the first part was the most credible and enjoyable as our eponymous hero grows up in anomalous Pondicherry amongst the zoo animals and rival religious and social philosophies.
The second part as Pi embarks on his lengthy voyage in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger (we all found it difficult to picture this arrangement) is far less credible
and Pi’s encounter with a man-eating island populated with meerkats stretched credulity a little too far.
Pi’s return to civilization requires a re-examination of his story.
Is it a dark tale of cannibalism and murder or do we stay with the remarkable yarn of survival against all the odds in a small(-ish) boat with a full-grown carnivorous wild animal?
Regardless of our feelings about the book our wide-ranging discussion on myth, morality and eternal questions probably merited five stars.
NS. March 2012
NB1. There is a double story structure to the novel which was not examined in the review.
NB2. Some members went to see the film. It did nothing to improve the story but was visually brilliant.
PC. July 2015
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