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Life of Pi by
Yann Martel
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Life of Pi by Yann
Martel
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- Hardcover: 336 pages ; Dimensions (in
inches): 1.12 x 9.24 x 6.58
- Publisher: Harcourt; ISBN: 0151008116;
(June 4, 2002)
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Yann Martel's imaginative and unforgettable Life of Pi is a magical
reading experience, an endless blue expanse of storytelling about
adventure, survival, and ultimately, faith.
The
precocious son of a zookeeper, 16-year-old Pi Patel is raised in
Pondicherry, India, where he tries on various faiths for size, attracting
"religions the way a dog attracts fleas."
Planning
a move to Canada, his father packs up the family and their menagerie and
they hitch a ride on an enormous freighter. After a harrowing shipwreck,
Pi finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean, trapped on a 26-foot
lifeboat with a wounded zebra, a spotted hyena, a seasick orangutan, and a
450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker ("His head was the size
and color of the lifebuoy, with teeth").
It
sounds like a colorful setup, but these wild beasts don't burst into song
as if co-starring in an anthropomorphized Disney feature. After much gore
and infighting, Pi and Richard Parker remain the boat's sole passengers,
drifting for 227 days through shark-infested waters while fighting hunger,
the elements, and an overactive imagination.
In
rich, hallucinatory passages, Pi recounts the harrowing journey as the
days blur together, elegantly cataloging the endless passage of time and
his struggles to survive: "It is pointless to say that this or that
night was the worst of my life. I have so many bad nights to choose from
that I've made none the champion."
An award winner in Canada, Life of Pi,
Yann Martel's second novel, should prove to be a breakout book in the U.S.
At one point in his journey, Pi recounts, "My greatest wish--other
than salvation--was to have a book.
A long book with a never-ending story. One
that I could read again and again, with new eyes and fresh understanding
each time." It's safe to say that the fabulous, fablelike Life of
Pi is such a book. --Brad Thomas Parsons
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