Accept the confusion and the occasional tedium of Martel’s most well-known work, and you will be rewarded at the end. It is a thought-provoking, truly memorable novel that provides endless jumping off points for conversation. Well worth the hype.

posted Jan 30, 2013 at 4:11PM

It’s one thing to be shipwrecked and cast out to see in a small lifeboat. It’s another thing entirely if your only surviving shipmate is a 450-pound tiger named Richard Parker who takes up most of the lifeboat. Yet this is exactly the situation a young boy named Pi Patel faces when his ship, carrying his emigrating zookeeper family and a few select members of their menagerie from India to Canada, burns and sinks. For the rest of the book, we’re left with four characters—young Pi, who has to keep the tiger happy to keep himself alive; the tiger, completely at a loss when it comes to life at sea but still ferociously hungry; the twenty-two-foot boat they live on; and the relentless open sea. Pi is a curious, clever boy who has adopted several of the world’s major religions—Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism—as his own. Pi will need all his wits, knowledge, and faith to stay alive as his boat drifts across the sea, but his ordeal and his bright, sharp observations make the outlandish story real and memorable. Blurring the line between stark reality and wishful thinking, Life of Pi is a modern fable and a storytelling marvel.

posted Dec 14, 2009 at 2:40PM

Whatever you do, don't read the end before the beginning. Then, once you've finished it, go back and read it again. This book is an incredible piece of literature.

posted Nov 8, 2009 at 5:12PM

Excellent piece of leturature. The story takes place when India was at war, hence why the family decided to move to Canada. The only set back is that the ship sank and only the youngest member of the family survies... Pi Patel and he is in the company of a Zebra, a Heyna, a Tiger, and an Orangutan. I would recamend it to anyone.

posted Aug 14, 2009 at 9:16AM

In this amazing story of survival, determination and companionship, a young boy, Piscine Molitor Patel, Pi for short, lives in a French colony in India. When Pi, his brother, Ravi and his parents move their family-owned zoo to Canada, the ship sinks. He now finds himself on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean together with a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Yann Martel combines his story-telling abilities and his imagination to form this amazing story, that as the book said, will make everyone believe in God.

posted Jul 21, 2009 at 2:57PM

In this amazing story of survival, determination and companionship, a young boy, Piscine Molitor Patel, Pi for short, lives in a French colony in India. When Pi, his brother, Ravi and his parents move their family-owned zoo to Canada, the ship sinks. He now finds himself on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean together with a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Yann Martel combines his story-telling abilities and his imagination to form this amazing story, that as the book said, will make everyone believe in God.

posted Jul 21, 2009 at 2:57PM

This book is full of heart and humanity. It works on many levels and has innocence as well as the opposite of innocence. It is definitely a great read.

posted Oct 15, 2008 at 12:06AM

This was an amazing book. It was very adventurous and amusing, but also deep and reflective. Pi is a great main character who struggles with both surviving in the middle of the ocean and with his own faith. I loved this book!!

posted Jul 7, 2008 at 12:03PM

This was an amazing book. It was very adventurous and amusing, but also deep and reflective. Pi is a great main character who struggles with both surviving in the middle of the ocean and with his own faith. I loved this book!!

posted Jul 7, 2008 at 12:03PM

This is in my top 10 favorite books. It's great for a book club, because there are so many discussion points. Don't pass this one up.

posted Feb 21, 2007 at 8:10PM

This was an awesome book. It describes how a young teenager is shipwrecked and survives on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific with only a Bengal tiger for company. It's fascinating and exciting, and even delves a little bit into theological considerations and parallels. Great book.

posted Jun 27, 2006 at 9:05PM

This was an awesome book. It describes how a young teenager is shipwrecked and survives on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific with only a Bengal tiger for company. It's fascinating and exciting, and even delves a little bit into theological considerations and parallels. Great book.

posted Jun 27, 2006 at 9:05PM

This book was very good, even though it has a slow start. It makes one think about point-of-view in a different way, which opens one’s eyes to other possibilities that come with stories.

posted Jun 25, 2006 at 7:55PM

For those looking for an inspiring yet captivating read, I very highly recommend the novel 'Life of Pi.' After the sinking of the ship he and his family were taking from his home country of India to the country of Canada, Pi Patel finds himself stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, fending for his life in a lifeboat with, of all things, a fully grown tiger. This story detailing the 200 days Pi spends at sea is incredibly inspirational and thought-provoking. It is a book that I personally could not put down, and would recommend to others in a second.

posted Nov 9, 2004

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