Life of Pi - Yann Martel

Life of Pi is the book for my church book group this month, and listening to some of the other women talk about it made me a bit hesitant to pick it up and read it. Once I got into the story, though, I really liked it. Not only is it a fascinating read, it's also very well written.

Pi (short for Piscine, as in the French word for 'swimming pool') Patel is 16 years old when his father sells the family zoo in Pondicherry India to start a new life in Canada. The family boards a ship, the Tsimtsum, with some of their zoo animals, eager to begin their journey. A couple of days later, the ship sinks, taking with it every living thing that was onboard -- with the exception of Pi, Richard Parker the Bengal tiger, a hyena, an orangutan, and a zebra. This motley crew float away on a lifeboat with rations enough to last Pi about three months. Pi is understandably worried about being eaten by the hyena or Richard Parker, and doesn't know how he'll survive with the animals aboard. The hyena eats the zebra and the orangutan, and then Richard Parker eats the hyena, leaving himself and Pi as the sole occupants of the lifeboat. Pi says:

I was alone and orphaned, in the middle of the Pacific, hanging on to an oar, an adult tiger in front of me, sharks beneath me, a storm raging about me. Had I considered my prospects in the light of reason, I surely would have given up and let go of the oar, hoping that I might drown before being eaten. But I don't recall that I had a single thought during those first minutes of relative safety. I didn't even notice daybreak. I held on to the oar, I just held on, God only knows why. [p. 107]

Pi survives (I'm not giving anything away; the reader discovers this right away), with one whopper of a story to tell.

I survived 227 days. That's how long my trial lasted, over seven months. . . . I survived because I made a point of forgetting. My story started on a calendar day--July 2nd, 1977--and ended on a calendar day--February 14th, 1978--but in between there was no calendar. I did not count the days or the weeks or the months. Time is an illusion that only makes us pant. I survived because I forgot even the very notion of time. [p. 191-192]

The ending really surprised me, in a good way. Pi tells his story to two members of the Maritime Department in the Japanese Ministry of Transport. The men have been sent to question Pi, hoping to discover what happened to make the Tsimtsum sink. They never forget the story they heard.

I can't say much more without giving something away, but I can say that I really liked this book. That Pi survived is incredible. And his story is pretty incredible, too.

4/5