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Dewey Decimal Number: 813 EAN: 9780007162291 Format: Audiobook ISBN: 0007162294 Label: HarperCollins Audio Manufacturer: HarperCollins Audio Publication Date: December 02, 2002 Publisher: HarperCollins Audio Studio: HarperCollins Audio Editorial Review: Amazon.com Review: 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 Product Description: WINNER OF THE 2002 BOOKER PRIZE After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, one solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild, blue Pacific. The crew of the surviving vessel consists of a hyena, a zebra (with a broken leg), a female orang-utan, a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger and Pi -- a 16-year-old Indian boy. The scene is set for one of the most extraordinary pieces of literary fiction of recent years. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Amazing bookThis book is amazing. Pay attention to the metephor at the end, and decide which is the truth, the story or the metaphor? Rating:  - So-so bookI ventured out of my usual kind of reads for this book because of all the hype. It sounded kinda interesting. When I read the blurbs on it, I was expecting some kind of big epiphany from it. I'm disappointed in it, it was just a weird story that dragged on, and the back and forth in time thing was confusing. I've read other books with that technique that flowed well and were easy to follow. I am giving it three stars because Mr. Martel can obviously write, no shortage of talent there. There is also ... Read More Rating: - From a High School Freshmans PerspectiveLife of Pi is a very interesting book once you get past the beginning. In the whole first part of the book, I had to force myself to read it. I would have stopped if the book was not assigned for school. Yann wrote about topics as if he had just watched a show on The Animal Planet and wanted to tell us about why animals did certain things like escaping from their enclosure. But after I got past that part, which put me to sleep. I could not stop reading. He describes Pi's adventure with so much detail ... Read More Rating: - no words can describe how good this is!it breaks down all barriers of imagination and offers a breathtaking understanding of life through a story of simple transition from innocence to maturity...something each adult reader can relate to. be prepared for the more graphic details in the second and third section of the book which are a little unpleasant, but it is this very crudeness that gives the book that extra sense of realism and makes the book a thrilling read... i definitely recommend it! Rating: - engaging, imaginative, thought-provokingA wonderful, imaginative and utterly engaging meditation on the existence of God, really (not to mention a rollicking good tale). And in the final analysis, I like the story with the animals in it better! (see page 352) Enjoy. |
