11 January 2013

Reviewer X: Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Throughout 2013, I'm going to be hosting some reviews written by a friend. Said friend wishes to remain anonymous (I think they're intimidated by the vast amount of readers I have *snorts*), so from now on they are going to be known as Reviewer X. I hope you enjoy reading X's reviews. They're certainly written in a different style to mine!

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Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Release Date: November 1, 2012 (This edition)
Publisher: Canongate (This edition)
Source: Bought
Rating: 5 stars

Winner of the Booker Prize, Yann Martel's fantasy adventure,Life Of Pi, has now been adapted into a groundbreaking 3D film by Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee.

After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, a solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild blue Pacific. The only survivors are a Pi, 16-year-old boy, a spotted hyena, a zebra with a broken leg, a female orangutan and a 450-pound Royal Bengal Tiger. As the 'crew' begin to grow restless and assert their natural place in the food chain, Pi's fear mounts and he must use his wit, knowledge and faith to survive against all odds.

Life Of Pi is a real treat for the imagination, an astonishing novel that will delight and stun readers in equal measures. - Goodreads

Everyone should read this book at least once in their life, I think. Not just because it's beautifully written, filled with vivid, surreal imagery or that the writing is poetic, meaningful and and descriptive, although these are good reasons in themselves. Rather, everyone should read this book because it's that rare kind of literature wherein each reader can take away something different and still be moved deeply by the story. Life of Pi, if you let it, will open your eyes to a deeper understanding of human nature, science and that eternal question of faith.

The story, on the surface, is deceptively simple - a young, teenage boy finds himself out on the open ocean, fighting for survival alongside a Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker. The narrative follows his struggle to survive. But this is all just on the surface - there is a completely different story existing in the subtext. That is to say, it's not spelled out for you. This is the kind of book that will make you think, and doubt your own perception and in that way, draw you deeper into the real message of the book.

And at the end of it all, this book will make you question yourself. There are three kinds of people described in this book, and by the end of the novel you may have realised which one you are.

5 comments:

  1. Sounds wonderful. I've umm'd and ahh'd over this. Thanks to Reviewer X, it's now on my TBR.

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  2. Well done Reviewer X! Enjoyed reading this! Such a good idea :)

    Star :P

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  3. Reviewer X, you did wonderfully! I pretty much had the same reaction after I read it. I loved it so much. I am a little concerned about seeing the film because I am afraid of them messing it up.

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  4. I love this idea! Great review, I have this on my shelf and now I know I definitely need to pick it up soon.

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  5. Perhaps I'm a bit shallow because I loved this story right until the end, when the deep interpretations/questions came in. I felt the same way with the movie--that the ending sort of ruined the story. Enjoyed your review, X!

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Thank you for commenting!