Book Title: Life of Pi
Author: Yann Marten
**** (4 stars out of 5)
Life of Pi is a story about a shipwrecked boy who survives the open seas on a life boat for 277 days...with an adult Bengal tiger on board. The story is divided into two sections. The first chronicles Pi's life up until the boat accident, and deals mainly with the boy's family's zoo, religion, and musings on geographics and other random tangents. The second portion details Pi's time spent on a lifeboat, learning to survive the elements, starvation, dehydration, and most of all, a tiger.
I have read Life of Pi twice now, and I must say, it was better the second time. The first time around, you only read the surface story, whereas the second time, you see the meaning, the symbolism, behind it. Section One drags, badly. It seems at first to have little or no correlation to Section Two, but they are in fact linked, and very eloquently so. Still, despite its importance and depth of meaning, Section One is just plain boring to read. Section Two drags a bit at times as well, but also has moments of extreme suspense. The ending of Section One gives the ending of Section Two, but somehow, that never lessens the suspense. The writing is wordy but beautiful, and the plot is intricate, interesting, and meaningful.
Despite lapses in movement, Life of Pi is truly an excellent, quick read. I recommend it to adults and teenagers 16 and older; few younger than that will be able to make it past Section One.
Buy it here new for $15.77 or used for $1.99 and up.
Happy reading,
Lizzy :-)
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