Book - Life Of Pi (2003)

Life of Pi by Yann Martel was an interesting read.  I started reading it before I knew that a movie based on the novel was coming.  If I had known, I would have read it much earlier, since everyone knows that only really good books get made into movies (sarcasm intended).

The author’s introduction raises the reader’s expectations, at least indirectly, by having one of the characters state that this is “a story that will make you believe in God.”  I’m not sure that this story convinced me one way or the other but it kept my attention.  I tried hard to keep spoilers from being part of the summary – there are flashbacks and interludes to the present that make the story non-linear.  Even so, I will be sparing with the details.  The book is separated into three parts.

Part One was the most enjoyable section for me and takes place in India, mostly in the territory of Pondicherry (or now called Puducherry).  This was a former French territory that is now part of India and still retains some vestiges of French colonization.  The reader is introduced to Piscine (Pi) Patel and the narrative runs through zoo-keeping, religions, Indian history, regional cuisines and many other fascinating topics.  It was engaging and connects the unlikely dots through which Pi becomes a practicing Hindu, Christian and Muslim.  And, yes, we do get an explanation for why the main character is named Piscine.

Part Two was a study in survival techniques onboard a raft in the Pacific and can be quite gruesome in some parts.  The monotony of being a castaway adrift on the Pacific and surviving for seven months or so with one other companion (Richard Parker) is an unbelievable tale that is made possible through the vivid detail given by Martel.  While the monotony and repetition bled into the reading experience, it was a necessary device to ensure that the reader shared in the pain.

Part Three was the section least interesting to me.  The eventual landfall and investigation seemed like a bolt-on to allow Martel to envelop the story in symbolism and make this larger than itself  - a choice of stories that gives the atheist and the religious something to grasp and leaves the agnostic purposely without answers, as the author believes is deserved.  As Pi says, “It is not the atheists who get stuck in my craw but agnostics…to choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.”  However, I think the conclusion falls flat and is not as powerful as it should have been, for two reasons:

• The criticism against agnostics is harsh.  Ask any woman who has been trapped with a man who will not stop to ask for directions when lost and she will tell you that movement for the sake of moving is worthless - far better to stop and get more information.  The agnostic may simply be waiting for more information.
• Martel's allegory has Pi providing two separate stories which means one is patently false.  It's a poor representation of searching for truth from multiple sources, all of which may contain some part of the truth.

While I was drawn to the religious discourse through the book, I found the possibility of a Hindu who also became a practicing Christian and Muslim more difficult to believe than some of the other parts of this tale.  I do not believe that one can pick and choose parts of a religion and still be an adherent.  If idolatry is proscribed by both Christianity and Islam, how can one still be either of those and also be Hindu?  I once met an Indian physicist who claimed to be both Christian and Hindu - I walked away from the conversation thinking that he drew spiritual insights from both religions but could not honestly be called a follower of one or both.  I think adding in a third religion in the mix is beyond my ability to suspend disbelief. 

In any case, I truly enjoyed reading the Life of Pi.  I learned a lot from it and hope that I have it with me if I ever find myself floating on the Pacific in a raft or need to train a tiger for a circus.  I would strongly recommend the book.  It's very entertaining; however, I don't believe this is a book that will change your life, regardless of the hype you may hear based on the movie.

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