Book It: Life Of Pi

“To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.”
- Yann Martel, Life of Pi -

So last week I mentioned the novel ‘Life of Pi’ by Yann Martel and stressed how much I really, really, really enjoyed it. I did. Very much so. And although I’d intended to write a little something about it last week, I didn’t finish the post on time. But here it is now.

First, to give you a general idea of what the story is about, here is a description from the back cover of the book:

Pi Patel, a God-loving boy and son of a zookeeper, has a fervent love of stories and practices not only his native Hinduism, but also Christianity and Islam. When Pi is sixteen, his family and their zoo animals emigrate from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship. Alas, the ship sinks - and Pi finds himself in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi. Can Pi and the tiger find their way to land? Can Pi's fear, knowledge, and cunning keep him alive until they do?

Okay, go ahead and say it: ho hum. It doesn’t sound that interesting, does it? Come on...don’t be afraid to admit it. That is exactly how I felt when I read the description, and why it took me so long to get to this novel that had been sitting on my bookshelf for months. I was curious about it because it was so popular, but at the same time I was reluctant to get started because I was expecting one of those stories that end up as a cute, animated Disney film. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Disney films are rather enjoyable, and I’ve watched most of them with my kids. But I’m not always in the mood for that. Sometimes I need something a little less cute and a little more intense.

Along comes Life of Pi, which not only fulfilled my need for something intense and satisfying, but also left me profoundly moved. This is not simply a story of a young boy facing immeasurable hardship while lost at sea with a 450-pound Bengal tiger as his only companion; it is also a meditative journey with many parallels to spirituality that make us question humanity, nature, survival, morality, faith and what it means to be alive. It will make you think. It will make you wonder. It will make you feel. It will make you question. And it will bring to the forefront the duality of human nature: the veneer that civilization imposes on us and the instinctual, inner animal.

In this story that also includes some wonderful humour, there are many pearls of wisdom buried throughout, but the one that stands out the most is the constant, uplifting reminder that you can still find beauty, spirituality and hope in a world that is often plagued by cruelty and ugliness by man’s infinite inhumanity to man. Life of Pi rewards the reader in many ways, and how much you like it will almost certainly depend on how much tolerance you have for philosophical and religious questions, and whether you enjoy a little soul-searching.

I devoured this original, beautiful book, and I expect it will stay with me for a long time. When I got to the end of the story, I was forced to make a decision about what I’d read. I asked myself this (which you might, too):

Can I believe in the unbelievable, and accept as true without seeing?

I discovered that I can.

My overall recommendation: Read this book. Soon.