Book Review: Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Posted By CarrieK on June 27, 2009
Title: Life of Pi
Author: Yann Martel
Genre: Magical realism
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Canada
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
First line: My suffering left me sad and gloomy.
Well, my long run of wonderful reading (and listening) experiences has come to an end – and I’m surprised by the book that did it. I have only read glowing reviews of Yann Martel’s Life of Pi
Piscine Molitor Patel, known as “Pi,” is a teenage boy from India. His father is a zookeeper. When his parents decide to move the family to Canada, they embark on an ocean voyage with their zoo animals, which will be sold to other zoos. When the ship sinks, Pi is the only human survivor. He shares his lifeboat with a Bengal tiger, an injured zebra, a hyena, and an orangutan. Pi survives for several months on the lifeboat, using his wits – and a whistle – to train the tiger and to stay alive.
I don’t want to give away any spoilers for those of you who have yet to read Life of Pi, so this review will be spoiler-free. (I would, however, love to discuss the ending with those of you who have read it in the comments, so beware that comments may contain spoilers.) I thought Life of Pi was extremely slow-moving. For a book that is billed as a fantasy adventure story, it sure took a long time for the action to start. Pi tells his story in first person, and he goes off on long rambling tangents about his education and upbringing and his unusual views on faith. (He is a professing Christian, Muslim, and Hindu – at the same time.)
I listened to Life of Pi on audiobook, and I almost gave up on it several times. Not because of the audio – the narrator was wonderful – but because it seemed to drag. Because it was a relatively short book – only 9 discs – and because I had heard that there was a twist ending, I listened to the very end. The ending didn’t do anything to redeem the book in my sight – I thought it was just okay.
Life of Pi will go on my list of “books I didn’t like that other people loved,” along with Gilead and Bee Season and The Poisonwood Bible.
This one didn’t work for me either. The book was okay, but the ending just left me confused. I guess I like nice, tidy endings.
Don’t worry: a lot of the people I’ve talked to didn’t really like this book, either. That’s why I haven’t picked it up so far. It seems it’s the kind of book you like, or you don’t. It’s sad that you didn’t like it though!
I have heard that the audiobook version is not as good as the book. I seriously LOVED this book and I fear that it was due to the fact that you listened via audiobook that it fell flat for you. My imagination was so stretched in reading it. I’m sad that you didn’t love it.
Sheri
I haven’t read it myself, and have to admit that I haven’t really wanted to either, even with many friends telling me I should and that I’ll love it. Maybe I would, I don’t know. I have to want to read it first though, right? Anyhow, I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it.
Ouch. I have The Life of Pi, Gilead, Bee Season, and The Poisonwood Bible all on Mt. TBR. Not exactly inspiring me to pull them out, either. Meh, if LT thinks I won’t like it, then I may still read them
Kathy – I don’t care for ambiguous endings, either.
Kay – There are a lot of books that are like that – people either love them or absolutely hate them.
Sheri – I actually thought the audio was very well done – I just didn’t like the story.
LF – I don’t like reading books simply because everyone else says I should. I think I’m a bit rebellious that way! Of course, often when I do read a “must-read,” I end up loving it.
Alisha – don’t take my word on any of those titles – a lot of people absolutely loved them!
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Ok, I was afraid to read any of the comments, because I haven’t read this yet. I’ve vowed to listen to it before the end of year, because I set up a challenge with my readers. I hope it’s better for me.
Beth – I hope it’s better for you, too.
Carrie: IMHO
I don’t think that reading the book would be much different of an experience from hearing it. I wasn’t that thrilled with it when I read it either. I understand what he was doing; I just didn’t care for it.
UP – I’m glad to hear I wasn’t the only one! I always feel like I’m failing the book-loving world when I don’t like a book everyone is buzzing over.
I just picked this up at a book sale recently and was looking forward to it. We’ll see.
Stacy – Don’t take my word for it – a lot of people adore this book – so you might totally love it, too.
I haven’t read this book (yet). Everytime I read a glowing review of it (like the ones you’ve mentioned) I feel an immediate urge to run out and buy a copy. And then I pick up the book and question it every time. Then I find a review like yours and I’m further dissuaded. Then the postive reviews come and the vicious cycle continues! =D
Maybe I’ll get to it. And then again, maybe not!
Carrie, RTK – I know – I went round and round before reading this one, too. Oh, well – they can’t all be winners!
I am amongst those who thought this book was a very pleasurable read. I did not find the book slow at all….may be you should have read the book instead of listening to the audio version. Audio, as a medium, demands more speed. I do agree with you on one point though- I did not understand the purpose of those lengthy diversions on Pi’s view on religion-it did not seem to fit in very well with the main theme of the book.
I actually really disliked the end of this book. It’s hard to say more without spoilers, but yeah, this book didn’t work for me either. (The island bit was so weird too!) And yet I love The Poisonwood Bible (it’s one of my all-time favouritest books) and I also really enjoyed Bee Season (although the movie sucked)!
avisannschild´s last blog ..Mailbox Monday (July 13)
Ashmita – I’m not sure the plot would have worked for me, even in print. The reader actually did a very good job.
Avis – I know, I know – The Poisonwood Bible is supposed to be so fantastic- I may have to give it another try. I only made it to page 100 when I read it, then I gave up.
Carrie, I hope you do give it a second chance at some point! (I’ve read the book twice already and I think it’s her best book.) On the other hand, it may just not be your cup of tea!
avisannschild´s last blog ..Teaser Tuesday (July 14)
i hate this book with a passion. this book couldnt have been worse. yann martel wrote about the most boring subjects and the plot was totally unraveled in a bad way. for anyone that has read this book, well…..im sorry and i wish too, that we could get that time of our life back
Fuzz – wow – you really hated it!
I just finished listening to the audio version. My daughter, whose taste in books is usually pretty in sync with my own, recommended it as a must-read. I honestly could not wait for the book to end. It seemed to go on forever, much like Pi’s journey, I guess. I did get a laugh out of certain parts but for the most part, found it rather gross. I’m not interested in hearing descriptions of animals killing each other.
Carol – yes, it was definitely a miss with me, too.