"Life of Pi" or "Self" by Yann Martel

puddintane · Sun May 24, 2009 5:36 am

Has anyone read Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I loved this book and am looking to read his other book called Self but it's not available on Kindle yet. Anybody read either? What did you think of them

Thomas Hood · Sun May 24, 2009 8:48 am


	puddintane wrote: Has anyone read Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I loved this book and am looking to read his other book called Self but it's not available on Kindle yet. Anybody read either? What did you think of them

emiller1 has been reading it:

http://www.booktalk.org/viewtopic.php?p=48386

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_of_Pi

President Camacho · Sun May 24, 2009 8:49 am

I read Life of Pi about two years ago. It was a good story from what I remember - very creative. I can usually guess at what an ending may be but this book's ending caught me totally by surprise. It went from being a whimsical child's cartoon to something very immediate and real.

I don't want to give away the ending for anyone who hasn't read the book. Unlike other books, all this book has is its ending. The story is moderately interesting and it droops way down towards the end where I have to admit, I got rather lost - when they were on that island towards the end. I really didn't understand that part of the book. I still don't.

If you haven't read the book, stop reading.

Martel's character chooses to disguise his ordeal from himself by substituting what actually happened to him with a creation of his imagination. Martel is challenged with reconciling the boy's imagination with the reality of the situation in order to tie the story into itself and make the strongest impact possible at the end of the book. The idea is phenomenal. I'm not sure if this has ever been done before but it's an amazing idea. I feel that Martel did a good job. The ending did deliver and it moved me. It moved me first in the direction which was his intention and then it moved me to think about the island and what the hell that was all about and why certain situations were as they were. By leaving no doubt in the reader's mind as to how each situation could be interpreted the reader is ultimately left in the same emotional place the author wishes them to be after reading the twist. Instead, I left that place, smirked at the 'clever' twist and wondered about the many details in the story that weren't adequately reconciled. Could have been genius! Instead, I give it clever.

Grim · Mon Jun 22, 2009 12:48 am

Ah...Yann Martell. A typically brilliant Canadian.

:book:

Suzanne · Mon Jun 22, 2009 11:22 am

President Camacho wrote:


	Quote: when they were on that island towards the end. I really didn't understand that part of the book. I still don't.

Are you talking about the very end, when tiger and Pi separate, or, when Pi finds an oasis in the tree? I have thoughts on both.

President Camacho wrote:


	Quote: It moved me first in the direction which was his intention and then it moved me to think about the island and what the hell that was all about and why certain situations were as they were.

He was dying at this point. I saw those passages as poetic, it takes a couple readings to feel the strong impact. The oasis on the island was a halucination, brought on by his deteriating condition. Not unlike someone who is freezing to death. It differs from the rest of the book because it is real. I felt a sense of hopelessness that was lacking in Pi up until that point. He started to see "the light", the end, and accepted it.

The author did a lot of research on the complexities of the mind. I would love to know where he got his inspiration.

President Camacho · Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:48 pm

Ok, I can see now how that fits.

Aussie_Lifter · Sat Jul 04, 2009 7:45 pm

In an interview, Martel says that the island was designed to test the readers' belief in the story.

To show how much we are prepared to believe if we need/want to.

Suzanne · Sun Jul 05, 2009 1:09 pm

Aussie_Lifter wrote:


	Quote: In an interview, Martel says that the island was designed to test the readers' belief in the story. To show how much we are prepared to believe if we need/want to.

This is really interesting, thank you for this insite. This is the only part of the book I saw to be real. I wonder what that says about me. I'll have to give this book a second read.

JulianTheApostate · Fri Jul 17, 2009 1:35 am

I read the book a few years ago, but I didn't get it. The main story was entertaining, but the book's deeper meaning totally slipped by me.

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