Life of Pi Is No Life For Me

By: Ben W

Life of Pi is a Canadian fantasy novel about a kid named Pi Patel from Pondicherry, who gets stranded on a lifeboat for 227 days with a Bengal tiger. The story starts off telling about Pi as a child, how he grew up and about his affiliation with the zoo and religion. His family then makes the rash decision to sell the zoo and immigrate to Canada, which is when the boat sinks and only Pi and a few friends make it out alive.  The story is being retold by Pi, many years later being told to a researcher.

            The book is by Yann Martel, a well-known Canadian author, best know for this book. The way in which he writes is simplistic and real. He often writes about exciting and what should be thrilling, in a very unemotional manner. This is one aspect I really like about his writing. For example, when he writes about the boat sinking he simply states, "The boat sank." Reading the book however, at some points it felt like Pi was not a teenager and he was actually some old philosophical adult. I found myself wondering how a kid could seem that way until I realized that it was being told by Pi many years later. This may be my own fault but I feel this was something that Martel flawed on.

            Overall, the book is a fantastic read, and I am enthralled to see the movie based off of the book. I recommend it to everyone 15 and older, and it is an easy book to find, often found at Barnes and Noble.