Life of Pi: A NovelBy Yann Martel
Publisher: Harvest Books, 2001
401 pages, paperback
Date Finished: 5/2/2010
Genres: Young Adult, Adventure, Modern Classic, Realistic Fiction
First Line of Book: "My suffering left me sad and gloomy."
Review: Yann Martel has greatly succeeded in bringing together the life of a boy who goes by the name Pi. Martel has not only included humor points in the book (one of my favorite's being about Pi's name), but has explained the hardship that Pi went through while stranded on a lifeboat with zoo animals for 227 days in the Pacific Ocean.
Piscine (pronounced pea • seen) Molitor Patel grew up as a young boy in India, and when he was sixteen, his familey decided it would be good for them to move to Canada. So off they went, and soon, the ship sinks and everyone is dead, save for a hyena, orangutan, rat, zebra, Bengal tiger, and Pi himself -- all of which, besides Pi and the tiger, die early into their Pacific journey.
From then on, Pi is trying to train the Bengal not to eat him. From a whistle to a raft, the boy comes up with very many ideas. At one point, they even come upon an acidic island. This is an amazing book that I would love to read again, but not any time soon because I still remember the story line. I will definitely be thinking about reading more of Martel's work.
Rating:
Quotes from the Book:
"Immobilizing darts don't bring on sleep gently, like a good cup of tea; they knock out like a bottle of hard liquor straight up."
"Ignorance is the worst doctor, while rest and sleep are the best nurses."
"Do not drink urine. Or sea water. Or bird blood. Do not eat jellyfish. Or fish that are armed with spikes. Or that have parrot-like beaks. Or that puff up like balloons."
"Do not urinate in your clothes. The momentary warmth is not worth the nappy rash."
"No one who was called 'Pissing' in his childhood would be caught dead with a cup of pee at his lips, even alone in a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific [Ocean]."
--Zakiya, the walking butterfly
3 comments:
I didn't really like this book, but those butterflies are sweet!!! Where on earth did you find them?
I have not read the book. I have many other books that I want to get read first.
I know. Those butterfly graphics are killer!
LOL, Jen! I'm sorry you didn't like the book. And I was just searching "animated butterfly" on Google. It was, of course, being very very still when I saw it on the list, but I clicked and *POW*! It's on Photobucket. :P
I understand that dilemma, Elyssa. I also felt like this. I'd had the book for about two weeks, then read it for the April Challenge (pink on cover). In the end, it didn't count for the challenge, but it knocked my pages up! :D
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