Life of Pi
By Yann Martel
Harcourt, Inc. - 2002
ISBN: 0151008226 - Hardback
Fiction

Reviewed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, MyShelf.com
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Misbilled, but not a Mistake
Martel Writes a Story
That is More Than What it Seems

Life of Pi by Yann Martel is getting quite a run from book clubs and the media. It is the darling of reviewers, as well it should be. Still, I think that readers ought to be warned. It seems to be misbilled, as it were; that may be why I was tempted to shelve it before I became entranced. I want my gentle readers to resist the urge. That's why I'm mentioning this petty little annoyance in the face of what some are calling a work of art.

Life of Pi is a combination of Kon Tiki, (Remember Thor Heyerdahl?), Moby Dick and The Old Man and the Sea. A fine tradition to be sure. It is well written but I just couldn't get a handle on point of view right away. Nor could I immediately discern whether this book was, in fact, a novel as the cover proclaims, or a creative biography, a memoir or… Well, you get the idea.

Hang in there. Once Pi, our hero, is on a lifeboat with a tiger, you won't care what king of book this is, whether the tiger is a symbol or real. You'll just want to be there for the ride, be there for the amazement. Still, I don't advise you to skip those first 70 pages. The flyleaf suggests that this book will "make you believe in God," and, in order to realize its promise, you'll need those pages. Be patient. At some point, you'll understand why this is so.