I couldn't have said it better, in fact, I wouldn't care to try. When people ask me about this book I'll just refer them to your description.

I have to concur with Bryon. Thank you for writing that.

You said what I trid to say about the novel, only so much more eloquently!

I think we have our next Yann Martel. Thanks for this review.

you know, brevity is the soul of wit, and wit creates a sense of brevity even in the extended. eva's commentary and synopsis (not that she would attempt to comment or provide synopsis), to wit, are remarkably engaging and even handed. if she does not comment professionally in some fashion, she should, not that i would presume upon her ability to do so. forgive me if my post is more about her abilities as such than the book, not that i would deign to comment on the book after her deft offering. so, for any who actually reads these posts and wishes a most supreme encounter with learned commentary removed from the masturbatory qualities of self-congratulating formal academia, i refer you to eva's review of "life of pi," not that i would ever refer anyone to formal literary criticism.

by the way, if this post sounds ironic, i mean it only as a compliment and complement to a device found throughout eva's review. and if it weren't obvious, i'm often at odds with formal criticism, but relish useful and engaging commentary like hers. i pray to my non-atheist god that she's apart from the academic fray, but if not, that they listen to her there.

Wow!! That's probably one of the best reviews I've ever read! Ever! Makes me want to run right out and get the book. Right now!! To move it up to the top of my list!

This is a really well-worded review - it's been an age since I read the book, but your writing brought back good memories of the delicacy and richness of the novel.

But one quibble.

Feynman didn't do cats, boxed or otherwise. You're thinking of Schrodinger. :)

This is a really good review and agree with it in totality!

Thank you for saying what I wanted to, but couldn't. This book was so haunting to me because there was so much more than just a kid and a tiger in a boat. I loved realizing at the end that you were not really sure what was going on. I feel sorry for my friends that didn't seem to get it. They really missed out on a great book.

You nailed it Eva! I gushed over this book and how incredible it was, and I could never understand why some of my friends didn't love and appreciate it as much as I did. Well, now I know why: I don't think they "got" the many different layers and symbolisms involved in this book. Thank you for a beautiful review!

Okay, you all apparently think it was great. I didn't!

Linksbard wrote: "you know, brevity is the soul of wit, and wit creates a sense of brevity even in the extended. eva's commentary and synopsis (not that she would attempt to comment or provide synopsis), to wit, ar..."

Touche', Linksbard. Many, many months late.

Rachel wrote: "This is a really well-worded review - it's been an age since I read the book, but your writing brought back good memories of the delicacy and richness of the novel.

But one quibble.

Feynman didn'..."

Rachel. Wrote this years ago, during which time not one person has ever pointed out the glaring error that you did. Was I reading Feynman at the time? Did I have a brain fart? Most certainly the latter, possibly the former. Either way, I (and those who care about Schroedinger, physics, or watching felines in boxes) am grateful you caught my mistake. Now if I can just figure out how to get back into my review and correct the problem.

I just want to add myself to the list of people who love this review (except the Feynman/Schroedinger part). You nailed it!

The ending...yeah. It's one of the best, if not THE best endings that I've ever encountered in a book. It COMPLETELY changed my perception on the book and just...wow. Not a lot of books can make me feel so many new things at the end, nor do endings usually leave such a deep impression on me.
This review pretty much nailed what I thought of the book.

Great comments. I tell everyone to read it. Can't say it any better than everyone else.

How moving to find such a great review on such a wonderful book.. Thank-you, Thank-you. My daughter will be reading it for her summer reading, I am so glad and eager to see how it transforms her.

Fantastic review! I had to thankyou because it is just as magical as the book!

What does one read after this ?

Wonderfully put!

Ditto to every single one of the gushing comments about how great this review is. bravo.

you really captured my feelings about the book. A truely great book.

I loved it

Now if I can just figure out how to get back into my review and correct the problem. "

There's an edit button next to your review.

Good review though :)

Jakob, done.

Grazie, sir. (My computer skills are few and far between.)

Eva wrote: "Jakob, done.

Grazie, sir. (My computer skills are few and far between.)"

They are more than made up by your writing skill ;)

I was looking for the words to describe why i find this book haunting. You have completely summed it up! Thank you.

I can really only agree with what everyone else has said about the perfection of your review.
So in all honesty, thankyou, because I think this is a perfect result of "Life Of Pi": the ability of strangers to be able to share and connect over the ideas within and without the novel.

Exactly!

I think about the Schrodinger's cat, reading the same lines; we do seem to live in a very participatory universe.

I read only this review and your words convinced me instantly. I'm reading it now.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Great review. Loved the book.

The book is among my favourites. And now, so is this review. Wonderfully written, Eva.

you have put into words what I never could! such a wonderful review! !! thank you

Spoken precisely how I felt! Grand beyond words. I'm so glad I read your review, it has given the completion, closure. :)

Beautifully expressed

You mirrored so many of my thoughts.

Wow! I can't wait to read it now! Thank you!

Very nicely put! Mirrored many of my thoughts too...!

Thoughts brilliantly expressed. A Word weaver and the result is as thought-provoking as the lasting impression of this grand piece of literature.

Your review was simply....amazing!! and I haven't even read the book yet. Your words have made me want to read this book. Thank you. You are an excellent writer, if I may so myself.

As many, I agree with Byron. You have given the best review on this book I've read thus-far.

Jenna wrote: "As many, I agree with Byron. You have given the best review on this book I've read thus-far."

Agree!! She is great at reviews.

Your comments incited my desire to read the book, and now that I am, I see how apt your review is. All these "teasers" about how the ending is different than what you may expect make me both dread and eagerly anticipate reaching the last pages of the book - like opening Pandora's box!

Your review was so good, I'm trying to figure out if it really happened, was it allegory, was it metaphor, or did it just exist in my mind to escape the loneliness. I suspect your review will jump onto the beach and dash into the jungle, and we will never know. (nor should we know.)

yep, best review ever.

Best review I have ever read. Are you a writer? Lol

Excellent writing.

Finished the book today. Took me a while to go through the initial 50 pages and after that I must have been sitting in some corner of that boat journeying through the pacific largely invisible to Pi and Richard Parker. the smell was terrible and the rocking of the boat and the inclement weather did not help.
I had been in Pondicherry and I must have met Adirubswamy or whatever his name.
I was glad when finally the journey ended, because too many things were dying. it gave life a new meaning defined by death itself. God had to come into this and all the religions of course otherwise we would not understand such an unbelievable set of events. Daniel Defoe in a boat with a tiger?
Or was it Dante's inferno cleverly concealed in a jungle book like story.
You could journey through hell and understand heaven and realise that they in fact exist within us and around us!
A brilliant Book!