Life of Pi in Atheists and Skeptics

Jun 22, 2014 David rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: survival, audiobook, literary, contemporary, india, animals

I was expecting to dislike this book, because I'd heard that the narrator goes off on a rant about atheists and agnostics, and I have a bit of an aversion to being lectured about how empty and meaningless my life is without being filled with the author's favorite flavor of deity. However, as it turns out, the ruminations on religion (and atheism and agnosticism) were not nearly as soapboxy as I feared, and they come from the protagonist, who is a 16-year-old boy.

Actually, Pi Patel's attitude tow I was expecting to dislike this book, because I'd heard that the narrator goes off on a rant about atheists and agnostics, and I have a bit of an aversion to being lectured about how empty and meaningless my life is without being filled with the author's favorite flavor of deity. However, as it turns out, the ruminations on religion (and atheism and agnosticism) were not nearly as soapboxy as I feared, and they come from the protagonist, who is a 16-year-old boy.

Actually, Pi Patel's attitude towards religion is neatly summed up in his anecdote about his spiritual awakening in his hometown of Pondicherry, India. Inspired to "love God," he begins attending church, mosque, and temple, becoming a devout Christian, Muslim, and Hindu - all at once. Much to the distress of his priest, imam, and sadhu when his triple-dipping religious observances are discovered. This is evidently supposed to reveal something deep and universal about Pi's spirituality, but to me it revealed that he's a kid with an understandable yearning and curiosity about the divine, and no intellectual foundation or empirical experience with which to genuinely seek truth.

But that's all in the first few chapters. Most of the book is about his months-long survival on a lifeboat in the Pacific with a grown Bengal tiger as his sole fellow survivor.

How does a sixteen-year-old Indian boy survive months on a lifeboat with 450 pounds of hungry Bengal tiger and not get eaten? The tale is a fantastic one, and it's very well told, sprinkled with a great deal of information about zoology and animal behavior. I can't personally attest that Yann Martel did his research, though I haven't read any reviews by zoologists saying he doesn't know what he's talking about. But I found myself believing.

Which is ironic, because in the climax, the investigators to whom Pi tells his tale, after he finally makes landfall in Mexico, do not believe him. So Pi tells them a different tale. The reader is meant to decide for himself, I suppose, which is the real one.

I probably shouldn't compare this book to a Salman Rushdie novel, because while the main character is Indian, the author is not, so it should be a coincidence that Life of Pi reminded me a lot of Midnight's Children - the style, not the story. I haven't read enough of either Rushdie or Martel to know whether they really do have a similar style. But the fact is, those two Man-Booker Prize winners both narrated by young Indian protagonists do strike me as similar. Martel also writes about sometimes horrific events with a wry humor sprinkled throughout.

So yes, this was a good book and I enjoyed it a great deal. But I'm still knocking off a star for the agnostic-bashing. ...more

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Sep 19, 2010 Maureen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: g_spiritual, a_all-time-favorites, 2011, a_favorites

This book was outstanding! I was charmed from the beginning with the simple philosophies and observations about life. The first part of the book covers Pi Patel's life at his father's zoo where he explores and observes animals, human nature and religions, and where he shares his joy and his delightful observations. I love how he chooses to keep only the good. The second part of the book covers Pi's journey across the Pacific Ocean on his way to Canada. It is obvious from the cover what happens, ...more

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Jun 05, 2010 Kay Prime rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-religious, 1001, fiction, the-halves

Reading this immediately following The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins I expected to be a bit cynical of the we-are-all-brothers-in-faith tone. However, Martel has found an original and convincing voice in Pi and his unique tale of an intimate spiritual journey. The author disarms by focusing on the similarities in belief systems rather than the differences. One of the most enjoyable aspects of this book is the ease in which Martel weaves the inspirations of different religions together througou ...more

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Sep 09, 2009 Madhusudan Katti rated it did not like it · review of another edition

I know this is a hugely popular book, and was highly recommended by many friends, but somehow it failed to grab me. Perhaps it's the skeptic in me - couldn't quite connect with the "spiritual" tone. Never even managed to finish reading it! ...more

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