October {2018} Discussion -- LIFE OF PI by Yann Martel

[Charity]

Time to discuss

[Jessica]

Life of Pie is by far one of my favorite novels! I like the implications that religion doesn't have to be as uniform as society or communities dictate. It challenges tradition but also shows great loyalty at the same time.
The movie was colorful and imaginative, if you haven't seen it-it's definitely a wonder to behold!

[Amanda]

I know many people really love this book, and it's been acclaimed by many reviewers, and that it's a huge cultural icon now (all of which I think justifies its place on the list)...but I really hated this book. Out of the 634 list books I've read so far, it is 1 of the only ones I gave a 1 star review to (there are 7 total so far I've rated this low).

And honestly, I'm kind of excited that the book club is finally a book I really didn't like (some others I thought were going to be like that really pleasantly surprised me). I really want to see if anyone else agrees with me, and I want to hear why people who felt very differently than me did too.

My main problem with the book is that I find PI to be incredibly sanctimonious, pretentious, and draining. I was finished with hearing his thoughts pretty immediately, and you spend so much of the book with him. The whole thing came across as incredibly smug to me for something that I didn't find that deep, and furthermore actually actively undermined its own premise.
I feel the opening line about "here's a story that will make you believe in god" conveys that pretty well (like yikes, inhale your own fumes a little more why don't you).

Yann Martel outlined the book by saying "Life is a story... You can choose your story... A story with God is the better story". I say it ended up undermining its own premise for me because for one, the real story without "god" or fantasy that he gives at the end is actually also very dramatic and captivating, and says far more about his own strength of perseverance and the complexity of the human condition than the fantasy luck based story he gives, so I think that makes a poor argument. The idea that the investigators would side with him about his claim of the "superior" story came across as weak to me too, and also I feel in itself undermines the validity of Pi's (well let's be real, Martel's) worldview presented here. They decide the first story is superior because it is more enjoyable, although false. But, there is a utility and potential real world good the investigators can glean by knowing the truth, and in fact is their professional responsibility to do so. So, is a story with "god" better because it is enjoyable or easier to digest, if it can do less good? This is a concept applicable to many real world topics, and I'm not convinced he comes down on the right side of it.

Also, while the author claims this book is about the power of belief....it actually isn't about belief at all. The story presented in here doesn't convey relative truth or genuine belief because Pi's dialogue with the investigators indicates that he clearly knows it is a lie. So while he sets up his ideals about belief in the unknown and ridiculous in the intro, he doesn't actually experience that in the context of the book. He is an active fabricator and knows this. Also, he clearly still remembers the real events and relays them to the investigators easily, so his "belief" in his "god" story doesn't even exist to shelter him from a traumatic or discouraging truth: a prime reason people and the book itself claim the power of belief in the absurd and unknown is important. So it's not even that I disagree with this particular premise, it's that the conceit of the book doesn't actually pertain to the thing its claiming to be. That annoyed me so much reading this. I legitimately love many magical realism novels, but the ones that I think work, work because the fake stuff is real in the context of the story at least, and stands in as an allegory for some greater truth. The bullshit in this book really is just bullshit.

Also, why is a story with god better? This book makes the case that the absurd and untrue is inherently more magical. Yet, I would venture that understanding the truth of many phenomenon and human experiences can be far more inspiring and astounding, and illuminating than pasting a word like "god" or "magic" on to it, because investigating the truth does not prevent exploration by shallowly decreeing that explanation can't be or shouldn't be found.

Also, Pi had a lot of diatribes about the morality of zoos, atheism, and relative truth that made me think neither him or the author understood any of these things particularly well.

When it was over, I didn't believe in god, and didn't think the story with it was better. I'm essentially only happy I read it so I now have the right to say I did and critique it.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I liked it but didn't love it. I gave it 3 stars. The ending was obviously a surprise, but I thought the book dragged in the middle after an interesting start.

[Jennifer W]

It's been a few years since I read (and reread) this one, so I don't have a lot of the facts in my head any more. I did love it. I did not find this story made me believe in God as suggested. What I did find it made me believe in is the power of stories. I've never been lost at sea, but I frequently have hard days and there's nothing I enjoy more than forgetting my own troubles by falling into a good book. Lacking a book, I'll create my own stories. I feel like that's what Pi was up against. Going into the book thinking it was supposed to make me believe in God, I expected a lot of praying and questioning and some deep truths to come out of it, and I was happy that wasn't what I got. I'm much more comfortable with Pi and the investigators choosing the story over the truth, especially because they know they are choosing it. There are plenty of times when the truth is fascinating and more unpredictable than a story, but in this case, why not concoct a story that helps Pi keep his sanity and cope with the awful truth around him?