Reviewed by Will Hickman in Booklist (v. 98 no. 18 (May 15 2002) p. 1576) Found through HW Wilson collection
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I'm really enjoying this book. Kind of took me by surprise at a few points. Will review properly when I've finished it.

Reading the Life of Pi was a wonderful treat. This enchanting story about young Piscine Patel’s search for self discovery is truly one of a kind. Through tiger taming to the basics of Islam, it would seem that author Yann Martel leaves no subject of youth discovering oneself untouched in his writing. This novel is written in such a way that you feel as though you’re flying through the pages, making the chapters both long and short, and managing to have one hundred of them. Martel also utilizes the power of having another story within his story, and thus giving the reader more enticement to continue.
This fantastical tale of a tiger and a boy living out at sea for about a year made so much sense to me. As I reader the stories of self discovery can be so repetitive, but with Martel’s main focus from the beginning being religion and animals, he is able to capture Pi’s life and thoughtful crisis of growing up. I am completely impressed with this inventive story, and how it really plays so well throughout. Never missing a beat, Martel begins the story with Piscine later in life, having graduated from college and majoring in zoology and religious studies. This spoke to me personally, having an interest myself in these areas. The beginning is a little slow at times, but has all the necessary parts in order to lead the reader to complete understanding when the book is over. This is definitely a novel I would read again, and I hope that others will take the time to read as well. ( )

To open one’s self to the world of the impossible and unbelievable, one must first be thrown headfirst through it. For Piscine in Life of Pi, this quite literally happens. As Pi’s family moving overseas to Canada to start a new zoo, the ship encounters a problem and sinks. Thrown off the cargo vessel into a lifeboat (for less heroic reasons than first assumed) Pi is literally stranded on this lifeboat in the middle of the ocean with a mangled Zebra, hungry Hyena, despondent Orangutan, and seasick Bengal Tiger. For the 223 days that follow, he must learn to survive in any way that he can, for one step off in the wrong direction, both figuratively and literally, means certain death.
This was one of the more interesting books that I’ve come across during my days of reading. Being only on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean, there is little room for action to occur, and yet, the book is filled equally with action as it is with mental reflection. As the reader continues the story, they feel pity for Pi; all of his hard work stands on such a fragile string, making it seem hardly likely that he will survive at times. And yet, at other times, while eon the brink of disaster, fortune finds him and saves his life. Full of religious interpretation and thought provoking beliefs, Life of Pi is certainly adapted to any reader, regardless of religious background. Instead of taking the neutral gray zone though, opting out of religious favor, it instead implements a sort of “neutral black”, involving many different religions into one cohesive whole. At times, these religions are indistinguishable, flowing around the same ideal. Overall, this book is definitely one for those who wish to be mentally stimulated. With revenge and danger always lurking in the shadows of the text, survival is always a tentatively taut cord. Any reader would thoroughly enjoy this book, and I recommend it to all. ( )

Life of Pi is one of those books appears out of nowhere and is amazing. When you first notice it, you may just pass it by. "Boy on a boat with a tiger." Then you start to notice that everybody's reading it, and it's apparently been nominated, and wins, this thing called a "Man Booker Prize" (which may be more relevant if you live in the UK or the Commonwealth, and less if you're in the US).

Piscine, or Pi, as he prefers, to avoid the obvious nicknames, upsets his parents when he determines that he loves God so much, that he goes out and joins two other religions, on top of Hinduism. He joins Islam as well as Catholicism. Needless to say, this not only has upset his parents, but also upsets the respective religious leaders. Nevertheless, Pi stands firm: he has justified his multiple faiths.

His father, the proprietor of the Pondicherry Zoo, determines he does not like this new Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, and wishes to relocate his family to Canada. Likewise, he manages to sell many of his animals to American zoos. So, they pack up the animals and the people, and make their way across the Pacific Ocean.

"The weather started getting rough," the popular television theme song goes, and their not-so-tiny floating menagerie sinks. Pi, one of the survivors, finds himself, a boy, on a boat, with a tiger.

The rest of the story deals with Pi's survival, Pi's religion, and a friendship of necessity.

I greatly enjoyed Life of Pi, and I know I'm not alone. If you too would like a captivating tale of the deep blue sea, the wild orange tiger, and a giant, green floating island, then you'll definitely enjoy Life of Pi, a story that only comes 'round once in a while. ( )