The back of my copy of this book says:

“What is fiction? What is autobiography? How do the two meet?

What is a man? What is a woman? How do the two meet?

What is violence? What is happiness? How do the two meet?

Yann Martel wrote Self, his first novel, to try to answer these questions.”

Let me just say that is a very unusual book. On the very first page is the character’s recollection of potty-training and a very detailed description of.....welll..... the end product that is in his potty chair.

Because this book is unusual, it’s hard to describe it adequately. Rather than a plot, it reads like a collection of recalled memories (although in a linear manner). It’s narrated in the first person. The main character (if there is a name, I don’t remember it) is a boy at the beginning of the book, but then somehow he becomes a girl….he seems to wake up one day as a girl. I think this is supposed to represent some sort of sexual identity, but I’m not really sure. There is definitely a lot of talk about masturbation, there’s both heterosexual and same-sex relationships (with some sex scenes in detail), and so on. I’m not a prude, so this didn’t faze me– but be forewarned! On the other hand, all this sex talk sort of left me cold — it just wasn’t “sexy”, if you know what I mean. Near the end of the book, the character turns back into a male.

So why did I keep reading? I kept trying to see if some of it, any of it, would make sense for the book as a whole. I got the feeling the book was basically an experiment in writing, and perhaps an exploration of self-identity. Would I recommend “Self”? Well, let’s just say I like “Life of Pi” a lot better. ( )

Rewelacyjna pod każdym względem! ( )

Not bad. Life of Pi was better. Ended rather abruptly, and felt a bit under-explored. ( )

Work of warning to the wise: NEVER ask Yann Martel about this particular book, I made that mistake once and he was quite agitated! ( )

Wasn't expecting the book to turn out as it did, but it was well written. Martel is incredily insightful with his main character. ( )