“I have a story that will make you believe in God.”
This is a line in the foreword of Yann Martel’s “Life of Pi.” The line is said by the fictional character Francis Adirubasamy in the foreword of the book, giving an analogy as to how the book was created. Adirubasamy is mentioned later in the story, and he supposedly tells Martel of the profound story of Pi. “Life of Pi” involves a 16-year-old boy named Piscine Molitor Patel, known to all as Pi Patel, and is written from the perspective of Pi himself.
Pi lives in Pondicherry, India, where his father owns a grand and successful zoo. Pi retells his experiences and reflections on his family — including his older brother Ravi, his parents and a family friend, Mamaji — as well as his time living in a zoo, his academic experiences and, to the frustration of his parents, his practice of Hinduism, Christianity and Islam.
Suddenly, when Pi is 16, his family decides to move to Canada due to the troubled mid-70’s India. Gone will be the zoo he once called home and the familiar Indian culture. As the zoo animals are loaded on the ship to be sold in America and the ship pulls out of the harbor, Pi waves goodbye to India, knowing that he might not see it again for a long time. Little does he know how right he is.
After days of sailing, the ship suddenly sinks. Pi finds himself on a lifeboat, accompanied by a zebra, hyena, orangutan and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Soon, Pi finds himself sharing the boat with Richard Parker, who has killed the others. Pi must survive with a harsh feline neighbor and an even harsher environment. Only with the help of the lifeboat, God and his spirit will Pi prevail.
I was assigned “Life of Pi” to read in seventh grade. Ever since then, I would call it my favorite book ever. I love its use of first-person storytelling, and I think it really lets you connect with what Pi is feeling and understand him and his perspective better. It uses a broad vocabulary and many similes that give the story lots of detail. This makes the sentences perhaps not completely understandable at first, but upon another read, it becomes clearer and more interesting.
I also love the story the book tells. While the struggle at sea is most definitely the main attraction, the first third of the book is very important too. It acts as more than just exposition because it tells so much about how Pi and his family go about their days at their home. Throughout his journey with Richard Parker, Pi stakes his place in the lifeboat so as not to get eaten. But he’s able to form a special bond with the terrifying beast he shares the lifeboat with, something vaguely similar to other books in how they introduce reluctant and opposite companions.
There is something new around every corner of Pi’s great odyssey across the Atlantic. It tells a great and gripping survival story that seems too outlandish to be true. It is jam-packed full of detail, and it only gets better the more you read it. Will Pi make it out alive? I highly recommend you read and find out.
