Book Review - Life Of Pi

BOOK REVIEW

Life of pi - By Yann Martel

WRITTEN BY: SAVITRI SAHADEV

Life of Pi (Paperback) - Walmart.com Source: One day, I volunteered at the Thomas Jefferson Public Library near my home. My job there was to sort books by fiction, nonfiction, novel, and so on into their categories and stack them on the “book sale” shelves. As I did this, I came across many interesting books. They introduced me to new worlds, new thoughts, and different points of view. While sifting through these books, I saw a book with a cover of a tiger and a man on a boat in the sea. The title of the book was Life of Pi. The book caught my attention, and I got more curious about the story. I turned the book and read the back cover. It was the story of Pi Patel, a god-loving boy from India emigrating to North America. It is a novel by Yann Martel. I bought the book that day for $1, and my journey with this book started.

In this book, the author narrates the story in the voice of Pi. Pi’s full name is Piscine Molitor Patel, named after a swimming pool called Piscine Molitor in Paris by his Mamaji, who taught him how to swim. Pi is the son of Mr. Santosh Patel, a zoo owner. His mother is Gita, a traditional woman. He has an older brother named Ravi. The family lives in Pondicherry, ruled by the French. Before moving to Pondicherry, Pi’s father used to run a large hotel in Madras. An abiding interest in animals leads him to the zoo business. Pi grows up in the zoo. Pi’s father teaches him how to behave and survive among wild animals like tigers, orangutans, ostrich, spotted deer, black swans, elephants, hyenas, hippos, Himalayan bears, etc.

I learned a lot about animals and the zoo from this story. When I lived in India, I used to visit the Mysore Zoo (in Karnataka) once a year along with my husband and our daughter. We used to spend the whole day at the zoo and come back in the evening. The book made me revisit the zoo with more knowledge of animals! Animals react. The smallest changes can upset them. Surprises are extremely frustrating to them. An animal inhabits its space, whether in a zoo or the wild; animals are territorial!

Pi explains in more detail why he was Hindu and its impressions on his mind. He goes on to explain deeper that religion is more than a rite and ritual. There is Brahman Nirguna, without qualities, which lies beyond understanding. Brahman Saguna is Brahman made manifest to our limited senses, Brahman expressed in gods, humans, animals, and trees, for everything has a trace of the divine in it. The truth of life is that Brahman is no different from atman, the spiritual force within us, what you might call the soul. The “Bank of Karma” , where the liberation account of each of us is credited or debited depending on our actions. According to Pi, this is Hinduism in a holy nutshell!

In the next chapters, Pi explains how his family decides to move to Canada for a better life. They set sail on the Pacific Ocean on a cargo ship with their animals to be sold for the Canada zoo. On their journey the ship slowly sinks, and Pi loses his family and animals except Richard Parker! During this journey, Pi explains how his knowledge of animals and his faith in God helps him to survive. Till the end of the novel, I felt like I was on an adventure exploring the sea of knowledge and contemplation!

Savitri Sahadev

Shakha: Ramakrishna Shakha, Chantilly-VA Mid-Atlantic Hobbies: Reading, walking, listening to life stories