Books Without Borders :: Life of Pi

I am, I think, almost on my own in my dislike of this book, so perhaps I should start out by saying that it won the Booker Prize in 2002 and has been hailed near and far as a literary master piece, an exploration of religion and the nature of reality, and a singularly original piece of work (although a brief cloud passed over it when it was brought to light that a Brazilian author, little known in the west, mentioned in the dedications had published a story with a very similar premise). Whilst I cannot deny that I do like books with fast paced plots and lots of twists, I also enjoy a slow meander if there is enough to keep me entertained in character interaction or development, exploration of themes, or witty or clever observation. I didn’t really feel this book had any and as a result I found it dull.

In beginning we meet Pi a young Indian boy and learn about his life, his family, and his theological background. Whilst there are some gems in the set up and some interesting points, it can at times feel a little disjointed and over long. The story then follows Pi’s migration to America with his family when unfortunately the boat sinks leaving Pi on a lifeboat.

The majority of the story concerns his time on the open sea, desperately clinging to life. No doubt the author intended the pace of the middle section of the book to represent his long journey, both in actual fact and the journey he undertakes in his head – but honestly I could have reached the same place without being bored half to death. His fight for life and his growing understanding of human nature and himself is told through many metaphors – and I think perhaps that is the problem. I understood the point that the author was making, I didn’t need to see it from a thousand angles and by the end could not decide if the point was being laboured to the point of condescension, or if the author, having begun weaving an artistic interpretation, really could no longer confine himself to one pattern.

I shall avoid spoilers in case you are in the majority and enjoy this book from cover to cover, but if I wasn’t reading the book on request, I doubt I would have gotten there.

This was another non starter for me. Intrigued by the premise I picked it up and started in with great expectations, probably my first mistake. Anyway I gave up at about 30pages. normally I am fairly persistant and i do plan to go back and try again, but this book failed entirely to draw me in.