***SPOILERS***
Miscellaneous Comments
To see the author execute long lists
correctly was very much appreciated and refreshing. Colons (: ) are used to
start a long list of phrases and uses semi-colons (; ) are used to separate the
phrases.
Whilst fishing, Pi makes an
excellent observation: ‘“Why can we throw a question further than we can pull
in the answer?”’ That one really hits home. Humans keep on asking, and keep on
trying to find answers to, questions that we can never truly answer in an
objective way. As a philosopher, I’m one of many who still question things
humans asked over three thousand years ago.
Pi was full of other sentences that
made me pause and thing. He praised that he had a good cat (Richard Parker), a
good ark (the lifeboat) and good ears that heard him (the sky). But then he instantly
threw this is doubt, declaring these same things as a danger, a jail and as not
listening. Considering how frightening his situation was, I’m not shocked that
he couldn’t convince himself.
There was one part in the novel that
was tedious and boring but it’s insightful and definitely adds something to the
story. For two pages, Pi recounts the instructions and ration lists that came
with the life boat. Pi has a remarkable memory, like knowing all the digits of
mathematical pi, so this is another demonstration of that. Plus he did have
little to do on the boat: it’s hardly surprising that he would focus and obsess
over what he did possess.
Pi makes a big deal about having a
fierce will to live whereas most people let go easily. This is far from the
truth. People are scared to die, people often avoid activities that can cause
death, people abhor murderers, and fearing death is a great motivator for
coercing individuals. People hold on to life as long as they can and refuse to
die (if it’s an option). There’s no denying that Pi has a fierce will to live
but there is denying that Pi is in a minority. Perhaps Pi doesn’t understand
people or more likely he wanted to give himself strength. One sentence
encapsulates how people behave: ‘[i]t may be nothing more than life-hungry
stupidity.’
‘Life of Pi’ is, unsurprisingly,
told from Pi’s perspective. There are two instances of a journalist’s
viewpoint, however. In the first instance, this perspective isn’t separated
from Pi’s view other than with italics; it’s a paragraph with the shift button
rather than a line free of text. This felt very out of place, although if these
interjections happened regularly rather than only once, this shoehorned into
Pi’s perspective would have been fine. The second instance is cornered off from
Pi’s viewpoint and gives a very detailed description of a Hindu shrine. In both
of the journalist’s perspectives, lovely imagery was utilised finely.
Questioning and Conclusion
In Chapter 94, Pi reveals that he
likes things to end properly. He felt like his relationship with Richard Parker
didn’t end right (who fled into the rainforest). If you spend such extended and
intimate time with only one person, can the end of that relationship ever be
proper, to have complete closure? A less serious example is that a book should
have one hundred chapters. As far as Pi was aware, the retelling of his story
to the journalist only reached ninety-five chapters.
From Chapter 96 onwards, the reader
gets transcripts from Japanese government officials interviewing Pi about the
sunken ship.
Interviewing
Pi whilst he was still a child, the officials weren’t expected Pi’s adult and
insightful comments. One such example is when Pi tells them ‘don’t bully me
with your politeness.’ This got me thinking about politeness and its negative
utilities, something I’d never considered before.
We don’t
see them for long but they were entertaining characters. At one point, they’re
laughing and, between chuckles, Mr. Chib complains that it’s not funny but Mr.
Okamato tells him to keep laughing. That tickled me into stitches.
At another
point, they offer Pi a cookie and after Pi makes a fuss over it the official
says ‘it’s only a cookie.’ Considering how much Pi worried over food whilst he
was shipwrecked (and considering how stupidly grateful I get over food), I’m
not surprised that Pi put more value on the cookie than the official did.
Misters
Chib and Okamato kept on challenging Pi’s account but the new story Pi gave
them is full of plot holes that they should have tried to fill in (but I
suppose after challenging P’s perspective they may have just wanted to leave).
In it, a strong man did nothing other than focus on his survival, even killing
Pi’s mum for food. Next time they went hungry, the strong man did kill the weak
Pi, even though he was an easy food source and having one less mouth to feed
would have increased his own survival. Then the strong man let Pi kill him even
though he’d been focusing on his own survival throughout. For me, this was Pi
making up a story on the spot.
Yet at the
end of the report, the Japanese officials note that Pi is the only castaway to
survive ‘in the presence of an adult Bengal tiger.’ I thought this was a lovely
ending, as was the fact that the novel’s last chapter was Chapter 100. It’s a
shame Pi never knew.
When I first read ‘Life of Pi’, I
never thought to query Pi’s account. It’s a fictional story so one allows for
creative license and the fantastical elements are my literature bread and
butter.
Multiple
times Pi shows a phenomenal memory so it leads the reader into not questioning
him. But after I told a friend that I’d finished reading it, she said how
amazing it was that Pi’s mind created so many hallucinations. So I read it
again a few years later and I can see the evidence of this.
The hyena
was described as having mouselike eyes: maybe this was because it was actually
a mouse/other rodent, and their tiny size would have made it easier for it to
hide from Pi on the lifeboat.
It was
bizarre, reading a story with two consecutive story lines about the very same
thing. This gave me huge appreciation for Yann Martel’s writing abilities. This
is why this is a book I recommend to everyone no matter their preferred genres.
Good writing can be appreciated whether you personally like it or not.
Review:
Life of Pi (Yann Martel) 1/2
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