Book Review: Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Once in a while, when someone finds out the extravagant amount of reading I do, I am asked which book is my favorite. As if I could ever pick. My dentist asked me this question one time, after he found out I had an English degree, and then he withdrew those long, shiny picks out of my mouth and sat back, waiting for an answer. To buy time, I ridiculously asked him, "um...English or American?" and then mumbled something about Jane Austen. I'm always caught off guard when someone asks me which book is my favorite, even when they aren't licensed to inflict torture.

Someone might as well ask me which day, of all the ones I've lived so far, is my favorite. The truth is that some are better than others, some boring, some exciting, a few life-changing, but through the years, they all start to blend together, both the days and the books.

But sometimes I say, "My favorite book? Life of Pi by Yann Martel. It's amazing."

Life of Pi is the story of Pi Patel, a sixteen-year-old Indian boy who emigrates with his family in 1975 from Pondicherry to Toronto, Canada. His father, a zookeeper, transports the zoo animals along with the family as they cross the Pacific to their new home. The ship sinks. Pi finds himself aboard a lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan, all of whom are soon overpowered by the lifeboat's other occupant, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. In order to survive, Pi decides his only chance is to tame the tiger.

Doesn't that sound like an awesome story?? I thought so immediately. Hence, I bought the book. I wasn't disappointed. It's still on my bookshelf, and I still feel the hand of fate in that purchase every time I read it.

I would call it one of my favorite books. And yet, every time I recommend it to someone, their level of enthusiasm falls far short of mine. When I worked at the library, I stopped suggesting it after two people brought it back within a couple of days without comment. I summarized the plot for my book club and was met with wrinkled noses and noncommittal grunts.

Sinking ships...survival...Bengal tigers?? What about that doesn't sound like an amazing story?

Mistakenly assuming this plot summary is enough to interest anyone in the book, I forego mentioning the best part of the novel...its religious themes. Pi Patel, the main character, is a devout follower of not only Hindu, but also Islam and Christianity. He is a person who, faced with the conflicting aspects of different religions, instead of dismissing them all or stubbornly limiting himself to one, embraces all of them. Pi's love for God and his enchantment with all religious myth is what helps him to survive his suffering on the lifeboat-but not in the way the reader expects. Yes, he prays, he asks God for help, he finds strength in his faith, but it is not until the last few pages of the book that the reader grasps the importance religion has to Pi, to all people.

I'm also a sucker for books in which the author includes himself as a character. (William Goldman's The Princess Bride comes to mind.) I love when authors blur that line between fiction and reality. Martel does this in Life of Pi with an introductory chapter of how, as he struggled with the death of one novel-in-progress, he came to meet Pi Patel and to hear his story. Throughout the novel, which is told in first-person from Pi's perspective, Yann Martel includes his own observations of Pi in the present time, during the interviews in which he hears Pi's incredible story of survival.

The introductory chapter alone, as Martel describes his restlessness and his heartbreak after realizing his current writing project is going nowhere, endears me to this author, makes me want to be Yann Martel. He is both humble and serious in his literary efforts. His humor is sharp and perfectly timed. He is a traveler. His answer to restlessness and heartbreak is to fly to India. I mean, come on. I would even suffer through being a man in order to be Yann Martel.

Perhaps I lay it on too thick. When I recommend the novel to others, they most likely see my manic enthusiasm, my blind worship of Yann Martel. I probably build it up so much that the novel can then only fail their expectations.

Still, I stand by that manic enthusiasm. I have read a lot of books, and to mark one as my favorite is to hold it up as reason and justification for all that reading. Life of Pi may not come immediately to mind when someone asks me to name my favorite book, but every time I read it, it becomes my favorite of the moment.

This review previously appeared at 1,001 Ways to Avoid Writing.