.com Yann Martel's imaginative and unforgettable Life of Pi is a magical reading experience, an endless blue expanse of storytelling about adventure, survival, and ultimately, faith. The precocious son of a zookeeper, 16-year-old Pi Patel is raised in Pondicherry, India, where he tries on various faiths for size, attracting "religions the way a dog attracts fleas." Planning a move to Canada, his father packs up the family and their menagerie and they hitch a ride on an enormous freighter. After a harrowing shipwreck, Pi finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean, trapped on a 26-foot lifeboat with a wounded zebra, a spotted hyena, a seasick orangutan, and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker ("His head was the size and color of the lifebuoy, with teeth"). It sounds like a colorful setup, but these wild beasts don't burst into song as if co-starring in an anthropomorphized Disney feature. After much gore and infighting, Pi and Richard Parker remain the boat's sole passengers, drifting for 227 days through shark-infested waters while fighting hunger, the elements, and an overactive imagination. In rich, hallucinatory passages, Pi recounts the harrowing journey as the days blur together, elegantly cataloging the endless passage of time and his struggles to survive: "It is pointless to say that this or that night was the worst of my life. I have so many bad nights to choose from that I've made none the champion." At one point in his journey, Pi recounts, "My greatest wish--other than salvation--was to have a book. A long book with a never-ending story. One that I could read again and again, with new eyes and fresh understanding each time." It's safe to say that the fabulous, fablelike Life of Pi is such a book. First published in 2002, Martel's breathtaking breakout novel became an international bestseller and went on to win the Man Booker Prize, and was also named .com's Best Book of 2002. In 2005, after an international competition, Croatian artist Tomislav Torjanac was selected to illustrate a special edition of Life of Pi that features 40 stunning illustrations that present a new perspective on this modern classic. --Brad Thomas Parsons .com Exclusive: Outtakes from Tomislav Torjanac's Early Illustrations for Life of Pi Tomislav Torjanac's Artist Statement Island Study Lifeboat Study "I quite deliberately dressed wild animals in tame costumes of my imagination." "Only when they threw me overboard did I begin to have doubts..." "And what a thump it was." "I threw the mako towards the stern." From Publishers WeeklyA fabulous romp through an imagination by turns ecstatic, cunning, despairing and resilient, this novel is an impressive achievement "a story that will make you believe in God," as one character says. The peripatetic Pi (ne the much-taunted Piscine) Patel spends a beguiling boyhood in Pondicherry, India, as the son of a zookeeper. Growing up beside the wild beasts, Pi gathers an encyclopedic knowledge of the animal world. His curious mind also makes the leap from his native Hinduism to Christianity and Islam, all three of which he practices with joyous abandon. In his 16th year, Pi sets sail with his family and some of their menagerie to start a new life in Canada. Halfway to Midway Island, the ship sinks into the Pacific, leaving Pi stranded on a life raft with a hyena, an orangutan, an injured zebra and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. After the beast dispatches the others, Pi is left to survive for 227 days with his large feline companion on the 26-foot-long raft, using all his knowledge, wits and faith to keep himself alive. The scenes flow together effortlessly, and the sharp observations of the young narrator keep the tale brisk and engaging. Martel's potentially unbelievable plot line soon demolishes the reader's defenses, cleverly set up by events of young Pi's life that almost naturally lead to his biggest ordeal. This richly patterned work, Martel's second novel, won Canada's 2001 Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction. In it, Martel displays the clever voice and tremendous storytelling skills of an emerging master. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.From Library JournalNamed for a swimming pool in Paris the Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel begins this extraordinary tale as a teenager in India, where his father is a zoo keeper. Deciding to immigrate to Canada, his father sells off most of the zoo animals, electing to bring a few along with the family on their voyage to their new home. But after only a few days out at sea, their rickety vessel encounters a storm. After crew members toss Pi overboard into one of the lifeboats, the ship capsizes. Not long after, to his horror, Pi is joined by Richard Parker, an acquaintance who manages to hoist himself onto the lifeboat from the roiling sea. You would think anyone in Pi's dire straits would welcome the company, but Richard Parker happens to be a 450-pound Bengal tiger. It is hard to imagine a fate more desperate than Pi's: "I was alone and orphaned, in the middle of the Pacific, hanging on to an oar, an adult tiger in front of me, sharks beneath me, a storm raging about me." At first Pi plots to kill Richard Parker. Then he becomes convinced that the tiger's survival is absolutely essential to his own. In this harrowing yet inspiring tale, Martel demonstrates skills so well honed that the story appears to tell itself without drawing attention to the writing. This second novel by the Spanish-born, award-winning author of Self, who now lives in Canada, is highly recommended for all fiction as well as animal and adventure collections. Edward Cone, New YorkCopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. how can i download ebooks for free Life of Pi: Deluxe Pocket Edition
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Not what I was thinking this story was.By Kindle CustomerI borrowed this book from the library by looking at the cover and thinking I could really enjoy a good adventure story. Something light and nothing that I had to think about much. Just a fun book. None of that happened. None. I almost took the book back after about 35 pages. The intent of the book was murky and it didn't seem to be going anywhere I wanted to go. I had just read a book about current the economic structure of America by a Nobel Prize author, "The Price of Inequality". It was good but it was not light reading. I was not prepared for a lengthy discussion of religion and the various branches of religion. But I got into the rhythm of the story and by 50 pages I was hooked. This has been called a simple story and I do not agree. It is a masterful, even elegant, tiered tale that is played out in a small volume of space. The thoughts and ideas, the issues and the adaptations are rich and dense.I make a connection with two movies. 12 Angry Men, and Lifeboat by Alfred Hitchcock. Both are about critical survival issues played out in a small, sometimes claustrophobic setting. Both highlight the way essential decisions are made and how we use natural talents and whatever comes to hand to meet needs. All three end with an unexpected trust.I liked this small story. I have just bought the book because it will be read more than once.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. A good story, no matter how you see it.By MirraniLife of Pi is about many different aspects of life. You could say it is about the comparison between human and animal, or about learning to get along with and read the language of said animals. You could say it is about Religion and about how faith gets us through the most troubling of times. You could say that it's like the Wizard of Oz, but I think you'd have to read the book to the end to make that comparison.The writing is amusing where it needs to be and serious where it counts most. A reader could experience what it would be like to have to survive at sea with little in the way of food, clothing and shelter, but also gets to experience what it is like to be curious, since the beginning of the story shows us Pi's life before he becomes stranded. Pi experiences the melting pot of his home country and curiously explores several religions before his adventures even begin and readers get to experience that in a sometimes humorous, but always open-minded way.I had this book for a long time before it became popular and only read it right now because the movie had come out and I decided since I couldn't get to the theater, I'd do the better thing and pick up the book. I wasn't disappointed in the slightest. Who needs moving pictures when you can see it all so clearly in your own mind?0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. I don't get the hypeBy mikkisixxI have no idea what I missed. I read it before the movie came out (only reviewing it now) and it was all just blah blah blah. If you read it, and you find all kinds of ethereal, metaphysical, existential whatnot like everyone else claims to find, good for you. Me, not so much. It's merely a crowd pleaser.