Life of Pi

Unpossible

Anybody read this book? I just finished it on friday, man i couldn't see the end coming but i suppose in hindsight there was a lot of refferences as to what the true story was

Kali

Aye read it last year, was very impressed by it.. some parts made no real sense when reading it (the island for example), and only at the end made slightly more.. I felt it was a bit slow to get going, but it is quite an endearing story (albeit sad) from the point of view of finding strength to survive and the twist at the end.. thoroughly deserves the praise its been given by critics.

Unpossible

could the island have been the raft covered in alge? the teeth being those of one of the other passengers on the boat? Remember he was a bit delerious

Funky

i loved it , gotta read it again properly though... went through it too fast to really appreciate it i think

Fence

Just finished it, loved it. The story throughout was so entertaining, but the ending made so much better. Although I suppose it did change it from being a nice story to a dark one.

ridgewalker

an excellent read. Apart from the more obvious surreal moments in the book i found the change in writing style hilarious at time. I believe there was a section like 'How to survive when lost a sea' written in a very matter of fact, do's and donts kind of way almost like a self help book.....brilliant!

krattapopov

my mate recommended it to me, initially i thought it was a bit slow, but i stook it out and i thought it was brill

rodney.redneck

what exactly was the ending, read it a good while ago but not sure if i followed the twist fully, or is it more that you take your own interpretation of it.

Fence

The ending? You can't remember it? tut tut

It was the "real" or alternate story of what had happened on the raft. With his mother, the sailor and the cook. The Japanese(?) owners wanted an accurate story, but in the end when Pi asked which version they would prefer, they all said the one with the tiger. And that was the one used in the report

But yeah, you could take it either way I suppose.

rodney.redneck

thats what i reckoned fence.

in the end i think i took the original story to be the true one although thats the less dramatic version.

Unpossible

I took the none animals story to be true, I think the animals story was his way of justifying/comming to terms with what happened

rodney.redneck

that was my gut feeling initially, but then i read on and something piscine said made me think the original story was the true one. cant remember what though
i am more interested in what the book was trying to say, what message was martel trying to convey??

Draco

Utter rubbish. While it was well written, the story was muck. No sense of danger, the lovcraftian island, the

it was all a dream

ending, the whining all added up to an unsatisfying book.

Kali

Originally posted by rodney.redneck
i am more interested in what the book was trying to say, what message was martel trying to convey??

err that the power of self-belief and faith can help you conquer and overcome any obstacles? that even with the horrific circumstances somebody can put a nice spin on things?

rodney.redneck

yeah, was just hoping there was something more to it though. dunno about your second point though as im not convinced that the second story was the true story.

the_only_Ali

Well... I think one of the good things about the book was the way the real story isn't revealed to you, and you have to make up your own mind about it. Was the boring, matter of fact one the true one, or was it the weird and wonderful one that made the book so amazing to read? Common sense dictates that the more boring version must be true, yet... I suppose there's something in us all that wants fantastic, magical, even strange things to be true to take the boredom and synicism out of life. So I suppose I would have to say the more realistic story would have to be the true one, but something inside me believes or wants to believe that the island, the animals, all of the unbelievable stuff was what really happened.

Unpossible

maybe (don't flame me for this its just a thought) the point of the book is to see what type person you are, what is your outlook on life? Do you see the "happier" side with the animal images or do you see the "meaner/gritty" side with shocking realisim?