Book Review: Life of Pi

Warning! Reviews and Discussions may include Spoilers!
Life of Pi by Yann Martell.
First, let me point out that I listened to the unabridged audio book version from Audible.com, and it has a significant problem. I am of the habit of peeking into printed versions of books I am listening to to get an idea of how far into the book I am, one of the things I miss compared to reading a printed version. I discovered that the audio version of Life of Pi is missing an entire section at the beginning of the novel! While this section is listed as an Author's Forward, it is actually part of the metafictional presentation of the book, which is framed as being told and researched by a fictional author who is a character in the book. This Author's Forward section contains a wealth of material that is crucial to understanding Yann Martell's themes and goals in the context of the Life of Pi. I actually enjoyed the tale quite a bit. The narrators of the audio book version are among the best I've listened to, and the material was engaging on multiple levels. But if you get the audio book, I recommend you drop by a bookstore and read the beginning before you start.

As I mentioned, there are many levels presented in Life of Pi.

First, there are multiple stories told. There is the framing story about a less than successful author who stumbles upon the main character, Pi, interviews him and does some additional research into his life. There is the story of Pi's early life up until his family leaves India for Canada. And there are two different versions of what happens to Pi after the ship carrying he and his family is wrecked in the Pacific Ocean.

The two main stories are Pi's early life and how he survives the shipwreck for seven months alone in a lifeboat with an adult Bengal Tiger. These tales are rich in detail and characterization. There are humorous bits, dramatic stretches and some grisly but believable details. I found these parts of the story entertaining on the entirely surface level I generally expect from the books I read.

Ah, but there's more! Life of Pi is one of those books well suited to the kind of analysis required in college English classes. I am no longer in college, so I have no need to provide a well organized, consistent, well argued look into the ultimate themes put forth by the author. Instead, I can just wing it and throw out a bunch of junk as it comes to mind!

Story and belief are clearly on the author's mind, as is the relationship between the two. The desire to accept the better story is expressed in relation to both and the two versions of Pi's survival at sea.

One of Pi's quirks, something unique to his character, is that he professes belief in Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. Therefore he truly believes in none of them. He is looking for something greater, and the details are not important. He believes that God is a good story, no matter the context of the religion, and he likes that story. He uses aspects of each faith to frame his experiences during the survival portion of the tale, whichever faith is convenient at the time in helping him get past whatever horrible obstacle he is currently facing.

Pi tells two tales of his survival at sea. In one, he is the only surviving human, but he is trapped in a lifeboat with a Tiger, and also initially with a zebra, and orangutan, and a jackal, all of which the tiger soon disposes with. In another, Pi is accompanied initially by his mother, the ships chef, and another crewman. In that version, murder, cannibalism and brutality ensue. The story of Pi's early life is really a part of the tiger tale, since it does nothing to support or enlighten the other survival story. The tiger tale is long and rich in detail, and is believable until late in the story when Pi becomes temporarily blind, meets another blind castaway, and stumbles upon an island of flesh devouring algae populated by lemurs. The other story is short and blunt, and doesn't seem to fill out the entire seven month period of Pi's ocean travails.

Which story is true? There are some facts which are undeniable, and if both stories do not support those facts, then they are not true: the date when the ship sank, when Pi was discovered, the contents of the boat and survival gear, the condition of the lifeboat, the health of Pi himself. The tiger tale is carefully constructed to explain all of the facts despite its fantastical elements, which even Pi admits are hard to believe. The more human tale does not go very far in trying to explain the evidence, but the listeners inside of the novel prefer its facts if not its story.

There are parallels between the two tales. The author basically knocks you over the head with a two-by-four pointing them out, and I won't go into detail about them here.

So again, which story is true? This is where it gets all weird and meta. Because obviously both stories are false. This is after all a work of fiction, not based on reality. The author makes up both tales of survival, makes up the whole Life of Pi, and the reader can believe whatever he or she likes. I believe this is why the author is so explicit about comparing the tale of survival with and without the tiger. If the fabulism and symbology of the tiger tale were the point, he would not analyze them directly in the story. They would be left as an exercise for the reader. In the end, his point is that the facts of this story, or any story, are not really important and will not make a real difference to you at all. What is important is a tale well told, and the enjoyment the reader can get from such a tale.