Another book club book conquered! I had cheated, kind of. I had watched this film a few years ago and I thought I remembered it pretty well, I guess I did but it was still quite shocking/interesting to read. However it is important to note that this is a work of fiction! So no matter how horrid the circumstances sound it has all been created by the wonderful mind of Martel!
For those not aware of the story it follows young Pi Patel through his childhood living with his family in a zoo in India, having to deal with a difficult name (Pi being short for Piscine) and his discovery of god in His many forms through Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. Pi is only 12 years old when his family, due to political and monetary reasons, decide to sell the zoo and move to Canada. Disaster strikes when the ship carrying the family, and the animals they were to sell in Canada, mysteriously sinks leaving Pi in a lifeboat with an array of animals. It is no secret that Pi survives his ordeal but his story truly is incredible!
The reason I remind you that this is a fictional story is because the story feels real in the way it is told. Beyond the imagination at times but told in such an incredibly vivid way that even you feel as though you are there on this lifeboat. Spoken in first person we are provided with facts about zookeeping, animals and their behaviours and even fish and birds that we encounter along the way, as well as a quick introduction to survival skills(!) all making this story feel very factual and not just imagination. I guess having also seen the film first I could even put a picture with some of the scenarios which helped me along the way.
I do think watching the film first helped in many ways. There are times when it was a consistent monologue (I seem to be attracting these books recently!), or perhaps covering a topic I wasn't as keen on and therefore it felt a tad slower, but I knew what was to come which kept me intrigued. Also there were certain times in the film where I thought, goodness the creator of this must have been high at the time! So I guess knowing a few parts that were coming helped me read parts of the book that may have otherwise been slightly confusing. I didn't feel confused while reading this though, this could be down to the brilliant writing or help from the film, or of course both!
There were times in the book (many times) that were quite graphic. Animals are involved throughout the course of this book and of course it is survival of the fittest so some animals fared better than others. It all being part of the great circle of life did not make it any less squeamish to read! But here is your warning should you struggle with that kind of thing!
Overall I enjoyed this book. I liked the characters, mainly being Pi Patel, I enjoyed reading about life in a zoo and about Richard Parker. I do think the film helped me through but overall it was a fun read and definitely has some interesting facts in there about animals that I wish I could retain! I have enjoyed other books more so unfortunately this doesn't get the highest of scores but others may like it more than me. Comparing to other books with 3 or 4 stars I had to rate this in the same way. Especially now being a film I do recommend taking some time to read this in future.
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Pages - 482
Goodreads rating - ⭐⭐⭐
*Read on kindle so photo is curtesy of Google!*
