Martel, Yann. Life of Pi. New York: A Harvest Book Harcourt Inc. 2001. ISBN: 0-15-100811-6
Plot Summary:
Pi is the nickname of Piscine Patel, who begins life in India and survives a great ordeal before he ends up in Canada. A writer traveling in India comes across Pi’s story and travels to Canada to interview Pi. Pi describes his family and the place where he spends the first part of his life and where he finds a few different religions which he practices simultaneously. Pi’s father, the owner of a zoo, decides that the whole family and the animals from the zoo are going to move to Canada. The family and animals board a ship to go to their new home and the ship sinks. All humans aboard the ship except Pi are killed and most of the animals meet the same fate. The only survivors of this shipwreck are Pi, a wounded zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, and Richard Parker, a fully grown tiger. The animals all die one by one except for the tiger, which leaves Pi alone with a 400 pound carnivore. Pi cannot escape because he is in the middle of the sea and there are sharks in the water. For 277 days, Pi survives in the company of the tiger living off of what the sea provides and feeding the tiger. Pi realizes that the only way to survive is to try and tame the tiger. After a short stay on an ill-fated island, the pair set off again and Pi must survive until they reach land. The story is full of adventures all along the way and has an alternate storyline which is both surprising and sad.
Critical Evaluation:
It would be too simple to say that this work of fiction was one that was purely adventure, or purely philosophy, or that the psychological tones of the work overpower every other aspect. The work is all three and more. The storyline is singular and will surely be remembered, at least in its essence, by all who read it. The writing is clear and the writer has done a great deal of research to set the story and build the fictional characters around real places and real ideas and philosophies. The joy of survival and the horror at loss are well illustrated by the protagonist. The main character is unique and finds and equally unique counterpoint in his feline shipmate. The book is not easily put aside once the action takes place and the ending leaves one to wonder what took place in the story.
Reader’s Annotation:
Pi Patel loses his family on a voyage from India to Canada and has to live aboard a lifeboat with a tiger and provides for his own survival with his intelligence.
Information about the author:
Yann Martel was born in Salamanca, Spain in 1963, but is now a Canadian national. He grew up all around the world and has traveled to many places as an adult. He spent over a year living and traveling in India and studying the Indian culture. His experiences there gave him a good background from which to write this his most well-known work. Martel studied philosophy at the University of Peterborough in Ontario, Canada. Martel has been the writer in residence at a public library and at a university.
Martel is the recipient of the Man-Booker prize and a number of other awards and honors. He has also written a work titled Beatrice and Virgil which is about the holocaust. In addition to his books he has published a number of short stories and has collaborated to help produce a musical composition based on one of his shorter written works.
Genre:
Adult Fiction/ Crossover/ Adventure
Curriculum Ties:
N/A
Booktalking Ideas:
1. Discuss the religions that Pi adopts before ever setting off on his journey and if these come into play during his survival situation.
2. Focus on his relationship with the tiger Richard Parker and how Pi learns to survive in the tiger’s company.
3. Center the talk on the coping mechanisms that Pi uses to get over his losses and how these are a large part of the story.
Reading Level/Interest Age:
15+
Challenge Issues:
Violence/ Cannibalism
Challenge Defense Ideas:
1. Read the book.
2. Be Familiar with the policy of the ALA and your institution.
3. Make a note of the contents of the work and how they fall in with the collection development policy of your institution and the standpoint of the ALA.
4. Gain an awareness of the awards, reviews, and criticisms of the work, as well as other works by the same writer.
5. Know the process for materials challenges at your library.
Why did you include this book? :
The premise of the story is unique and it promised to be full of philosophy and adventure, a very attractive story for older teens.
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