The Life
of Pi By Yann Martel
***** 5/5
stars Fiction
On the back
of this book, one of the critics says it is hilarious. Why does he call it
hilarious? Being stuck in the middle of the ocean with a tiger in a tiny lifeboat
is not even remotely funny to me. Pi Patel is the son of a zookeeper. When the
zoo is in the process of being moved to North America on a cargo ship, the boat
sinks and Pi ends up in a lifeboat with a 450 pound Bengal tiger, a wounded
zebra, an orangutan, and a hyena. Soon it is just Pi and the tiger. If you
think that is funny, you have a really bad sense of humor.
On one level The Life of Pi
is about a boy and a tiger. On another it is about adaptability. I've read
other reviews about The Life of Pi and the reviewer said that The
Life of Pi was about religion and how the tiger is God. That didn't really
jump out at me. What jumped out at me was how Pi was able to survive on a lifeboat
with a 450 pound tiger, how the meerkats were able to survive on the carnivorous
island, and how the tiger adapted to live with Pi as a food supplier.
The
movie The Life of Pi is coming out tomorrow and I suggest that you read
the book before you see the movie.