Life of Pi
I came at this book from an interesting angle. At my mother-in-law's
suggestion I watched the movie before reading the book so that I could
experience the various layers of the text. I can't really judge, having
never experienced this story any other way, but I'm gonna go ahead and
say she was right. Knowing the ending made certain scenes much more
horrific. And it made it easier to follow what was going on.
The story in the movie is far more linear than the one presented in the book. It makes sense for the book. For the bulk of the story, time has no real meaning or relevance. And presenting the action as a series of disjointed events which may have happened in any order fits with the frame of Pi remembering this journey. That said, it bugged me that Richard Parker was named, but not revealed to be a tiger, until well after he arrived on the life boat. Though that's probably just because I knew he was a tiger and was waiting impatiently for that reveal.
Life of Pi is, by large, a very good story. The language is amazing and invokes some incredible imagery. But it was mostly interesting for me to read a book narrated by someone with whom I disagreed on some pretty fundamental things. Pi is incredibly religious, subscribing to and strictly following Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. He sees God everywhere and in everything and it got a little bit grating. Moreso because I suspect that deep, religious journey is half the reason Kevin's mom was so excited for me to read the book in the first place.
Ultimately I prefer the story with the tiger in it. Not simply because, as Pi claims, it is the better story. It is, though I know our reasons for claiming it as such are vastly different. The story with the tiger and the magical floating island is more fantastical, less believable and therefore more palatable to me in a weird way. The deep, almost fanatical belief in God is woven through that story, but it really hits you over the head when you consider the other story, the one with no animals. A religious allegory to rival Narnia and one that I'm just not interested in.
The story in the movie is far more linear than the one presented in the book. It makes sense for the book. For the bulk of the story, time has no real meaning or relevance. And presenting the action as a series of disjointed events which may have happened in any order fits with the frame of Pi remembering this journey. That said, it bugged me that Richard Parker was named, but not revealed to be a tiger, until well after he arrived on the life boat. Though that's probably just because I knew he was a tiger and was waiting impatiently for that reveal.
Life of Pi is, by large, a very good story. The language is amazing and invokes some incredible imagery. But it was mostly interesting for me to read a book narrated by someone with whom I disagreed on some pretty fundamental things. Pi is incredibly religious, subscribing to and strictly following Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. He sees God everywhere and in everything and it got a little bit grating. Moreso because I suspect that deep, religious journey is half the reason Kevin's mom was so excited for me to read the book in the first place.
Ultimately I prefer the story with the tiger in it. Not simply because, as Pi claims, it is the better story. It is, though I know our reasons for claiming it as such are vastly different. The story with the tiger and the magical floating island is more fantastical, less believable and therefore more palatable to me in a weird way. The deep, almost fanatical belief in God is woven through that story, but it really hits you over the head when you consider the other story, the one with no animals. A religious allegory to rival Narnia and one that I'm just not interested in.
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