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Wed 5 Oct, 2005 04:30 pm
by Yann Martel. Anyone read it? What did you think of it? Esp. the ending?
This will be a discussion about the book, so if you haven't read it and don't want to know the plot - quit here!
hi husker,
i didn't see the movie. but usually the book is better than the movie. those hollywood guys always have to change something essential in the book and add sex/and or violence. I'd read the book! Then you can compare.
I was going to read the book, but then I found out that it wasn't about the number Pi. What a disappointment.
A very convincing
compelling story. I remember thinking as it went on that it must be real
and how I felt at the end
I was so absorbed in the story; I failed to see it coming until it was all spelled out! Hah. It was all ...so
obvious or something, but I was carried away by his prose.
I especially enjoyed the first thirty chapters or so
and laughed at his duplicity
Do you recall when he was confronted by his parents, the priest, the pandit, and the imam?
A good read I thought.
Hi joeblow,
Yeah, and I liked how his chapters were exactly 100. Pi.
I really felt like I was on the lifeboat with him it was so realistic. I'm still wondering about some parts of the story - maybe his mom and siblings WERE on the lifeboat instead of the animals.
Very ambiguous ending, but good.....
yes, I liked when all the holy men confronted him. He was one curious guy.
Did you like the chapter when he was on the weird floating moss island?
No, that was my least favourite, though it stirred up some uncomfortable feelings...I can't fault the writing that's for sure. Can you tell me about the use of symbolism here? Have you thought about it?
i liked the meerkat island. my favorite part, however, was becoming the alpha tiger with that whistle of his.
I have had this in my to-read pile for too long. I generally love Booker winners, usually the most reliable award in terms of it won it = I'll love it.
A good friend read it and hated it, though, and I've been vaguely suspicious of it. I have so little reading time that I get seriously grumpy if it's wasted on something I don't like.
Reviews here so far make me want to read it.
I loved that book. Oddly, it's the beginning, when they are still on land, the priest/pandit/imam thing yes, the description of home, I liked best. Like Joeblow, I liked the meerkat island least. But everything's brilliantly written - sparklingly yet measuredly. Very evocative. Very ... nice. good.
Good question, joeblow. Which part was symbolism and which part realism........or was it all fantasy. Hmmmmm......what do you readers think?
Me too. Just loved the book. Ending left me a bit stumped.
Love it when Pi says "I love you" to the tiger.
Hi chinmayee_s
Do you think he made up everything about wild zoo animals on the lifeboat with him? Ambiguous ending.
The night I finished this book I was floating on clouds. I loved it!
I may be odd, but it reminded me of a good anime film. Magical, funny, and intelligent.
"Here is a story to make you believe in God". Beautiful!
I'm not sure what you mean by "made up everything". I didnt find the book contrived. it's a fantasy, yes. As flushd says magical and lovely. The ending was ..well...unexpected...so it left me rather stumped. I thought the novel suddenly changed gears at the end, but liked it all the same.
Oooooh!!
I'm excited!
Quote: 'Amelie' filmmaker Jeunet to direct 'Life of Pi'
LOS ANGELES, Oct 24 (AFP) - French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who made Oscar-nominated films "Amelie" and "A Very Long Engagement," will direct the Hollywood adaptation of the novel "Life of Pi," producers said Monday.
Jeunet, who won an Academy Award nomination for the screenplay of his 2001 romantic hit "Amelie," is also co-writing the screenplay for the Fox 2000 version of the Booker prize-winning novel. [..]
The 53-year-old maker of films such as 1991's "Delicatessen" [..] is adapting the screenplay along with Guillaume Laurant, his collaborator on "Amelie" and last year's "A Very Long Engagement." [..]
Haven't got a clue how one would credibly film such a surreal story, but if anyone could do it...
Very cool! Can't wait to see this one! Especially what they do when Pi arrives at that weird floating moss island, or whatever it was. Wonder when the movie will be ready......
I liked the ending where the type change when he was being interviewed. I thought that was cool. I loved the book.
I like magical realism and I am convinced that he did have a tiger with him.
Yes, he probably did, which is why the first few chapters were spent discussing the animals in the zoo that they owned. He seemed to understand them....I also liked that he changed the type at the end-made it more realistic. I had to keep checking to see if the book was fiction or not! I hope making it into a movie doesn't change the story - movies usually tend to do that.
I loved that the tiger may have survived. As it happened we went vacationing to that place soon after I read it and... eeyikes... I kept looking around. It seemed even more real.
Been a while since I've read it though and I can't remember much more. I'll be interested to hear what other people think and enjoyed.
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