Book Review: Life of Pi

Finally, I finished the book! Life of Pi has 100 chapters and it’s a long read for me, haha I took my time of course.  These may contain spoilers so you may not want to read this if you are planning to watch the movie on theaters. Hehe. If you want to read it then be my guest.

The book has three parts; first one is Toronto and Pondicherry, the story of Pi’s early life. The 1^st part was about how the author meets Pi, Pi’s family, his interest on religion, and up to the time where his father decided to move to Toronto. Pi’s full name is Piscine Molitor Patel; named after a swimming pool (I find it funny hehe).  Pi is a teenager on this book and has a complex character; he was a good boy though. I would say he has a complex character since he was fascinated to study three religions at the same time, I find it very hard to appreciate. After reading the book I’m still not sure what religion is more important for him.

The 2^nd part of the book is The Pacific Ocean. On this part the ship which called Tsimtsum sinks in Pacific Ocean. I mentioned above that Pi’s father decided to move to Toronto for business reasons. They have a Zoo business which explains the presence of a tiger on the book cover. Pi’s father decided to leave India and move to Toronto so they sold all their animals to other Zoos and brought some animals on their way to Toronto on the ship. The Tsimtsum sank and Pi was the only survivor, except that on the lifeboat he was not alone. Pi was with an injured zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and 450lbs Bengal Tiger. The lifeboat is about 26-feet long and 8-feet wide if I’m not mistaken. This part is Pi’s struggle, hardship, sadness, how he survives and how he tamed Richard Parker (Tiger). This is the climax of the story.

The 3^rd part of the book is Benito Juarez Infirmary, Tomatlan, Mexico. Pi was landed on Mexico and was saved by village people who saw him on the beach. The Japanese Ministry of Transport Maritime Department (owner of the boat Tsimtsum) commands two people to interview the sole survivor of the ship incident. They interviewed Pi however they didn’t believe on him about his story on how he stays alive for 7 months in the Pacific. For them it was unbelievable. In the end the two Japanese investigators believed Pi’s story.

The book has a remarkable story of Pi and how he managed to stay alive in the Pacific with a Bengal Tiger. It’s really moving, beautiful and witty. He has courage and faith that’s why he survived. I am excited to watch this one next week, I think. I saw the trailer and it was visually enchanting. I hope you would rather read the book first then watch it haha! I recommend. Anyway I’m glad I bought the book, it’s really worth my time.  You can watch the trailer Life of Pi here.