Book Review - Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Life of Pi by Yann Martel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The son of a zookeeper, Pi Patel has an encyclopaedic knowledge of animal behaviour and a fervent love of stories. When Pi is sixteen, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes.

The ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker for 227 days while lost at sea.

Well I can certainly see why there was such a lot of hype around this book and how it is a Man Booker Prize winner but I could not give it 5 stars.

At 319 pages it's not actually that long but it felt loooong. Stories that have depth to them usually impress me and there was a lot that impressed in this book. The insights into several religions for starters. The details about animal life, particularly in zoos. What you might find on a ship's lifeboat.

But.....there was too much detail at times. Graphic details.

I'd certainly recommend reading it but with caveats. I think it's a really good book but I can't quite say it's a great book.

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