Life of Pi, Yann MartinI remember hearing numerous accolades about this book when it first came out (2002), but for some reason I never read it then (probably college exams & morning sickness had something to do with that.)
Yet I seem to be surrounded by good books at the moment - what a delight it is to be reading lots of fiction again.
This one is clever, original, interesting, funny and insightful.
A teenage boy, Pi, is the son of a zoo owner in India. The family decide to emigrate to Canada. Their boat sinks in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and Pi finds himself the sole human survivor of the tragedy. His companions aboard a fully equipped lifeboat include a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan and an enormous Bengal tiger. The premise sounds ridiculous and impossible, yet it breathes possiblity as you read it.
Yann has a wonderful writing style, his turn of phrase, dry wit and humourous asides made reading this book a delight. It's partly a primer for zoo keeping. It has very insightful comments on religion, including Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. And all the while it's a great story.
I read it twice in the last month, as the first third of the book makes much more sense the second time through.
Read it - you'll be in for a treat.
This one is clever, original, interesting, funny and insightful.
A teenage boy, Pi, is the son of a zoo owner in India. The family decide to emigrate to Canada. Their boat sinks in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and Pi finds himself the sole human survivor of the tragedy. His companions aboard a fully equipped lifeboat include a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan and an enormous Bengal tiger. The premise sounds ridiculous and impossible, yet it breathes possiblity as you read it.
Yann has a wonderful writing style, his turn of phrase, dry wit and humourous asides made reading this book a delight. It's partly a primer for zoo keeping. It has very insightful comments on religion, including Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. And all the while it's a great story.
I read it twice in the last month, as the first third of the book makes much more sense the second time through.
Read it - you'll be in for a treat.
Has been on my list for years too! Great to hear you liked it so much.
ReplyDeleteYour blog comes up in my reader Wendy and I always enjoy reading it, I appreciated the technology thinking- I cogitate on this a lot and find especially with family at the age they are that it's not a topic you can make a decision about and that's it. Things seem to move so fast that we're constantly having to re-address it. I'd like to try to get hold of the book you read, tho' in paper copy I think so I can pass it on to others.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/search/results?mode=results&q=Jean+Auel
ReplyDeleteI saw a while ago that you enjoyed Auel's books. I heard a podcast interview with her on Radio NZ a while ago and thought you might be interested to hear it. It's quite a good interview. You should be able to find it via the link above and/or itunes to download as a podcast.
Thanks Camilla, glad you enjoyed the technology stuff. I think it's worth buying, we are now going to buy it as well, it is always good to have books to loan out.
ReplyDeleteI find I am always rethinking the technology stuff, and am sure we will continue to need to do so as the kids gets older.
And thanks for the Auel reference, I have downloaded it so can listen sometime when I have a chance. I have never heard her interviewed, so am looking forward to it!