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Life of Pi, by Yann Martel

Life of Pi, written by Yann Martel, details the fascinating journey of zoologist Piscine Patel as he becomes lost at sea on a life-raft. His only company is a group of threatening animals, including a massive bengal tiger named Richard Parker, whose very presence adds yet another element of danger to his already perilous adventure. Journey with Pi as you experience his most suspenseful and dramatic encounters.

I personally found this book to be very captivating. I thoroughly appreciated Martel's writing style, which fluidly described each event and made me feel as though I was experiencing Pi's voyage myself. Furthermore, the unique storytelling point of view that Martel employs adds another dimension to the reader's experience. I believe anybody who enjoys thrilling adventure novels should definitely invest their time in this book.

Reviewed by Alec S., Grade 9
Glendale Central Library

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Teen Speak said…
Life of Pi by Yann Martel is an astonishing fictional novel that is about an Indian boy, Pi Patel who needs to find a way to survive with a four hundred fifty pound tiger in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Martel’s amazing and marvelous use of imagery, figurative language and literary devices made my hair stand up on my skin and changed my mood very often throughout the book. For example, “The sea thundered like avalanches. The sea sounded like someone vomiting. The sea was dead silent,” demonstrates one example of his use of imagery, similes and a metaphor. Additionally, the phrases, “The calm sea opened up around me like a great book,” and “…a fistula like a freshly erupted volcano, spewed half-eaten organs…” illustrates more of Martel’s use of wonderful figurative language. Furthermore, the setting impacts the tone by making Pi hungry, angry, cold, disgusted.

This book is one of my favorite books of all time. The novel cannot be put down because of Martel’s wonderful diction and myriad figurative language that helps me to watch a movie in my head while reading the book. His language is flawless. I recommend this book to everyone in or above middle school level because there might be a couple mature themes that can only be understood through experience. I think that people who like figurative language will appreciate Martel's masterpiece.

Reviewed by Siranush M., Grade 12
Glendale Central Library
February 6, 2016 at 5:23 PM
Teen Speak said…
The book is about a boy named Pi who love animals. His dad owns a zoo and his family lives in India. He has a brother named Ravi and a mom. He lives as an atheist until he finds a Hindu temple that converts him to Hinduism. He would later find a church that made him believe in Christianity. After going to the church he found a mosque that would make Islam his choice of belief. He would follow all three all three of the religions. His family had decided they would move to Canada and sell their animals. They got on a cargo ship in which a storm hit it with Pi being thrown overboard on a small boat. He would find a Bengal Tiger on the boat and he had to to survive.

I thought the book was really good. It really shows how you can survive at even the worst circumstances. The book shows that tigers are not all about just eating what they see and they good have friends and emotions. The book puts emphasis on religion and the reason the main character survived was that he believed in many different religions which I think is good for very religious people. The book is not all perfect however because it has some problems. I didn't like a lot of the intro because I felt it was talking way too much about science rather than actually focusing on the important things at hand. Overall I would recommend this book to zoologists who love animals because this book has a lot of science behind the animals.

Reviewed by Irfan Y., Grade 9
Downtown Central Library
October 15, 2018 at 11:03 AM
Teen Speak said…
Life of Pi is a novel by Yann Martel about castaways, tigers, gods, and hope. The main character, a boy named Pi Patel, is traveling on a small ship with his family and some zoo animals that are coming with them. When a storm strikes, the ship sinks and Pi is left on a lifeboat with a couple of animals that jumped in with him- these include a hyena, a chimpanzee, an injured zebra, and a 450-pound tiger. The hyena makes short work of both the chimpanzee and zebra, and the tiger then kills the hyena. Pi develops an uneasy friendship with the tiger- he feeds it and tries to intimidate it and ultimately succeeds. After months of living on the boat with the tiger, Pi comes across an extremely strange island- a huge floating mass of algae where meerkat live. He makes this place his home, marveling at the fresh food and water, until one night he realizes that the island is carnivorous, digesting bodies. Quickly, he leaves with the tiger and eventually lands in Mexico, and the tiger leaves him, running for the nearby jungle. After Pi's recovery, he is interviewed by two doctors and tells them two stories- one is the one in the first part of the book, a fantastical tale of tigers, and the second is a gritty, horrifying story of murder and cannibalism.

In my opinion, Life of Pi was an amazing, enthralling read. I enjoyed all the parts of this story- from the author's vivid descriptions of both Pi's life to his experience lost at sea. I think that almost everyone who gives this book a chance would like it. People interested in adventure, animals, and lost-at-sea stories would especially enjoy this novel. It made me think about how terrifying it would be to be lost at sea, with a flat blue expanse in every direction and no land or any familiarity in sight. The ending of the novel was also interesting- it disproved the first 99 chapters, but it told a story that Pi tried to bury with his other, more fantastical story. I really enjoyed this book and I would definitely recommend it to anyone.

Reviewed by NK, Grade 10
Montrose Library
July 26, 2019 at 4:19 PM
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