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Life of Pi
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Life of Pi (2001) (edit title/settings)

by Yann Martel (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Life of Pi is a fantasy novel about a boy stranded in a lifeboat with a 450-pound Bengal Tiger after a shipwreck. Pi Patel's father runs a zoo in Pondicherry - a former French colony in India - but decides to migrate to Canada along with his family and assorted zoo animals due to political... read more

Summary edit see section history

Audio version of this book - 11.5 hours. The novel begins with an author’s note describing a journey to India, where he meets a man named Francis Adirubasamy in a coffee house in Pondicherry. His response to the author’s claim that he needs inspiration is “I have a story that will make you... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Audio version of this book - 11.5 hours. The novel begins with an author’s note describing a journey to India, where he meets a man named Francis Adirubasamy in a coffee house in Pondicherry. His response to the author’s claim that he needs inspiration is “I have a story that will make you believe in God.” After which he refers the author to Piscine Molitor Patel in Toronto, who immediately begins to tell his own story, starting in Chapter 1.

As a teenager in Pondicherry, India, Pi Patel describes his family – himself, his parents, and his brother Ravi. He is constantly exploring new opportunities and learning many odd and exciting things. His father is the proprietor of the Pondicherry Zoo, where Pi learns much of the workings and raising of animals. Pi’s mother is an avid reader and introduces to him numerous literary works from which he learns the joys of numerous schools of thought. His school is filled with amazing teachers, one of whom, Mr. Kumar, the biology teacher, is an inspiration to Pi.

Pi derives his name (Piscine Molitor) from a world famous swimming pool in France; his parents are good friends with Francis Adirubasamy (from the author’s note), a world class swimmer who often goes on about the Piscine Molitor in Paris. Piscine goes by Pi because his schoolmates mocked his name and call him “Pissing” as it sounds similar to Piscine. When he changes schools, he introduces himself there as Pi.

Pi grew up as a Hindu, but discovered the Catholic faith at age 14 from a priest by the name of Father Martin. He is soon baptized. He then meets Mr. Kumar, a Muslim of some standing and begins practicing Islam. Thenceforth, he openly practices all three religions avidly. When the three religious teachers have a chance simultaneous meet up with Pi and his parents, they demand that he choose a single religion, to which he announces he cannot. Throughout this section, Pi discusses numerous religious matters as well as his thoughts on culture and zoology.

When Pi is 16, Pi’s father decides that Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's ("Mrs. Gandhi") political actions are unsavory and decides to close up the zoo and move to Toronto. He sells off a majority of the zoo animals to various zoos in America and the animals are loaded onto the same boat that the family will take to reach Winnipeg, Canada. On the journey the boat sinks.

As the only survivor of the shipwreck, he is stuck in a lifeboat with a dying zebra and a hyena. Pi sees another survivor floating in the water and throws a life preserver,thus saving “Richard Parker”, the 450 pound Bengal tiger from his father’s zoo. He immediately realizes what he has done and jumps overboard and stays there until he realizes that there are sharks nearby.

Upon re-entering the boat, he wedges the tarpaulin up with an oar and decides he might survive if he can stay on top and keep Richard Parker beneath it. An orangutan is found floating on a large mass of bananas and climbs aboard the lifeboat. Over the next week, the zebra and orangutan are eaten by the hyena, which is in turn eaten by the tiger.

Over the course of the next 7 months aboard the lifeboat, Pi begins by hiding on a makeshift raft behind the boat and tames Richard Parker with a whistle and treats from the sea, as well as by marking his portion of the boat. He begins to get close to the tiger, developing the kind of bond a zookeeper does with his menagerie. After a while, Pi learns to kill and eat from the sea, sharing with the tiger. However, the two do not eat nearly enough and as time passes, they become quite ill.

At a certain point, the two become very hungry and ill and Pi loses his sight. They then come across another blind man who is stranded in his lifeboat on the Pacific. The two talk for a bit about food and eventually the blind man tries to board Pi’s boat, intent on killing and eating him. However, when he boards the boat, Richard Parker attacks and eats the man. Pi's tears over the man's death help clear his vision and after washing his eyes, he eventually regains his sight completely. Small portions of food on the other boat give Pi the strength to continue.

Still floating along alone and desperate, the two come across an island made of algae and populated with Meerkats. They disembark and Pi begins eating the algae, regaining his strength during the day and sleeping on the boat at night. Richard Parker regains his strength from eating the meerkats who live on the island and returns to the boat to sleep every night. Pi is very happy on the island and remains there a number of weeks. Eventually, Pi finds a set of corroded human teeth wrapped in tree leaves and is horrified. He realizes that during the night the algae become acidic and the island becomes 'carnivorous', which is the reason why the Meerkats sleep in trees and why Richard Parker returns to sleep on the boat. More importantly, Pi's discovery awakens him to the hopelessness of remaining on the island, where he will eventually but inevitably give up hope of being found, and immediately leaves the next day with Richard Parker.

Finally, after more time spent floating along in the ocean, Pi sights land in Mexico and disembarks. Richard Parker immediately runs off into the woods and Pi is recovered by villagers who take him to a hospital. The shipping company that owned the sunken ship interview Pi about what happened. Pi relates to them the story of his 227 days on the boat, but they do not believe his tale of surviving with a Bengal Tiger and its fantastic events.

Upon being asked to tell them a story without animals, Pi relays to them a second story where his mother, a sailor with a broken leg and a cook were aboard the lifeboat instead of the animals. The cook kills both the sailor and Pi's mother, and eventually Pi kills the cook. The two men realize that Pi's second story closely parallels the first, but without any fantastical elements. Pi then asks the two men which story they like most since both stories lead to the same outcome and neither explain why the ship sank. They both agree they like the first story most and that is the one they use in their report.

<source: Wikipedia>

Characters edit see section history

  • Piscine "Pi" Molitor Patel: Lead protagonist and narrator of the story.
  • Richard Parker: A large Bengal tiger in Pi's father's zoo. He becomes an important character in the novel.
  • Santosh Patel: Pi's father, a worrisome and cautious zookeeper.
  • Gita Patel: Pi's mother. She reads very much and speaks her mind to her husband.
  • Ravi: Pi's popular, athletic older brother.
  • Mr. Kumar: Pi's school teacher.
  • Mr. Tomohiro Okamoto: From the Maritime Department, part of the Japanese Ministry of Transportation.
  • Mr. Atsuro Chiba: Along with Mr. Okamoto, investigates Pi's story upon his return to civilization.
  • The Hyena: One of the animals lost at sea on the boat with Pi.
  • The Zebra: One of the animals lost at sea on the boat with Pi.
  • Orange Juice: An Orangutan, lost at sea on the boat with Pi.
  • Mr. Kumar: A religious man.
Show all 12 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “The reason death sticks so closely to life isn’t biological necessity – it’s envy. Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it, a jealous, possessive love that grabs at what it can. But life leaps over oblivion lightly, losing only a thing or two of no importance, and gloom is but the passing shadow of a cloud.”
  • “I must say a word about fear. It is life's only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life. It is a clever, treacherous adversary, how well I know. It has no decency, respects no law or convention, shows no mercy. It goes for your weakest spot, which it finds with unerring ease. It begins in your mind, always. One moment you are feeling calm, self-possessed, happy. Then fear disguised in the garb of mild-mannered doubt, slips into your mind like a spy. Doubt meets disbelief and disbelief tries to push it out. But disbelief is a poorly armed foot soldier. Doubt does away with it with little trouble. you become anxious. Reason comes to do battle for you. You are reassured. Reason is fully equipped with the latest weapons technology. But, to your amazement, despite superior tactics and a number of undeniable victories, reason is laid low. You feel yourself weakening, wavering. Your anxiety becomes dread.”
  • “If you stumble at mere believability, what are you living for? Isn't love hard to believe?”
    Pi
  • “Hindus, in their capacity for love, are indeed hairless Christians, just as Muslims, in the way they see God in everything, are bearded Hindus, and Christians, in their devotion to God, are hat-wearing Muslims.”
    Pi
  • “To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.”
  • “I have a story that will make you believe in God.”
  • “The lower you are, the higher your mind will want to soar.”
    Pi
  • “If we, citizens, do not support our artists, then we sacrifice our imagination on the alter of crude reality and we end up believing in nothing and having worthless dreams.”
  • “I know zoos are no longer in people’s good graces. Religion faces the same problem. Certain illusions about freedom plague them both.”
  • “What a terrible thing it is to botch a farewell.”
    Pi
  • “These gentle behemoths always lifted my spirits. I was convinced that they understood my condition, that at the sight of me one of them exclaimed, "Oh! It's the castaway with the pussy cat Bamphoo was telling me about. Poor boy. Hope he has enough plankton. I must tell Mumphoo and Tomphoo and Stimphoo about him. I wonder of there isn't a ship around I could alert. His mother would be very happy to see him again. Goodbye, my boy. I'll try to help. My name's Pimphoo." And so, through the grapevine, every whale of the Pacific knew of me, and I would be saved long ago if Pimphoo hadn't sought help from the Japanese ship whose dastardly crew harpooned her, the same fate as befell Lamphoo at the hands of Norwegian ship. The hunting of whales is a heinous crime.”
  • “The three-toed sloth is not well informed about the outside world.”
  • “It's important in life to conclude things properly. Only then can you let go. Otherwise you are left with words you should have said but never did, and your heart is heavy with remorse.”
    Pi
  • “A person can get used to anything, even to killing.”
    Pi
  • “I tried to imagine Father saying to me, “Piscine, a lion slipped into the llama pen today and killed two llamas. Yesterday another one killed a black buck. The week before it was painted storks and grey herons. And who’s to say for sure who snacked on our golden agouti? The situation has become intolerable. Something must be done. I have decided the only way the lions can atone for their sins is if I feed you to them.” “Yes, Father, that would be the right and logical thing to do. Give me a moment to wash up.” “Hallelujah, my son.” “Hallelujah, Father."”
    Pi
  • “It is not atheists who get stuck in my craw, but agnostics. Doubt is useful for a while. We must all pass through the garden of Gethsemane. If Christ played with doubt, so must we. If Christ spent an anguished night in prayer, if He burst out from the Cross, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ then surely we are also permitted doubt. But we must move on. To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.”
    Pi
  • “A germ of religious exaltation, no bigger than a mustard seed, was sown in me and left to germinate. It has never stopped growing since that day”
  • “Life is beautiful that death has fallen in love with it, a jealous, possessive love that grabs at what it can”
  • “The reason death sticks so closely to life isn’t biological necessity – it’s envy. Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it, a jealous, possessive love that grabs at what it can. But life leaps over oblivion lightly, losing only a thing or two of no importance, and gloom is but the passing shadow of a cloud.”
  • “If you went to home, kicked down the front door, chased the people who lived there out into the street and said "Go! You are free! Free as a bird! Go!"- do you think they would shout and dance for joy? They wouldn't. Birds are not free. The people you have just evicted would sputter, 'With what right do you throw us out? This is our home. We own it. We have lived here for years. We are calling the police you scoundrel.'”
  • “It felt to me to order pizza one night. I couldn't bear to have yet another French speaker guffawing at my name, so when the man on the phone asked, "Can I have your name?" I said, "I am who I am". Half an hour later two pizzas arrived for 'Ian Hoolihan'.”
  • “"Religion?'' Mr.Kumar grinned broadly. "I don't believe in religion. Religion is darkness. "Darkness?" I was puzzled. I thought, darkness is the last thing religion is. Religion is light. Was he testing me? Was he saying "religion is darkness" the way he sometimes said in class things like "mammals lay eggs" to see if someone would correct him? (only platypuses, sir.)”
  • “...and we had a lady whose sari was caught up by a lion. She spun like a yo-yo, choosing mortal embarassment over mortal end. The thing was, it wasn't even an accident. She had leaned over, thrust her hand in cage and waved the end of her sari in the lion's face, with what intent we never figured out.”
  • “Another man was nabbed in the process of stealing a cobra. He was a snake charmer whose own snake had died. Both were saved: the cobra from life of servitude and bad music, and the man from possible death bite.”
  • “As for Ravi, if Lord Krishna had held a cricket bat rather than a flute, if Christ had appeared more plainly to him as an umpire, if Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H, had shown some notions of bowling, he might have lifted a religious eyelid, but they didn't, and so he slumbered.”
  • “People move because of the wear and tear of anxiety. Because of the gnawing feeling that no matter how hard they work their efforts will yield nothing, that what they build up in one year will be torn down in one day by others. Because of the impression that the future is blocked up, that they might do all right but not their children. Because of the feeling that nothing will change, that happiness and prosperity are possible only somewhere else.”
  • “He's a shy man. Life has taught him not to show off what is most precious to him.”
  • “We came to the zebras. Mr.Kumar had never heard of such creatures, let alone seen one. He was dumbfounded. "They are called zebras," I said. "Have they been painted with a brush?" "No, no. They look like that naturally." "What happens when it rains?" "Nothing." "His stripes don't melt?"”
  • “When your own life is threatened, your sense of empathy is blunted by a terrible, selfish hunger for survival.”
  • “But nature forever holds surprises.”
    it is important in life to conclude things properly. Only then you can let go. Otherwise you are left with words you should have said but never did, and your heart is heavy with remorse.
  • “They are nightmares mostly, but nightmares tinged with love.”
  • “When you've suffered a great deal in life, each additional pain is both unbearable and trifling. My life is like a memento more painting from European art: there is always a grinning skull at my side to remind me of the folly of human ambition.”
  • “Would you rather be put up at the Ritz with free room service and unlimited access to a doctor or be homeless without a soul to care for you?”
  • “All religions are true.”
    Ghandi
  • “I am reminded of a story of Lord Krishna when he was a cowherd. Every night he invites the milkmaids to dance with him in the forest. They come and they dance. The night is dark, the fire in their midst roars and cackles, the beat of the music gets ever faster - the girls dance and dance and dance with their sweet lord, who has made himself so abundant as to be in the arms of each and every girl. But the moment the girls become possessive, the moment each one imagines that Krishna is her partner alone, he vanishes. So it is that we should not be jealous with God.”
    Pi
  • “You reach a point where you're at the bottom of hell, yet you have your arms crossed and a smile on your face, and feel you're the luckiest person on earth. Why? Because at your feet you have a tiny dead fish.”
    Pi
  • “And I survived because I made a point of forgetting. My story started on a calender day - July 2nd, 1977 - and ended on a calender day - February 14th, 1978 - but in between there was no calender... What I remember are events and encounters and routines, markers that emerged here and there from the ocean of time and imprinted themselves on my memory.”
    Pi
Show all 37 quotes from this book

First Sentence edit see section history

My suffering left me sad and gloomy.

Table of Contents edit see section history

PART ONE: Toronto and Pondicherry
Chapters 1 - 36

PART TWO: The Pacific Ocean
Chapters 37 - 94

PART THREE: Benito Juarez Infirmary, Tomaltan, Mexico
Chapters 95 - 100

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 51 of 95 in Telegraph Top 100 Books, 2008. (authoritative list)

Preceded by Atonement, and followed by Dune.

This is book 8 of 94 in Whitcoulls Top 100 (2011). (authoritative list)

Preceded by Pride and Prejudice.

This book is in Random Synapses: 100 Book Challenge (2011). (community list)
This is book 25 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (June 2010). (authoritative list)

Preceded by 1984, and followed by Animal Farm.

This is book 49 of 1271 in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. (authoritative list)

Preceded by Choke, and followed by The Feast of the Goat.

This book is in Book Lover's Cook Book, The. (authoritative list)
This book is in 100 Fantabulous Book Challenge. (community list)
This is book 29 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (June 2011). (authoritative list)

Preceded by Animal Farm, and followed by Eat, Pray, Love.

This is book 2002 of 46 in Booker Prize Winners. (authoritative list)

Preceded by True History of the Kelly Gang, and followed by Vernon God Little.

This is book 26 of 194 in Shelfari Most Popular (December 2010). (authoritative list)

Preceded by The Giver, and followed by My Sister's Keeper.

This is book 30 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (December 2011). (authoritative list)

Preceded by Animal Farm, and followed by My Sister's Keeper.

This book is in World Book Night Titles 2011. (authoritative list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Yann Martel (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Canada
Country: Canada
Publication Date: September 2001
ISBN: 0-676-97376-0
Page Count: 356

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PR9199.3.M3855 L54 2001
  • Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

I feel the scenes of explicit animal and human death are not too bad, and only takes up part of the 2nd part. Plus, several teens, including myself, have happily enjoyed it. In fact, it is probably better for a teen to read it since Pi is one too, and so it would be good to see how he lived.

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Water for Elephants
  • The God of Small Things
  • A Fine Balance
  • Midnight's Children
  • Beatrice and Virgil
  • Heart of Darkness
  • Lord of the Flies

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • The Bookclub-in-a-box Discussion Guide to Life of Pi, the novel by Yann Martel (Bookclub in a Box Discusses)
  • GradeSaver (TM) ClassicNotes Life of Pi: Study Guide
  • Life of Pi - Multiple Critical Perspective

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