Reviews

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

mokey4's review against another edition

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5.0

I listened to this book in the car on a long road trip, and was completely riveted. It was basically a very good story with some interesting lessons. I don't know if I would have enjoyed reading the book as much, but it was the perfect thing to listen to in the car.

I loved the facts about zoo animals, and the way they were described. I loved that the main character was a disciple of three very different religions.

There were times when he got a little too descriptive, but I didn't mind this while driving. It might have driven me crazy if I were reading the words on paper, without scenery to distract me.

alexweeke's review against another edition

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5.0

Life of Pi was, admittedly, not a book I had high hopes for. I expected some tale of survival- some odd fantasy about a cruel life at sea and overcoming unrealistic odds.
To my surprise, it was a beautifully written story with many more nuances than I can begin to describe here. The language is rich, descriptive, and made me feel like I was stuck in the boat with Pi- rashes on my back and all. The metaphors are on point and relatable to a very human degree. The humour, too, is something that quite often caught me off guard, and in a good way.

When I read the ending, however, I was lost for words.
I felt as if I had read a horror story very cleanly and neatly packed with the silver wrappings of a religious tale.
Some time after this, though, I felt more at ease. The ending, to me at least, is not necessarily a plot twist- something that changes the book in the eyes of the reader permanently- but moreso a philosophical twist, a question posed by Martel. It’s deeply religious, as it questions the validity of reason when it comes to truth; what is better, a good story that creates its own truth, or a story embedded in “dry, yeastless factuality”?

It’s a book that I am going to continue thinking about, and I might even read it twice to connect more dots.

margotrizzi's review

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5.0

If you really like animals or find animal behavior interesting at all I highly recommend this. I could see someone finding it a little slow if this isn’t something you’re interested in, but regardless it’s an inspiring story of perseverance and courage which makes it 100% worth the read for anyone in my opinion.

i_love_read_ing's review against another edition

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3.0

This was a very difficult book to get into. The writing in the beginning of the book dragged on for SOO long. I feel that the story itself was fine, but I there were too many details in the beginning of the book and some seemed unimportant. This seems like a book that would be a great read for a high school English class, but other than that, I don't particularly recommend it.

overlyaverageben's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

thebethdet's review against another edition

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4.0

started out slow, became amazing and horrifying, ended slow.

elliearnold's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

rakg7's review against another edition

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3.0

A very strong 3 stars but not quite 4 I think. The beginning was a bit too slow-paced for me in parts, but I enjoyed most all of part 2 and part 3 really got me thinking. The story is of course quite impressive and extraordinary. I think it's easy to forget that this is essentially non-fiction and not fiction (perhaps? in theory? who knows) because it's so hard to believe this would have actually happened. Overall quite good and glad I read it!

annie1507's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5 stars

shanyreader's review against another edition

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3.0

Made me think about God...but it was not as engaging as I had hoped. Beautiful story though, faith level increased on my part, and it's interesting to see how one boy worships so many things but stays true to them all.