International Gay & Lesbian Review

The Life of Pi

• Nonfiction
• Publisher: Harcourt
• Publication Date: 2002

Quite simply, "The Life of Pi" is one brilliant book. Most recently awarded the prestigious Booker Prize, the epic story of Piscine Molitor Patel, AKA Pi, the central character of this sweeping novel, is nothing less than an examination of faith, god, religion and life. Born in India, the son of a zookeeper Pi's life veers quickly and inexorably from the rich colors of India to a small lifeboat in which he finds himself stranded with a man-eating Bengal tiger (named Richard Parker, thank you very much) in the vast ocean. Along the way, the story takes the reader through a world tour of Islam, Christianity and Hinduism with a critical eye and a master's command of language and philosophy. No school escapes Martel's bite, but it is a nip from heart as well as an agile mind. "...reason, that fool's gold for the bright" he warns. There is much to recommend this book, not the least of which is the underlying thinking of author Martel that permeates and perfumes the beautiful prose. "I know zoos are no longer in people's good graces. Religion faces the same problem. Certain illusions about freedom plague them both." He observes. "To choose doubt as a philosophy of Life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation." He continues. No world religion escapes his loving, but critical eye as the story of The Life of Pi churns around the reader like Pi himself, alone in the middle of the ocean. And the ideas in the book prowl around like that man-eating tiger. In the end, the story is as uplifting as it is well-written; a tale of a seeker whose dark night of the soul is lit by Blake's "tyger, tyger burning bright." And if there is still any question about "What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry?"...Yann Martel has answered the question.

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