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"Life of Pi" or "Self" by Yann Martel
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"Life of Pi" or "Self" by Yann Martel
Has anyone read Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I loved this book and am looking to read his other book called Self but it's not available on Kindle yet. Anybody read either? What did you think of them
- Thomas Hood
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Re: "Life of Pi" or "Self" by Yann Marte
emiller1 has been reading it:puddintane wrote:Has anyone read Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I loved this book and am looking to read his other book called Self but it's not available on Kindle yet. Anybody read either? What did you think of them
http://www.booktalk.org/viewtopic.php?p=48386
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_of_Pi
- President Camacho
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I read Life of Pi about two years ago. It was a good story from what I remember - very creative. I can usually guess at what an ending may be but this book's ending caught me totally by surprise. It went from being a whimsical child's cartoon to something very immediate and real.
I don't want to give away the ending for anyone who hasn't read the book. Unlike other books, all this book has is its ending. The story is moderately interesting and it droops way down towards the end where I have to admit, I got rather lost - when they were on that island towards the end. I really didn't understand that part of the book. I still don't.
If you haven't read the book, stop reading.
Martel's character chooses to disguise his ordeal from himself by substituting what actually happened to him with a creation of his imagination. Martel is challenged with reconciling the boy's imagination with the reality of the situation in order to tie the story into itself and make the strongest impact possible at the end of the book. The idea is phenomenal. I'm not sure if this has ever been done before but it's an amazing idea. I feel that Martel did a good job. The ending did deliver and it moved me. It moved me first in the direction which was his intention and then it moved me to think about the island and what the hell that was all about and why certain situations were as they were. By leaving no doubt in the reader's mind as to how each situation could be interpreted the reader is ultimately left in the same emotional place the author wishes them to be after reading the twist. Instead, I left that place, smirked at the 'clever' twist and wondered about the many details in the story that weren't adequately reconciled. Could have been genius! Instead, I give it clever.
I don't want to give away the ending for anyone who hasn't read the book. Unlike other books, all this book has is its ending. The story is moderately interesting and it droops way down towards the end where I have to admit, I got rather lost - when they were on that island towards the end. I really didn't understand that part of the book. I still don't.
If you haven't read the book, stop reading.
Martel's character chooses to disguise his ordeal from himself by substituting what actually happened to him with a creation of his imagination. Martel is challenged with reconciling the boy's imagination with the reality of the situation in order to tie the story into itself and make the strongest impact possible at the end of the book. The idea is phenomenal. I'm not sure if this has ever been done before but it's an amazing idea. I feel that Martel did a good job. The ending did deliver and it moved me. It moved me first in the direction which was his intention and then it moved me to think about the island and what the hell that was all about and why certain situations were as they were. By leaving no doubt in the reader's mind as to how each situation could be interpreted the reader is ultimately left in the same emotional place the author wishes them to be after reading the twist. Instead, I left that place, smirked at the 'clever' twist and wondered about the many details in the story that weren't adequately reconciled. Could have been genius! Instead, I give it clever.
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Life of Pi
President Camacho wrote:
President Camacho wrote:
The author did a lot of research on the complexities of the mind. I would love to know where he got his inspiration.
Are you talking about the very end, when tiger and Pi separate, or, when Pi finds an oasis in the tree? I have thoughts on both.when they were on that island towards the end. I really didn't understand that part of the book. I still don't.
President Camacho wrote:
He was dying at this point. I saw those passages as poetic, it takes a couple readings to feel the strong impact. The oasis on the island was a halucination, brought on by his deteriating condition. Not unlike someone who is freezing to death. It differs from the rest of the book because it is real. I felt a sense of hopelessness that was lacking in Pi up until that point. He started to see "the light", the end, and accepted it.It moved me first in the direction which was his intention and then it moved me to think about the island and what the hell that was all about and why certain situations were as they were.
The author did a lot of research on the complexities of the mind. I would love to know where he got his inspiration.
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Pi
Aussie_Lifter wrote:
This is really interesting, thank you for this insite. This is the only part of the book I saw to be real. I wonder what that says about me. I'll have to give this book a second read.In an interview, Martel says that the island was designed to test the readers' belief in the story.
To show how much we are prepared to believe if we need/want to.
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