The Life of Pi....Why do some of you dislike it?

[Onceuponatime]

The story truly fascinated me. I went out and bought it and have read it again. I know I will read another time in the future as well.

 

I've seen many reviews on the internet and have been surprised at the level of animosity some readers have expressed.

[Irishmommy]

I loved the book on so many levels. I am a former ps English teacher and it was one of my assigned readings. Love, love, love the book. It was easy for me to relate it to my students' lives. How you ask? I always started our discussion (after they had read the book) with, "Sometimes you set out of the most amazing journey of your life, and it doesn't turn out like you were expecting." I think all of them could relate to that "dream deferred". I related my own experiences. We talked about what to do when things go "right" and what to do when things don't. I saw it as a way that I could prepare them for disappointments to come. Most of the time it is the trails that leave us in a tailspin. What can I do? Where can I go from here? Following Pi along his journey was a way for them to experience "survival mode" without the first-hand experience. I would like to think that they will be able to make that limonade out of the lemons when they were not expecting those lemons. In the end, was Pi changed? You bet. Was it all for the worse? Not necessarily. I think it was important for the kids to see what good could come from tragedy. I thought the mixture of the three religons was interesting too, but I didn't focus on that part too much, being a ps teacher!;)

[Onceuponatime]

It is the survival story that really grabs me. I guess it's what has been called "the indomitable human spirit" angle. The religion thing didn't seem to be a major factor in the story, at least to me. Besides that...it is fiction. :-)

[SailorMom]

I love the book - and have recommended it to quite a few people. Well - three or four of them have come back actually angry at me! They said the book was great until the last chapter.

[Mrs Mungo]

I loved it and have recommended it to people, but I warn them that they may not like the end.

[smrtmama]

I loved the story and loved that Pi presented two possible endings to the narrator.

[Margo out of lurking]

I just read Life of Pi last month. I enjoyed the story, as impossible as it was. The ending was awful. Which story was the real story? I didn't get whatever allegory the book was supposed to have, and I have no interest in reading books and then finding it necessary to read more info to discover what the author was really trying to say.

 

I just didn't get it.

 

It was a waste of good time that I should have used for something else.

[Cinder]

Ds had this assigned as his summer reading so I read it, too. It was slow at the beginning--the librarian had warned me about this--but it did pick up in the middle.

 

I wasn't sure how I felt about the ending--like someone had kicked me in the stomach, sort of. But then mil and I had a little discussion about the book. She was visiting and had just started reading it. She liked how Pi talked about the animals in the zoo--that the reason we don't like to see them caged is because we put our human emotions on them. After our little talk I realized that in the story Pi is really doing the opposite. Putting animals on our human emotions. Each person became an animal and behaved accordingly. That's my interpretation.

 

But I'm still wondering what, if anything, the algae island represents. :bigear:

 

Cinder

[Irishmommy]

I saw the animal story as a defese mechanism for Pi. Pi was the tiger. Every animal represented one from the "real" story. I think when Pi no longer needed the tiger, he "left" him.

I had a theory about the algae island, but it's been about 5 years since I studied the book, so I can't remember it off the top of my head.

[LaissezFaire]

The ending threw me as I really wanted the animal aspect to be true. I actually believed it to be true until the island segment and I read the rest with a sense of foreboding. I also felt punched in the gut at the end but I recommend it anyway. Just because I have a visceral response to a book does not make it a bad book. Just a book that invoked unpleasant emotions.

[kokotg]

I just read Life of Pi last month. I enjoyed the story, as impossible as it was. The ending was awful. Which story was the real story? I didn't get whatever allegory the book was supposed to have, and I have no interest in reading books and then finding it necessary to read more info to discover what the author was really trying to say.

 

 

 

In the book's world, there is no way of knowing what the real story is. The narrator doesn't know either, right? I think it's meditation on the nature of truth and belief...going back to the "this book will make you believe in God" thing. Is it that we'll believe in God/the tiger because we WANT to--because the alternative is too grim to bear? Or is it that we DO believe in God/the tiger, even though it seems impossible, because the simplest explanation isn't always the right one? There's no figuring out the "real ending" because the narrator doesn't have access to the real ending--we can't go back and look for clues, because there's no narrative voice that knows what's true. Just like with life/God/faith/belief--you're not going to get a definitive answer from the author, so how to do you decide what your truth is?

[PiCO]

The story truly fascinated me. I went out and bought it and have read it again. I know I will read another time in the future as well.

 

I've seen many reviews on the internet and have been surprised at the level of animosity some readers have expressed.

 

I didn't like Life of Pi. I don't remember off-hand why- I read it a while ago.

 

But hey, I just LOVE Pillars of the Earth- I read it every year. I can see why others dispise it, but it doesn't change how I feel. That's why there are a lot of book choices out there.

 

Embrace the books you love!

[easygoer]

The biggest objection I can imagine, other than the twist ending which many people legitimately just don't care for, is the potential point being made about religion (or a point about religion that can be made with the story.)

 

There is an analogy between religion and fiction, stories that we invent/need to cope/rely on as a crutch to be able to face harsh realities of life. "What is a good story? Which story do you like better?" is the question the book asks and thinly veils a parallel question asked about major world religions, IMHO.

[Mrs Mungo]

The biggest objection I can imagine, other than the twist ending which many people legitimately just don't care for, is the potential point being made about religion (or a point about religion that can be made with the story.)

 

There is an analogy between religion and fiction, stories that we invent/need to cope/rely on as a crutch to be able to face harsh realities of life. "What is a good story? Which story do you like better?" is the question the book asks and thinly veils a parallel question asked about major world religions, IMHO.

 

This is true with books that don't deal only with religion though. For example, The Sparrow. It has a lot of religion in it and a definite religious point that she is making. But, there are other points. The fact (and it's a fact, something the author admits to) that she is trying to create a parallel to and sympathy for early explorers irritates me in the extreme. If I look past the analogy, I can like the story. When I can't look past the analogy, I can't like it. It's a conundrum.

[kokotg]

The biggest objection I can imagine, other than the twist ending which many people legitimately just don't care for, is the potential point being made about religion (or a point about religion that can be made with the story.)

 

There is an analogy between religion and fiction, stories that we invent/need to cope/rely on as a crutch to be able to face harsh realities of life. "What is a good story? Which story do you like better?" is the question the book asks and thinly veils a parallel question asked about major world religions, IMHO.

 

I think that's a cynical reading of it, though. I mean, it was the way I read it at first, too, but then I started to think maybe I was being too cynical, because I tend to be. Cynical. I don't think there's anything in the text that necessitates that reading; I think having a narrator who doesn't know the truth is such a deliberate choice...it's not that the stories people believe aren't true, it's that we can't ever know for sure whether they are or not.

[jenniferlee]

The story really gripped me at first, but honestly, I just got tired of it. Too bizarre, a tad bit gross, and "where is this going?" And then when I got there...well, just not worth it for me somehow. I guess I was glad I read it, but once was definitely enough. And I reread a LOT of books!

 

fwiw,

Jen

[Stacia]

I was one of the ones who posted that I hated it in the other thread....

 

It is the survival story that really grabs me. I guess it's what has been called "the indomitable human spirit" angle.

 

For the "indomitable human spirit" angle, I guess I prefer something like "Into Thin Air".

 

I saw the animal story as a defese mechanism for Pi. Pi was the tiger. Every animal represented one from the "real" story. I think when Pi no longer needed the tiger, he "left" him.

I had a theory about the algae island, but it's been about 5 years since I studied the book, so I can't remember it off the top of my head.

 

This is very similar to my thinking when I read it.

 

The ending threw me as I really wanted the animal aspect to be true. I actually believed it to be true until the island segment and I read the rest with a sense of foreboding. I also felt punched in the gut at the end but I recommend it anyway. Just because I have a visceral response to a book does not make it a bad book. Just a book that invoked unpleasant emotions.

 

Yes.

 

I agree. Even though the book was horrible, horrible to me (reading about what Pi went through & the 'real' horror of the situations he & other characters endured just felt like it ripped out my soul), I can appreciate that it was well-written & interesting. Perhaps I am too empathetic, but I found reading about all the trials just crippling. Maybe the author wrote it in such a gripping, touching manner that it tansported me (& perhaps that's the sign of genius & I shouldn't hate it so?)....

 

I really enjoyed the parts of the book about the 3 religions & found all of that quite lovely.

 

I still wonder how this book is one to 'make you believe in God' (as is asserted at the beginning of the story). :confused:

 

This is true with books that don't deal only with religion though. For example, The Sparrow. It has a lot of religion in it and a definite religious point that she is making. But, there are other points. The fact (and it's a fact, something the author admits to) that she is trying to create a parallel to and sympathy for early explorers irritates me in the extreme. If I look past the analogy, I can like the story. When I can't look past the analogy, I can't like it. It's a conundrum.

 

I really enjoyed The Sparrow (even though there were some horrific parts in it too).

 

So, to go back to the original question, I felt so profoundly empathetic to the main character in this book that I felt like my soul had been shredded. I felt like I had lived the horrors too -- the horrors of all the characters. I felt depressed & upset over the story & had no interest in reading anything else for a few weeks afterward.

 

That said, I can appreciate that it is a well-done, well-told tale... just not one for me. :001_smile: (I do love the cover art.)

[LittleIzumi]

This is true with books that don't deal only with religion though. For example, The Sparrow. It has a lot of religion in it and a definite religious point that she is making. But, there are other points. The fact (and it's a fact, something the author admits to) that she is trying to create a parallel to and sympathy for early explorers irritates me in the extreme. If I look past the analogy, I can like the story. When I can't look past the analogy, I can't like it. It's a conundrum.

 

*shudder*. They had us read that and the sequel in 10th grade English. In public high school the finer religious points are missed in favor of the homosexual alien rape/murder shock value. And a bit about hubris. But mostly the homosexual alien rape/murder.

[Mrs Mungo]

*shudder*. They had us read that and the sequel in 10th grade English. In public high school the finer religious points are missed in favor of the homosexual alien rape/murder shock value. And a bit about hubris. But mostly the homosexual alien rape/murder.

 

That is really unfortunate. It's mostly a story of faith and what Good Omens calls the ineffable plan. Faith in spite of extreme loss. The rape and murder weren't things the story seemed to dwell on, except in his need for confession.

[easygoer]

I think that's a cynical reading of it, though. I mean, it was the way I read it at first, too, but then I started to think maybe I was being too cynical, because I tend to be. Cynical. I don't think there's anything in the text that necessitates that reading; I think having a narrator who doesn't know the truth is such a deliberate choice...it's not that the stories people believe aren't true, it's that we can't ever know for sure whether they are or not.

 

I agree with you, and you put it very elegantly.

 

FWIW, my blurb is not how I particularly feel, it's my answer to "why don't people like this book?" I enjoyed the book, I enjoyed the author's use of language particularly, and I'm not the slightest bit religious nor offended by any implication that religion might just be the opiate of the masses.

 

I was roughly trying to sum up what I've heard discussed as offense taken to this theme.

 

It reminds me of the objection to Under the Banner of Heaven by Krakower, not because the books are very similar but because I was aware of a backlash from people who didn't like to see the subject (the veracity of religious belief?) handled that way. I didn't find that book particularly iconoclastic, either, personally. But many did.

 

But my readings of the reaction are colored by my extreme lack of offense, to either. So I may not be very gentle in my characterization, I completely admit it.

[Margo out of lurking]

>>>I just read Life of Pi last month. I enjoyed the story, as impossible as it was. The ending was awful. Which story was the real story? I didn't get whatever allegory the book was supposed to have, and I have no interest in reading books and then finding it necessary to read more info to discover what the author was really trying to say.

 

Just like with life/God/faith/belief--you're not going to get a definitive answer from the author, so how to do you decide what your truth is?

 

Except that I do have my definitive answer, and I know what Truth is. :)

 

But I agree with what you are saying. I think that was the appeal to many of the book. It saddened me to know that people would be sucked in by Pi's acceptance of all religions as equal and as all having validity.

 

(Please understand that this is my belief, and I don't say it to start anything in the thread. Just as I was offended by the book, I realize that some would find my words above quite offensive.)

 

I knew that the religion was the underlying storyline while reading Pi, but I desperately wanted the book to JUST be about the story. The end took even that away.

[kokotg]

 

Except that I do have my definitive answer, and I know what Truth is. :)

 

 

 

Because you trust that you have a completely reliable narrator? ;)

 

But, yeah, I know what you're saying. I also didn't remember the part about different religions; it's been a few years since I've read it.

[Natalieclare]

It was the teeth that did it for me.

 

Ew. Shudder. Blech.

 

I am really hazy on the details (repression, anyone?) but wasn't there some weird thing found on the island with teeth in it?

 

I guess I'd really rather not remember. :tongue_smilie: