Life of Pi quandry

[Slartibartfast]

I got Life of Pi because the cover was so charming and whimsical

 

 

I am still traumatized from reading it. I don't think I will ever be able to read it again.

 

 

 

Which should I do?

Edited March 17, 2011 by Sis

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

I remember very little from that book, except that I found the ending disturbing. Why? I don't know. I've erased it all from my memory! I did, honestly!

[RoughCollie]

I would throw it in the trash.

[AvasMom]

Paperback Swap. :)

[rwjx2khsmj]

:iagree:

I'd rather throw it in the trash than pass it to someone else. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's exactly what I did with my copy. It's one of two books that I didn't feel right about sharing with anyone. I'm trying to remember the name of the other book that should never be read.

Edited March 17, 2011 by rwjx2khsmj

[LittleIzumi]

I love that book!! We read it in Adv. Literary Criticism in college. If you don't like it though, PaperbackSwap it. It's take it but I already have a copy:lol:

[Mrs Mungo]

I loved it, but was also traumatized. I traded my copy to the used book store.

[happygrrl]

My best friend (who I almost always agree with) loved this and leant it to me.

I HATED IT!

(and yes, I am yelling!)

 

... I just needed to get that off my chest. Whew!

[Stacia]

I feel the same way you did. The cover art is one of my favorites. I felt like the book crushed my soul. It was hard, so hard, for me to get over that book. (BTW, even though I personally had a hard time w/ that book, I would not throw it in the trash. It's a lovely book in many ways. Beautiful & haunting. And, some find the whole thing wonderful. Pass it on to someone else who wants to try it for him/herself or who already knows they love it.)

 

I say keep a digital copy of just the book cover (so you can still look at/appreciate the cover art; do a search on google images), but give away the copy of your book.

Edited March 17, 2011 by Stacia

[HollyB]

I loved it, but you should definitely give it away.

[HerdingCats]

I read it. I don't remember anything traumatizing. What is it I missed? I liked it...

[Parrothead]

i never read that one. Now, after reading this thread, I'm afraid to.

[LittleIzumi]

i never read that one. Now, after reading this thread, I'm afraid to.

 

If you can take some deepness (is that a word??), go for it! It's just not what you expect, is all. Not just a journey story.

[TheReader]

I just read the description (was not familiar with the book) and I vote for passing it on to someone else. Paperback Swap, library donation, something.

 

Trashing it because you feel it's not something you would read feels a bit like censorship to me. Why prevent someone else reading it, and possibly enjoying it, just because you didn't like it?

 

Keep it or pass it on; don't throw it away.

[Slartibartfast]

i never read that one. Now, after reading this thread, I'm afraid to.

 

Be afraid.

 

 

If you approach it expecting a whimsical story then you are going to be traumatized. If you approach it as a survival through terrible, horrific, beyond all imaginings tragedy then you might be ok.

 

 

It isn't that it is "deep" it is that it is like a baseball bat to the head out of nowhere. Up until the end you think you read a charming book.

 

 

I wouldn't throw a book away, I am sure I can find someone to give it to. :)

Edited March 17, 2011 by Sis

[Caitilin]

LOL. I read it it and liked it. Wasn't a bit traumatized. I would hate for you to throw it out.:001_smile:

[Desert Rat]

I got 1/4 of the way into that book and couldn't read any more. I don't know what it was because I very rarely leave a book unfinished.

I picked it up because my friend said it was a wonderful read and she couldn't believe I hadn't read it yet. I borrowed my copy from the library.

If I were you, I'd sell it or give it away.

[LittleIzumi]

Be afraid.

 

 

If you approach it expecting a whimsical story then you are going to be traumatized. If you approach it as a survival through terrible, horrific, beyond all imaginings tragedy then you might be ok.

 

 

It isn't that it is "deep" it is that it is like a baseball bat to the head out of nowhere. Up until the end you think you read a charming book.

 

 

I wouldn't throw a book away, I am sure I can find someone to give it to. :)

 

What, it isn't given away that something's afoot when you hit floating meerkat island? :tongue_smilie:And the tri-religion theme? Maybe it was easier to see it coming reading it in literary criticism class, where reading between the lines & examining all the tiny referenced clues is the name of the game.

[Tiberia]

I choose to believe the book, not the last chapter-optional-analysis by the psychiatrists of what could have "really" happened, because they are trapped in their rational world.

 

The true story is what you decide it to be. Is it a grand adventure, or is it a horrible tragedy? That's kind of the point of the book. That's life: grand adventure or horrible tragedy? I choose the former.

 

I loved the book. Give it away.

[Stacia]

i never read that one. Now, after reading this thread, I'm afraid to.

 

Don't be afraid of it.

 

Parts of it were wonderful, really wonderful. The main part of the story is of Pi surviving at sea in a lifeboat, along w/ a tiger. Right there, you know it will be a wrenching, horrific situation for him -- surviving a ship wreck that killed most everyone (and everything thing, as in animals) else, having to survive in a small lifeboat in the middle of the ocean, floating for weeks/months w/ no supplies, no hope of being found, etc..., all while contending w/ a tiger. I didn't find the ending a surprise as it was foreshadowed. However, the heartbreaking scenarios in the book just crushed me. *I*, personally, felt destroyed after reading it. However, I know there are many who have & will like it, even love it. Martel is a talented writer; his story was just too soul-wrenching for me.

[Mejane]

Give it away or swap it. It's not a dangerous book that should be thrown out (like one that is often discussed on these boards.) Someone else may enjoy it. I read it and didn't love it, fwiw.

[Tiff in TX]

I voted to give it away. I read this book 5 or 6 years ago and I don't remember it being disturbing, but then again, I don't remember much of the details of the last chapter. Now I have to decide if I should dig out my copy and re read it...

[Joy at Home]

Okay, I'm a cheater. I could bare it no longer. I went on Sparksnotes to read the summary and analysis of this famous "last chapter".

 

:crying:

 

Can I vote for living in denial and pretending he made up the second story?

 

lisa

[kokotg]

Okay, I'm a cheater. I could bare it no longer. I went on Sparksnotes to read the summary and analysis of this famous "last chapter".

 

:crying:

 

Can I vote for living in denial and pretending he made up the second story?

 

lisa

 

I think that's a completely legitimate reading of the novel. In fact, I would argue that denying that possibility misses the entire point of the novel. does that make it any less traumatizing? I'm usually fairly easily traumatized, and I loved Life of Pi.

[KidsHappen]

I have never read the novel but I have read extensive summeries, reviews, and analysises and I never got the feeling that the second story was definitively the correct one. As a matter of fact, I always got the feeling that it was the made up one. Is that not correct? Or is it just the possibility that it is true that is so horrifying?

[Mommy22alyns]

I voted "give it away" but I would take it to the used bookstore. Or maybe Goodwill?

[jenL]

I loved it. However, when I find books I do not like/hate, I paperbackswap them or donate them. There's no sense in keeping a book you know you will never re-read or suggest for others to read.

[Margo out of lurking]

I got Life of Pi because the cover was so charming and whimsical

 

 

I am still traumatized from reading it. I don't think I will ever be able to read it again.

 

 

 

Which should I do?

 

LOL. That was the worst ending of a book EVER. Not that I thought much of it to begin with though . . .

[Tutor]

I loved that book and am very sad that I missed getting my copy signed when Yan Martel was in town for a reading two weeks ago. :( I am also in the midst of a decluttering frenzy and tackled books today. Anything that we didn't love, plan to reread, or use for school or work was boxed up to donate to Goodwill (our library is not accepting donations right now) or church. Give it away. Maybe someone else will get pleasure out of reading it.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I loved the book and cried on an airplane as I read the last chapter. I didn't find it crushing ... more just amazed and uplifted by the outlook of Pi, despite his terrible circumstances.