A tiger, a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra, and a teenage boy are stranded at sea on a lifeboat. Sounds like the setup to a joke, doesn't it? It may in fact be one, with the punch line having something to do with 'stripes.' But it's also the premise of Life of Pi by Yann Martel, which I finished reading a couple of weeks ago. The book left me with a renewed faith in the power of narrative to convey big ideas. On the surface, as you can imagine, this is an adventure story about one boy's survival at sea, and a riveting one at that. But below the surface, like the rich and varied sea-life that swim beneath the lifeboat in Martel's novel, you'll find a wealth of ideas. At it's core, this book is a philosophical meditation on the nature of storytelling itself, and how we derive meaning from narrative. It touches on themes regarding the presence (or absence) of God, man's free will, the nature of reality, the nature of language, and our ability to, as the author himself puts it, 'choose the better' story.

I passed by this novel in the bookstore several times before finally picking it up. And even after I brought it home, it was a couple of months before I actually began reading it. I think there were two reasons for my hesitance, despite the fact that I had heard great things about it: First, I felt like there would be some kind of mathematical or scientific undercurrent in the novel, probably because of the presence of the word 'Pi' in the title. While the word 'Pi,' which is the abbreviated name of the main character in the book, does have some thematic meaning in the book, that meaning is not purely mathematical or scientific in nature. It's more philosophical, really. My other concern, which was based on the book jacket, was that it would be one long allegory, which struck me as unappealing. While readers may find elements of allegory in the novel, it is not the underlying style of the book, which was a relief to me. Incidentally, in relation to the concerns over allegory, I also wondered if the story would be an extended parable. Though in the Author's Note it is promised that the story "will make you believe in God," I don't know that it actually teaches a moral or religious lesson. It certainly struggles with religious meaning, but doesn't seem to pass any judgments - the main character practices Hinduism, Christianity and Islam with equal fervor.

After reading over the paragraph above, I'm realizing that if you have any of the same concerns that I had before reading the novel, my explanations probably won't allay them at all. Still, you shouldn't let these things deter you from reading this novel. If you get nothing else out of Life of Pi, you're sure to find it a thoroughly entertaining action-adventure page-turner. At the same time, if you're the type of person with a thirst for Literature (with a capital 'L') you don't have to feel guilty about enjoying this book because you'll find plenty of deeper meaning and significance, even if it's different from the meaning I've managed to find in it.

Oh, the book really gets going in part two, but pay close attention to part one anyway, as all that stuff comes back in part three.

Life of Pi (Amazon)

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