i’ve done it. on the train to london this past weekend.
i’ve finished yann martel’s eponymous life of pi.
i started reading it on new year’s day. the story, as reviewed by many, was well written. piscine patel was one intelligent kid. the kind of kid who’d probably do a theology PhD in oxford at the age of 15. he had a discerning approach to his understanding of religion despite his apparent naivete. although i don’t agree with embracing all the religions at once (it’s just a story lah), the point about understanding everyone’s difference was superbly made. the story as it goes on is graphically narrated. being in a boat with a friggin’ bengal tiger is something you need to see to believe. i have to say as a hypocritical animal lover (ie. non-vegetarian), i find the savagery towards cute animals like turtles and meerkats objectionable. if i was on a lifeboat, i’d probably die within 7 days. i did, in fact, stop reading it for a good month or so until i started to continue on recently.
i had mixed feelings when i read this tome, from fascination to disgust, after which i became curious when he got on the algae-ladened isle, and finally, an unexpected surprise. rumour has it a film will be made (just when i was about to say don’t do one – non-vegetarian animal-lover talking here) by either shyamalan (as the king of film twists, he’ll do nicely) or cuaron. i’ll just say that i didn’t exactly feel good about what happened in the story, apart from the ending which had me grinning like a right idjit on the train. this just shows, i suppose, what a bloody good writer martel is.
click here for the promo of the book.