Life of Pi

by Yann Martel · read October 26, 2019

Review

An enjoyable reread of a novel I loved when I read it the first time. The writing felt familiar and engaging throughout the entire story and I really liked Pi as a narrator. I especially liked reading about Pi's experiences with faith and his father's zoo at the beginning of the book.

You may be astonished that in such a short period of time I could go from weeping over the muffled killing of a flying fish to gleefully bludgeoning to death a dorado. I could explain it by arguing that profiting from a pitiful flying fish's navigational mistake made me shy and sorrowful, while the excitement of actively capturing a great dorado made me sanguinary and self-assured. But in point of fact the explanation lies elsewhere. It is simple and brutal: a person can get used to anything, even to killing.

Julia Cooke © 2023