 2008-09-01 - Great book, great edition
I love The Life of Pi, originally released in 2002 written by Yann Martel, is arguably one of the best books of the modern era. I have read this book half a dozen times and each time I read it I respect it more. Read this book now, I don't want to spoil it by saying any more.
This new Deluxe Illustrated edition is published with over three dozen images that illustrate the story. I'm not an art critic, but I like the included illustrations, ehe art is colorful and complements the story well.
If you are looking for your first copy, I recommend this illustrated edition.
2008-08-14 - a classic illustrated
Yan Martell's destined-to-be-a-classic Life of Pi is a wonderful read by itself. But coupled with the excellent illustrations in this volume, the story is enhanced by images from the perspective of the protagonist. If you've already read the book and liked it, get *this* version for your personal library. If you haven't read it and want to do so someday, then don't wait and get this version now.
2008-08-14 - A terrific novel!
Life of Pi by Yann Martel is an exciting, mouth dropping, gruesome, adventurous, hard to put down novel. It is about a 16-year-old Indian boy named Piscine "Pi" Molitor Patel who lives in Pondicherry, India. Since his father was a zookeeper, Pi learned a great deal about animal behavior and habits. Much to the dismay of his parents, when Pi became older he was very open to different religions. Already a Hindu, he also became a Christian and a Muslim, saying he just wanted to be able to pray to God.
Eventually Pi's father decides to sell their home and move the family to Canada, and sells most of the animals to zoos in America. So on June 21, 1977, with only a small amount of animals, Pi and his family rode on a Japanese cargo ship, called the Tsimtsum, which partway through their trip the ship sinks. The only survivors were Pi, a female orangutan, a hungry hyena, a zebra with a broken leg, and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, all in a 26-foot lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. While the tiger was kept out of sight under a tarp, the relentless hyena continued to inflict pain upon the zebra, and then mercilessly killed the orangutan. The tiger ended up devouring the hyena, which left Pi alone with this carnivore.
Now Pi had to put forth all the energy he had into surviving. He had to figure out what to do with Richard Parker, the source of his fear. He decides to try and tame the tiger. Is that really possible? Can someone tame a full-grown Bengal tiger? Pi was up for the challenge. His life depended on it.
Finally they reached land--an edible algae-covered island. The home of hundreds of meerkats, this island was actually "carnivorous". After spending a few days on the island, Pi realized that at night this island became highly acidic, and quickly left.
So did Pi survive? After 227 days at sea, did he reach land inhabited with people? Or did he die at the claws of Richard Parker? To find out you must read this book. If you read between the lines you will be able to see that the author was portraying the fear that Pi felt through the tiger. Martel did a great job with so much detail that I felt I was there in the lifeboat with Pi. Grotesque in places, I do not recommend this book to children, but if you're longing for something that will take you out of the real world and into a world where you don't know what's real and what's imagination, then this is the book for you.
2008-07-31 - One terrific read!
I don't know what to add about this book.
It is based on a true story,the central character is now a Canadian citizen, one fact I can add to anyone who bothers to read my reveiw.
If you love pictorial allegories,and appreciate the wizard of Oz, or Alice through the looking glass,then this is your next book to read.
I love amy tan, margaret atwood,and arthur c. clark, and rawling's harry potter series.
This is an extroardinary book.It is not like anything I read before,including the abovementioned.
One of the best of the best books written.It's Darwin,Jung,Freud,Kahil Gibran,with a touch of Ekhart Tolle.
2008-07-18 - An amazing story
This is a truly beautifully written book and an amazing story. I love animals and this story provides such a wealth of fascinating insight into animal behaviour. I know it is not a new publication, but this made no difference to the tale, plus the illustrations are wonderful. What a great value also - I know I will be re-reading this time after time.
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