EXPECTATIONS: 2002 Booker Prize winner - has to be good? No! Winning a Booker prize means it has greatness thrust upon it. Having loved two books which were just on the shortlist in the 1980s meant I was expecting a great book in a winner.
VIEWS: Have just read finished the book an hour ago and may have to re-think what I type. Not having the patience to wait I write this.
VIEWS: Have just read finished the book an hour ago and may have to re-think what I type. Not having the patience to wait I write this.
- Firstly, the idea of a an adult Bengal tiger sharing a lifeboat with a sixteen year old is by itself a great idea. This concept has so much scope. Was it utilized fully? It is. His most entertaining digression provides fasinating insights on zoomorhpism, the one single idea that Piscine Molitar Patel exploits to survive with Richard Parker. My only problem with this 'idea' is that it appears to be plagiarised, I read this in Wikipedia.
- Secondly, the book plays out very unlike my expectations. I'd already read of Shymalan refusing to direct this film because of its twist ending. So I started off trying to 'gather' clues as I turned pages. Very soon I was enjoying Pi's childhood and then his adventures on the lifeboat. This pleased me as I thought I'd bekeeping tab of 'loose-ends' to guess the end as early as I could. But here I was feeling sorry for the zebra, cheering the orang-utan and smiling at Pi's handling of the tiger. It's fun enjoying the entire book rather than just the 'surprise' end.
- The end, in my interpretation, allows us to choose between Pi's 'tall-tale' and a believable one. The latter of couse is a lot more gruesome. Perhaps it was because all the while Martel has been portraying cannibalism very softly but now describes it vividly. It was the second story which really hurt. Did I see the end coming even after keeping tab? No!
- The concept picking a fantastic story to the harsh truth is the central theme of one of my favorite films, 'Big Fish'. So this end is not new to me. Does the end make it a better book? To a great many it will. Some extent it works for me too. I smiled when Pi starts narrating the more plausible tale.
CONCLUSION: I liked the book. Will I remember it forever? At this point I can't remeber reading a novel on shipwrecked person(/s) & have no plans of reading another. In that sense it should stay with me for sometime. However, I will not remember it as a great piece of writing.
1 comment:
Recently heard Yann Martel on BBC Radio and I think this book is better than what I state in this entry. I guess 'Life of Pi' has grown on me in the last two years.
Post a Comment