Justin's Reviews > Life of Pi

People often see me walking down the street, casually, minding my own business, and they always stop and ask me, "Yo, Justin, what are you reading these days?"
And I'm always happy to stop and engage in conversation about what I'm reading, and I share a few thoughts about the book.
"Yeah, it's not bad. Pretty good so far."
"Really enjoying it! Better than I expected!"
"Oh man, it's alright I guess. Kinda slow."
I like to keep my comments pretty general in nature.
Also, that never actually happens to me.
Or does it?

Anyway, I did tell a few people I was reading Life of Pi and every single one of them said, "Oh yeah, isn't that the book about the guy and a tiger on a raft?" Because that's what everyone thinks of when they think of Life of Pi. The book about some guy on a boat with a tiger. And they are absolutely right. I mean, if you needed a one sentence synopsis of Life of Pi you would say it's about some dude floating around on a raft or a boat or something with a tiger, and that would be it. You nailed it.

Except Pi isn't on a lifeboat with Richard Parker (the tiger) until about halfway through the book. So that synopsis isn't enough because there is so much more going on in Life of Pi. So much more.

So let's start with the biggest reason this book gets a coveted five star rating from me: I got to learn all about zoos and the animals that inhabit them. I'm kidding, a little, kind of, but the beginning of the book is just fascinating to read. Pi weaves in stories of his childhood with facts about India, religion, animals, zoos, family, and all kinds of other stuff. One scene in particular that I loved was when Pi was trying to determine his religion and the choice that follows. Just humorous, insightful stuff all around, and I forgot all about what the book is really about. I won't remind you.

The story moves from all of that stuff, like a memoir I guess, to an adventure story. Now, I'm not a huge adventure story kind of guy, but the writing was so engaging and the audiobook narration was so intoxicating that I kept plugging along with all the craziness Pi finds himself in. It gets pretty violent and a little disgusting at times, but you're reading about wild animals and about a guy who is caught in a horrible tale of survival. It's not too bad.

Then, the end of the book comes along, and oh my god I can't even tell you about the end of the book. It's awesome though. Just trust me on this one if you haven't read it already. You've probably read it already. You've probably seen the movie, too, you awesome person you. Look at you go, all awesome and stuff.

I'm gonna watch the movie as soon as possible. Looking forward to it. This was a fantastic audiobook that I spent almost a month listening to during my morning commute. Whatever I pop in next has a tough act to follow.

January has been a pretty solid month of reading for me. Definitely ended it on a high note. I don't rate books five stars very often because I'm am overly critical book critic, but this is a five star read that deserves a little bit of your time.