Life of Pi

by Yann Martel
Meeting Date:  June 19, 2009
Hostess:  Lynne

Discussion:  We were fairly well divided down the middle with half of us LOVING the book and half of us really not liking it at all.  There was some indication that those with greater imagination and a bit of a fantasy outlook on life preferred it to those of us who are have a more practical (and some would say rigid and inflexible) view of the world.  Those that loved the book, could not put it down, were enthralled with Martel's story-telling ability and his wonderful description of what Pi went through.  However, having said that, those are the people who tended to struggle a little more with the beginning of the book on the talk of how Pi came to get his name and his associations with various religions.  Those of us on the other side of the table (metaphorically) actually liked the beginning of the book more - finding it to be more factual and grounded with the story from the sinking of the ship onwards to fantastical and unbelievable.  Some of us (OK me ... ) struggled with the writing, finding the repetition simply annoying!  :-)
It was clear that there are many levels to this story and I certainly know that I didn't catch onto all (or maybe any) of them.  Richard Parker's name, for example, being an Edgar Allen Poe character.
We had a brief but interesting discussion of characters which really ended in more of an open question as to who were the characters; was there only one character or were the animals characters.  I think each of us has her own feeling of which is the 'real' story and who the 'real' characters are.

Ratings:
Barb .................5.5
Stacey ...............4
Dannette .............9
Stephanie ............9
Joyce .................9.5
Natalie .................4
Lynne .................3
Overall Rating:  6.3