Spain: Yann Martel – Life of Pi
Life of Pi follows the story of a young Indian boy, Piscine ‘Pi’ Patel (named after the French word for swimming pool), who lives with his family who run an affluent zoo in Pondicherry. Growing up surrounded by animals, Pi understands much about them and, in particular, a Bengal tiger by the name of Richard Parker. Raised as a Hindu, Pi experiments with Islam and Christianity from a young age, much to the dismay of his parents. Pi’s parents decide to uproot and move their zoo to Canada. A Japanese freighter ship is transporting the Patels and their animals towards their new North American home when it sinks during a storm. Pi is the only survivor and is stranded in a lifeboat and, to his surprise, he is not alone: in the lifeboat along with him is a hyena, an injured zebra, an orangutan and, under the tarpaulin, a hungry and seasick Richard Parker. As the hyena kills the zebra and then the orangutan, Pi is forced to create a makeshift raft which he ties to the lifeboat and, from there, uses his knowledge of animal psychology from the zoo to condition Richard Parker into a submissive role so that he can come onboard the lifeboat again. Pi and Richard Parker spend a total of 227 days, punctuated with struggle and misadventure, adrift in the Pacific Ocean before eventually being washed up on a beach in Mexico.
Life of Pi is a deeply moving story and is gripping despite its length. Martel’s use of language helps you too feel the salt water on your lips and the punishing heat of the sun bearing down on you. The novel’s ambiguous ending through exploring the theme of belief is my personal favourite aspect and, as Martel describes, “it is true that those we meet can change us, sometimes so profoundly that we are not the same afterwards, even unto our names.”
Words by Kristen Sinclair