Life of Pi - Audio CD - Unabridged Author:Yann Martel, Jeff Woodman (Narrator), Alexander Marshall (Narrator) Pi Patel is an unusual boy. The son of a zookeeper, he has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior, a fervent love of stories, and practices not only his native Hinduism, but also Christianity and Islam. When Pi is sixteen, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for ... more »new homes.
The ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker for 227 days lost at sea. When they finally reach the coast of Mexico, Richard Parker flees to the jungle, never to be seen again. The Japanese authorities who interrogate Pi refuse to believe his story and press him to tell them "the truth." After hours of coercion, Pi tells a second story, a story much less fantastical, much more conventional-but is it more true?
Life of Pi is at once a realistic, rousing adventure and a meta-tale of survival that explores the redemptive power of storytelling and the transformative nature of fiction. It's a story, as one character puts it, to make you believe in God.
Unabridged - 9 CDs - 11.5 hours - read by Jeff Woodman & Alexander Marshall
Winner of the 2002 Man Booker Prize for Fiction« less
bookaddict reviewed Life of Pi (Audio CD) (Unabridged) on
Helpful Score: 35
This book is genius.
The beginning is a bit dry--about the first 80 pages were hard for me to get through (I wanted the TIGER! Bring on the TIGER!) but once the story got moving it was a beautiful, fascinating book. One of the best endings of all time, IMO. And you can go back and read the beginning once you've finished the book, and have a much better appreciation for it.
I highly recommend this book; it well deserved the Booker Prize.
This is a fascinating book. There is so much fact in it that I kept checking that it was actually fiction.
Within the book is a treatise on the benefits of zoos and how, if they are created and maintained properly they are the best possible environment for the animals involved.
There is a discussion on comparative religions â Muslim, Hindu and Christianity. The main character gets involved and practices all three. He describes how they all benefit him in different ways.
Then there is the main part of the book â how to survive in a lifeboat at sea for seven months â especially if you are sharing the boat with a Bengal tiger. So there's a short treatise on how to train a tiger â how to let him know you are the alpha male and therefore he is not to dominate (aka eat) you.
Much of the book is matter of fact, and it is all beautifully written.
I did not finish the book, I think the writing is excellent and the story compelling but for all animal lovers,reading the details of zoo animals being eaten alivel and Zebra's flesh being torn off as the Zebra lay in misery still alive. If I had know the book had this vivid discriptions of animals being butchered and tortured I would not have ordered it. Maybe after the Zebra incident the book's detail on animal torture ends I don't know becasue I couldn't risk having to read more about these beautiful animals being slaughtered. If you are the kind of person who gets squimish when animals are brutally sacrificed for the sake of the story don't read this. I only wish someone had told me that.
You have to start out reading this book with no expectations. It is completely unrealistic of course in the beginning, but when that is behind you, it is a surprisingly good story of survival and the close bond between man and creatures. And the end leaves you thinking for quite some time.
Absolutely amazing. The best book I read in 2004 hands down. About a boy ,Pi Patel, who unfortunately finds himself stuck on a float with some interesting zoo animals, and his survival among these beasts. It left me thinking long after I was finished reading. It is so much more than meets the eye. This is one of my keepers. Rated 5/5
this is a paperback from Quality Paperback Book Club, so, if you are familiar, it is bigger than a paperback, yet smaller than a hardcover. the ISBN did not match any that PBS offered, but I have no doubt this is the entire novel as originally published in hardcover.
One of the most original and interesting and exciting and absolutely NEAT books I've ever read. One of my lifetime top ten. If you have no sense of adventure and no imagination whatsoever, don't read this book. If you simply cannot suspend being grounded totally in practical reality, don't read this book. On the other hand, if you want to take an amazing journey, do read Life of Pi. It asks... What is real? Hmmm.
An odd book, with a plot blurb that just wasn't all that enticing enough as I had the print book on my TBR for years before finally giving it away, even though so many recommended it. Then along came the audio, and I was hooked from the moment I heard Pi speak.
And that is a good deal of what kept the headphones glued to my ears. Pi speaking this deliciously different tale, in a voice obviously of a young man, who spoke words that sang due to the melody of his soft Indian accent.
I know I'd have read things with my eyes and thought it was good writing, but I would not have laughed out loud quite frequently, even at things that really were not all that funny, if not for Pi's voice and lilt, the sardonic humor that filled his spirit. The way he could not only emphasize words, but letters in those words.
He broke my heart, while I was laughing. He called out "Richard Parker" over and over, and I could not hear it enough.
Of course, this is due to Jeff Woodman, an amazing narrator, and the author, Yann Martel, with the most creative of minds.
I love this book. I love that Pi loves religion, is a devout Hindu who prays to Mecca, and goes to Mass, and probably keeps the Sabbath.
And I learned a lot about wild animals, too. Those in and out of a zoo.
This book was excellent. My mom had been trying to get me to read it for months, but I had no time in college and then I had 5 or 6 books I had to read before I could start it. I'm very glad I finally read it, though. It's extremely well-written, and the story is about as interesting and absorbing as stories come. He's stuck on a 26-foot life raft with a tiger, after all. How much more suspenseful can it get?
My favorite quote from the novel is the message Pi puts in the glass bottle he finds in the ocean: "Am in lifeboat. Pi Patel my name. Have some food, some water, but Bengal tiger a serious problem. Any help very much appreciated. Thank you."
-- WARNING: POSSIBLE PLOT SPOILING FROM THIS POINT FORWARD --
Also, I personally believe he was stuck on a boat with a tiger, no matter if the last chapter gives you an alternate theory: Maybe the tiger was his dehydrated, half-starved, and very traumatized mind's way of coping with his hopeless situation, the extreme and occasionally gruesome things he had to do to survive, and the terror he witnessed at the hands of the other survivors, who ripped each other apart, literally, in pursuit of life. Of course, it's quite possible Pi doesn't even know which story is true himself - or that he knows perfectly well the tiger wasn't real, but wishes it were so he doesn't have to think about the much MORE terrible occurrences on the boat; however, much like Pi says in the end of the book, if I have to choose between the two stories, I choose the better one. The one with the animals.
excellenteb - , reviewed Life of Pi (Audio CD) (Unabridged) on
One of my closest friends begged me to read this for the longest time. When I finally got a copy of it, I questioned his taste in fine literature. The first third of the book was incredibly boring, and it took me at least a month to get through it, and I'm one of those people who can finish a book in a day or two. I was going to give up, but he kept pushing me to finish, and I'm glad I did. Once it got interesting, I couldn't put it down. Something about trying to survive alone on the ocean doesn't have much appeal, but when you throw in a carniverous island that eats people, and an ending that makes you question if the story actually happened, it was an amazing book.
Amazing story of just how capable humans are of surviving and co-existing in a pinch. This book had be on the edge of my seat the entire time. A survival story at it's best.
Janine J. reviewed Life of Pi (Audio CD) (Unabridged) on
The beginning is engaging but the middle is a bit tedious. However, it was very much worth reading for the ending. One of the best endings I've ever read.
Unfortunately, for me this was one of those books where I wished I could have the time back that I spent on reading it. I felt that it seemed to be an exercise in self-indulgence on the author's part. I thought the efforts it made towards groping after meaningful truths were feeble and unfocused, that the characters were not terribly interesting or even very likeable, that the plot development was wandering, and that the fantasy elements were condescending and unconvincing. Just not my kind of book, I guess.
I think "Life of Pi" would appeal strongly to those who also enjoyed reading "The Alchemist", which is quite similar in style (and another book I didn't care for).
An interesting book. It has more depth than the story leads you to believe. Is about how we might make up the story we think people want to hear vs the reality of what really happened. Young man shipwrecked at sea, survives on a life boat with a tiger...or not.
I've read this book twice and could easily read it again. It's a great discussion book for book clubs or anyone who loves discussing good books that make you think.
Like many I found it slow in the beginning. I put it down and then picked it up again after a couple weeks, then read it straight through in one night. I totally accepted the story until about 2/3 through when I thought "wait a minute..." but I didn't see the end coming. If in fact it was really the end! I'm not a very "deep" reader - I need to be hit with a sledgehammer message before figuring out meaning in a book, so I'm sure most of the allegory went right over my head. But I did like it.
Lisa R. reviewed Life of Pi (Audio CD) (Unabridged) on
I was surprised that this book was able to keep my attention so well. It was a slow start, but got better and better. The character development was great. In our book club, another reader was convinced it was a true story, even with the impossibility of it all!
One of the most original and interesting and exciting and absolutely NEAT books I've ever read. One of my lifetime top ten. If you have no sense of adventure and no imagination whatsoever, don't read this book. If you simply cannot suspend being grounded totally in practical reality, don't read this book. On the other hand, if you want to take an amazing journey, do read Life of Pi. It asks... What is real? Hmmm.
Pi Patel, a God-loving boy and the son of a zookeeper, had a fervent love of stories and practices not only within his native Hinduism, but also Christianity and Islam. When Pi is 16, his family and their zoo animals emigrate from India to Canada aboard a Japanese cargo ship. Alas, the ship sinks--and Pi finds himself in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, in orangutan, a wounded zebra and a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi. Can Pi and the tiger find their way to land? Can Pi's fear, knowledge and cunning keep him alive until they do?
