Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion

Yes, and you should be. This is an extremely good book. I buy into the notion the tiger story is true but that he begins to hallucinate the remainder of his trials at the meekrat island.

i'm happy i read this book. multi-layered, interesting characters, good writing. i believe he did live with the tiger on the boat. too many of the incidents point to the reality of the tiger, plus Pi is obviously intelligent and reflective, with a background knowledge of animals. it also makes for a better feel to the book if you believe in Pi's story.

I love books with potentially unreliable narrators in them, so whether Pi's story is true of not doesn't really affect my enjoyment of the novel, which I consider to be one of my favourates. I do lean towards Pi's story being true however, at least in part (i.e. the beginning in the boat) and take it to be an exploration of how difficult it can be to proove the truth, especially in strange circumstances.

Amanda wrote: "I love books with potentially unreliable narrators in them, so whether Pi's story is true of not doesn't really affect my enjoyment of the novel, which I consider to be one of my favourates. I do ..."

These are my thoughts, too. Thank you for articulating them for me :)

Curiously I thought the first story was true (not that it was plausible or believable; just that this was the story - it is a book of fiction after all!) and the second was to appease the "non-believers" - the reporters who refused to believe in what actually happened. Since believing in a boy living with a tiger and other such fantastical events would be impossible.. without some sort of leap of faith, so to speak. Something the logically minded could simply not accept; there had to be an alternative - which was the second story.

Also, as others have pointed out, there are a few anomalies that indicate the first story was true.. and likewise, a few that suggest otherwise.

I do agree with the comments made that it doesn't matter which story is true, what is important is which story you believe in.


I am so glad I came to read the discussions taking place here; I found the book to be 'ok' and nothing special.. until I read some of the comments, which threw up a few ideas to contemplate.

I agree - it was after reading everyone's comments here that I really saw the book from additional perspectives and appreciated it more. I personally think the second story is "true" but I like the first one and will stick with that one. Animals are expected to act like animals. The thought of humans acting like that is so repugnant that it is simply easier to believe in the first story - psychological protection, if you will.

Thank you, Sophie, for an explanation of why the author would have intended for the first story to be the true one but invented a second story anyway. I'm of the camp that believes the second story is meant to be the true one, but I recognize there are other ways of interpreting it. I just haven't been able to figure out how it could be that the author meant for the first story to be correct. Now I have an answer!

Sophie wrote: "Curiously I thought the first story was true (not that it was plausible or believable; just that this was the story - it is a book of fiction after all!) and the second was to appease the "non-believers" - the reporters who refused to believe in what actually happened. Since believing in a boy living with a tiger and other such fantastical events would be impossible.. without some sort of leap of faith, so to speak. Something the logically minded could simply not accept; there had to be an alternative - which was the second story."

Yes! Exactly how I felt!!! :)

Katie ATX wrote: "Megan wrote: "Katie wrote: "I just finished Life of Pi as well. I was a bit disappointed in the end. They leave it open for the reader to decide which story is true, but its clear which is and its ..." The second story makes his plight all the more poignant . I'm glad it was told in a spiritual way; showed the beauty and strength of his spirit.

Cathy wrote: "I believe the Tiger story to be metaphoric and a coping mechanism. The author's imagination and sense of fantasy were so vivid he had me believing every word well into the book. The fantastical i..." Cathy, you have hit the nail on the head (for me anyway!). I agree with your coping mechanism comment; this story shows his strength of spirit. Because it's a fable I didn't look at it as a literal tale, but a story with a moral message. For me it wasn't really about religion, faith in God in the traditional sense etc., but more about faith in human endurance and the universe (in that it provides for those who trust it will - I guess the universe is my god). That he conveyed the story to us as a fable is really touching and makes, what we believe to be, the actual events more poignant - he finds it too distressing to relay what actually happened. It's a beautiful tale.

Hmmm, so many great thoughts about this book. I seriously had to make myself finish it, really didn't like it. I definately can see the tiger story as a coping mechanism, the only way to survive that much emotional angst being to dissassociate.

I see the taming of the tiger as Pi taming nature in order to survive. We'll never know which is the true story.

I kind of thought that the dual stories were a metaphor for belief in God - whether God exists or not, the bible is a pretty damn good story. Those who choose not to believe miss out on the better story.

God does not exists, but the bible is a pretty good story !

I too looked forward to reading this book and the first few chapters were truly enthralling. However, towards the middle and end the book sort of got lost in the Pacific Ocean somewhere. By the time I finished the book I was bitterly disappointed - I could have used this time to read any of the 1001 other books on this amazing group page on Goodreads..

Kathy wrote: "I just finished reading this book. It's so great to read all the comments on here to make more sense of the story.
I really enjoyed this book and did not question or hesitate in believing the sto..."

I'm not sure it is all an illusion. That decision is left up to each reader. I struggled with this decision but in the end, it had to be an illusion. I just can't see a Bengal tiger staying away from a human for 200 plus days while on a life boat in the middle of the Pacific. Never mind trying to feed that animal. What I really liked is how the author makes one think that this is a true story. This was truly a great read.

Hmm, I've just commented about this book on another thread but it's probably more relevant here - I have just begun Life of Pi after 3 years of having it on my bookshelf! Excited to read on.

A friend of mine gave me a copy of Life of Pi over a year ago. She was moving from NYC to Paris and couldn't take all her books with her, so she gave a lot of them to me. She could not believe that I had not read Life of Pi!!! And, I can't believe I haven't read it yet either!!

Every time I'm about to start reading it, something comes up -- either I'll win a book through the First Reads giveaways so I feel that I need to read it before Life of Pi so that I can review the book, or I'll see that a book club is reading a book I've been wanting to read, so I'll put Life of Pi on hold again so that I can participate in the group discussion of whatever book the book club is reading.

But it's good to see that there's a discussion on this great book here!!! Now this is inspiring me to just start reading it already!!

Amira wrote: "Hmm, I've just commented about this book on another thread but it's probably more relevant here - I have just begun Life of Pi after 3 years of having it on my bookshelf! Excite to read on."

Good book. Hope you enjoy it.

I just got finished with it a few days ago. I can see both points of view & the arguments for each being true. I got a kick out of it really. It was written with humor in the face of adversity, which I really appreciated. Personally, I like the tiger story best, the secondary story may have been the true one, & the one the investigators wanted to hear, but it really didn't matter to me. I appreciated the story for what it was, & I'm glad I read it. It sure made up for that hack Rushdie's Satanic Verses, which was a TRUE waste of a spot on the List.

Is this book a true story? Ha ha, just kidding...I saw someone ask that on another discussion of this book and thought it was hilarious - they thought it was non-fiction. Loved the ending - the best part of the book, in my opinion, although I loved the whole thing. Definitely a worthwhile read.

What I found really interesting is how the meerkat island part of the novel reminded me of Gulliver's Travels. And how some parts of Pi's survival in the raft reminded me of Robinson Crusoe. Did anyone else feel that way?

I think it had one of the most brilliant endings I have ever read. And I want to read it again at some point, to get a better feeling for the religious and faith aspects of the book. Quite a gem.

Although I can see where you are coming from with your reference to Gulliver's Travels I personally feel that the whole meerkat island passage could have been totally cut. For me it that rather muddled rather than added to the overall story but then that could just be me.

4evagreen wrote: "Although I can see where you are coming from with your reference to Gulliver's Travels I personally feel that the whole meerkat island passage could have been totally cut. For me it that rather mud..."

I agree, I never did get that part and no one has given me any really good explanation yet. I think the best one I've heard is that by this time Pi might have been a little out of his head and this was all a delusion from dehydration and starvation.

I like the vague ending. I think Linda is right: "which story do you believe" is a parallel with that and the idea of "which religion do you follow" or "which God do you believe in."

It is also an interesting twist to ”fable”: We don’t know if it is the version with humans or animals that’s true. I believe that it is the second version that is closest to the true.

As for the second version being true: It is all seen from Pi’s perspective: He wants the cook to be a mon-ster, to explain why he must be killed.

So really true in every detail: None of them.

I've just finished reading this for the second time and it's definitely one everybody should read at least once in their lifetime.

I've always been one for realistic, or totally made-up stories, but Life of Pi makes me reconsider. Although I reluctantly acknowledge the 'animal-free' version as the 'true' version, there's still a (rather large and vociferous) part of me that's like, "NO! IT'S THE OTHER ONE!!" Sometimes fiction just has to sacrifice realism and thank God for that.
Which version do you really want to believe? Or hear as a story?

Laura wrote: "What I found really interesting is how the meerkat island part of the novel reminded me of Gulliver's Travels. And how some parts of Pi's survival in the raft reminded me of Robinson Crusoe. Did a..."

I agree with the island feeling like Gulliver's Travels.

4evagreen wrote: "Although I can see where you are coming from with your reference to Gulliver's Travels I personally feel that the whole meerkat island passage could have been totally cut. For me it that rather mud..."

I had a feeling it was there to show that Pi was really starting to feel the effects starvation/dehydration which caused him to start hallucinating. But, I agree, that it didn't really do much to move the plot foward.

Tej wrote: "4evagreen wrote: "Although I can see where you are coming from with your reference to Gulliver's Travels I personally feel that the whole meerkat island passage could have been totally cut. For me ..."

Doh! Someone else already said that!

I think I'm one of the few people that did not enjoy this book. I can't even really put my finger on why - it just drove me crazy when it wasn't boring me. I'm glad so many other people got something out of it though.

Loved this book! I am planning on reading another Yann Martel although the rest of books don't have the best reviews, I've been considering The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios based on description and reviews, although I'm not sure if a full novel would be better- advice?

Read this and didn't fully appreciate it until I was finished and I realised that this was a phenomenal book, that the author wrote the book containing one boy, a tiger and some other animals that you will forget because truly the relationship between the tiger and the boy is what really stays with you. Great read.

yes it is a very good novel. It's a shame that they're releasing a film as most people will only watch that and I'm sure that, in spite of a truly great director, it will not match the depth the book goes to.