Life of Pi

Deluxe Illustrated Edition

by Yann Martel, Tomislav Torjanac

No cover — Yann Martel, Tomislav Torjanac: Life of Pi (2007, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company)

336 pages

English language

Published Nov. 19, 2007 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

ISBN:: 978-0-15-603581-1

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(25 reviews)

After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, one solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild, blue Pacific. The only survivors from the wreck are a sixteen-year-old boy named Pi, a hyena, a zebra (with a broken leg), a female orang-utan… and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger. The scene is set for one of the most extraordinary works of fiction in recent years.

58 editions

technicat@bookwyrm.social reviewed Life of Pi by Yann Martel

a fun-philosophical read

4 stars

I saw the movie first, and found it a visual feast, but I enjoyed the book a bit more. The lengthy first person narrative provides both a constant thread of humor and also an almost stream of consciousness philosophical musing. I read the critical reception in the wikipedia entry with the various philosophical messages attached to it (wikipedia calls it a "Canadian philosphical novel" which are three words I never thought I'd see together) but it is perhaps best enjoyed if you just read along and don't try to read too much into it.