Life of Pi

Author: Yann Martel
ISBN-13: 9780857865533
Publisher: Cannongate
Pages: 319
Binding: Paperback
Rating: 3.5/5
Copy Source: Random House India


Long before the (apparently) brilliant film was made, long before everyone was talking about Yann Martel like he was their friend from next door, my then boyfriend had recommended I read 'Life of Pi'. Of course, I didn't. But when the Universe brought me a recommendation this second time around, I decided to. And WHAT.A.BOOK! Yann Martel owns you with his dazzling writing through the 319 odd pages of the book with effortless, photographic writing, making the reading of this book no less of an experience than watching a 3D film on a 70mm screen.

'Life of Pi' is a wonderful, whimsical story about Piscine Molitor Patel - 'known to all as Pi Patel' - and his journey across the Pacific on a lifeboat with a tiger! The 16-year-old protagonist thinks he is the sole survivor of a sunken ship, until he finds himself aboard with four animals from his father's zoo - a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan and Richard Parker, the Royal Bengal Tiger. The other three animals get eaten and Pi is left alone on the lifeboat with the tiger. The story proceeds to tell us how he survives the endless Pacific, keeping the tiger and his sanity alive for more than 200 days. Teetering of the edge of life and death, Pi learns the many secrets of animal life, in a bid to survive among them.

Parable-like, 'The Pacific' is the second and the largest section of the book that talk about Pi's life at sea. It is here that the meat (and a lot of astounding special effects in case of the movie) of the story lies. However, my personal favourite is the first part of the book, which is called 'Toronto and Pondicherry'. This part is about the teenager's life before the wreckage, and his finding a love for God in all religions. Martel slips in simple, insightful messages about harmony in religions, about finding divine comfort in small places and things like prayer rugs or church bells or incense sticks. This part also talks about the nature of animals, within and outside of zoos, and the author's thorough research throws delightful little tidbits of information your way, without ever preaching.

The third and last part of the story 'Mexico' is when Pi washes aboard the Mexican town of Tomatlan, parts ways with Richard Parker and returns to human habitation. The most striking part of this section is Pi's retelling of his story to two Japanese officers, who refuse to believe that Pi lived and survived with wild animals on board. Martel, through Pi, substitutes the animals with human characters and recounts his tale, leaving the reader wondering if the story was a parable all along.

'Life of Pi' is a fantastic book, and one page after another, you realise why the work won the Booker, so much acclamation, and a place in cinematic history. Readers of all kinds and ages will find this book appealing for its simplicity, brilliance and unforgettable story. It is definitely going into my 'ask-son-to-read' list of books.

The White Tiger - Arvind Adiga

AUTHOR -Arvind Adiga, is an Indian writer and journalist. His Debut Novel, The White Tiger, won the 2008 Man Booker Prize.


BEST-SELLERS -

* The White Tiger: A Novel: Atlantic Books, Ltd (UK), Free Press (US), 2008

*Last Man in Tower: Fourth Estate (IND), 2011


SYNOPSIS – In the most amusing manner of narration to the chinese premier from an anonymous speaker,this book unfolds its satirical story of irony present in Indian society by highlighting the day today instances to point out gap between master and servant class.

Balram, the protagonist, lived in the village of Laxmangarh, Bihar, a community deep in the "Darkness" of rural India. The son of a rickshaw puller; his family is too poor for him to be able to finish school. Despite being clever and being promised a scholarship, Balram instead is forced to break coals and wipe tables in a tea shop. After learning how to drive, Balram gets his break when a rich man from his village hires him as a chauffeur for his son, Ashok, who lives in the city of New Delhi, Having recently returned from a stint in America, Ashok is conflicted by the corruption and harshness of life in India, and has to deal with his family’s unhappiness with his foreign marriage to his current wife, a member of a different caste.

The city from behind the steering wheel of his honda city car is a revelation for Balram. As he drives his master and his wife to shopping malls and call centers, Balram becomes increasingly aware of immense wealth and opportunity all around him, and the contrast between the master and servant classes. Through these experiences, Balram becomes increasingly worldly and ambitious.

The book's title, The White Tiger, is the protagonist Balram's nickname, which he earns by being deemed the smartest boy in his village by an education inspector. With a charisma as undeniable as it is unexpected, Balram teaches us that religion doesn't create virtue, and money doesn't solve every problem -- but decency can still be found in a corrupt world, and you can get what you want out of life if you eavesdrop on the right conversations.

QUOTES -

"Please understand Your Excellency, that India is two countries in one: an India of light and an India of darkness. The ocean brings light to my country. Every place on the map of India near the ocean is well off. But the river brings darkness to India-the black river."

"To break the law of his land-to turn bad news into good news- is the entrepreneur prerogative."

"I don't keep a cell phone, for obvious reasons- they corrode a man brain,shrink his balls and dry up his semen as all of us know."

"To sum up-in the old days there were one thousand castes and destinies in India. These days, there are just two castes: Men with big bellies, and men with small bellies. And only two destinies: eat or get eaten up."

"These are three main diseases in this country: cholera, typhoid and election fever. The last one is the worst; it makes people talk and talk about things that they have no say in."





PULKIT SPEAKS -


story of coruscating wit, blistering suspense, and questionable morality, told by the most volatile, captivating, and utterly inimitable narration

It is a very different kind of novel, it added a quite illuminating 21st-century perspective to my emerging image of country. Is it accurate? Hard to decide. Its unreliable narrator, the White Tiger of the title, a poor village boy, servant, driver, murderer, and now self-made entrepreneur in the boom city of Bangalore, certainly has a nasty story to tell, which he does in a series of unsolicited letters of advice to the visiting Chinese prime minister Jiabao.

I almost came to like or at least respect him for his honesty and decency within all that even greater depravity surrounding him. Although our country has a democracy, this book bravely shows by the media of a tight face pace thriller, how our culture apparently has become the one where lower class is pushed off in a chain of continual servitude at every sphere of their life no matter what changes occur otherwise.

This book doesn't shove itself in your face- but it politely intrudes into your life and leads you through the dark thought process of a man desperate to break away from himself and his fate. You justify his actions as he justifies them; you can't help but celebrate his victories and root for him to have courage. It's dark, it's hilarious, it's real and it's just so terribly satisfying.

I might actually read it again and I never read a book twice; this might be the first time I want to revisit a character just because he was so strangely likable and cunning and hilarious without directly trying to be. You talk of two cynics and how they enjoy each others hatred for the world, I guess that’s what it is between me and Balram.

I respect this young writer for pulling off this unflinching, brave book about India beyond the glossy brochures, the government doublespeak, and the common stereotypes repeated in the media. Not only that, I also found it a hell of a read. Miss it if you are too afraid to see the life beyond your world of twitter,M tv and facebook, or if you lack the sense of humor that misery gives to someone’s life. A must must recommendation to everyone, one of the best read books of all time on my charts.


RATING – 4.9/5.

PRICE - Rs 540.

Hardcover edition

HarperCollins Publications

purchased from Landmark bookstore,@ wave mall, Lucknow


PS – Gifted to me by my elder brother, Piyush Tiwari. Photo credit - Me, from my Nokia 5130 2Mp cam.