Life of Pi - A Book Review

After a bout of non-fiction books finally laid eyes on Fiction. Here's a story about a story about a story. I circled around this book several times contemplating, re-contemplating over and over. Somehow some of the elements of the book did not sound quite compelling to pick up at the first instance. The word (??) Pi was the first distraction. Do I really want to read a book about 22/7?? Of course on reviewing the cover it sounded something else. It was then about a boy stranded in the ocean with a bunch of animals. Not really an animals guy. So it took at least 3 attempts to get to start reading this.

The rest is of course "Pi Story". The story line is simple - a boy gets marooned on a life boat with a bunch of animals in the middle of the pacific ocean. What happens before and after that is what makes the Life of Pi.

This book is unique in many ways. In spite of the fact that this is an out and out fiction with some story line taken from some other Mexican novel, the author gives a feel of almost an autobiography. If I did not read about the author it would've been hard to believe that this was written by a Canadian. It simply reflects a typical South Indian life with a good play of English. The part that impressed me most was the reference to "Arun Ice Cream". It just took me back to the days. Guess that really shows the amount of research the author had put in to understand the culture of the land.

Of course as I proceed further I realize that this book is not for everybody. Especially not for those who are vegetarian at heart (not necessarily by diet). So you are sufficiently warned!! It has a very funny ending. The humour and writing style is just - different. I would rather not reveal the suspense.

2 people I spoke about this have already started reading and 1 has also finished it. Reviews have been quite positive so far.

Happy Reading
C