The Best/Worst Things About My Book

I'm disappointed to announce that I'm still reading "The Life of Pi". I usually finish a book in a week or two, but I have no motivation to finish this book. Hopefully, I will finish it by the next time I blog.

The Best Things

The best things about "The Life of Pi"??? Honestly, I don't know where to start...

1. Interesting Plot Premise

Being stranded of a lifeboat with a tiger, hyena, zebra, and orangutan, is not something we think about. Props to Yann Martel for a fresh, exciting, ORIGINAL idea. Sometimes I feel like books are copies off each other. Especially movies. Nowadays, all Hollywood comes out with are remakes of other movies. Like, really? Can you not think of a new idea?

2. Literary Techniques

This is something that may not excite people too much, but we need to stop for a moment and praise Martel for all the different elements he includes in  "The Life of Pi". Martel does an amazing job of painting a picture in the reader's head. Here are some of my favorites;

"Each of his claws as sharp as a knife. And he couldn't pop through it like a jack in a box." (Martel 135)
"The lifeboat held on to the surface of water like fingers gripping the edge of the cliff" (Martel 201)

The Worst Things

1. Lengthy Paragraphs

I know I mentioned this in my last post, but I hate reading long paragraphs!!! There is little to zero dialogue because Pi is the only human on the lifeboat. This means very long paragraphs... I would give you an example, but I don't want to type that much. Let's be honest here. If I did, 90% of you wouldn't read it.

2. Boring

The only thing propelling me to read on is to learn how Pi survives. Otherwise, I would abandon this book.


I hope to give you my overall thoughts on the book by the next time I blog!

BORED with "Life of Pi"

So, I'm kinda bored with "Life of Pi". I fell asleep reading it last night and I NEVER fall asleep while reading a book.

It's not that "Life of Pi"is a bad book. It's not. It is a very well written book. The premise of the book (A boy stranded on a life boat with deadly animals) is very interesting and original. But, since Pi is the only human on the boat there is no dialogue, which means very lengthy paragraphs.  Let's be honest. Whose mind doesn't wander while reading lengthy paragraphs?

I am not going to abandon this book. Yes, it might be boring, but I want to know how Pi gets off the boat alive. (Assuming that this book is cliche and the main character lives)

Pi, in a way, is a very relatable character. In another way, he's not. The situation that Pi is in is DEFINITELY NOT relatable. How many can say that we were stranded on a life boat with a hyena, zebra, orangutan, and a tiger? Pi is also invested in three very different religions. Most of us are only devoted to one or two if any.

I can relate to Pi because he is overshadow by his older brother. I have two older brothers and we are constantly competing to be better than each other. Pi is also trying to prove himself to his parents. Which I personally can't relate to, but I know other people who can.

I really hope this book can surprise me and make me more engaged!

Life of Pi

A couple days ago, I started a book called, "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel. I got this book a long time ago, but I never got around to reading it. I wanted to see the movie based on this book, but I decided it would be better to read the book first.

The "Life of Pi" is about the of a boy name Pi and his life in India. Things suddenly change when Pi and his family move to Canada. Pi's journey on a ship to Canada is not smooth sailing.

I predicted that the book would start off more intriguing and compelling based off the commercials for the movie. Instead, the book started off very slow. First you learn about what the main character is currently doing. You mostly learn about Piscine's (aka Pi) college studies in zoology and theology. Then, people starts pointing at him whispering, "Is that the guy?" I instantly become more intrigued to read on about how random people on the street knew him. Pi then turns away from them and keeps to himself. This gives me the impression that something terrible happen to him, so now Pi had built walls around himself. At this point in the book, you don't really know a lot about Pi or where the setting takes place.

I began to learn more about Pi, when Yann Martel then goes on to tell the readers about Pi's childhood.  Pi grew up in India in the mid-1970s. Pi's father owned a zoo. They were neither rich or poor.  I now understand why Pi's college studies revolve around zoology. He didn't have many friends, so he was constantly taking care of the animals. One of the reasons why Pi didn't have a lot of friends was because he was devoted to three religions; Christianity, Muslim, and Hindu. Pi closed himself off from his family because his dad was always saying, "Why can't Pi be more like his brother Ravi?" This was a very boring start, but the reader needs to know Pi's background to understand why he is in the particular situation that he finds himself in at this point of the book.

To learn more about the author, Yann Mantel, click here.