Life of Pi (blog 1)

I choose to blog about Life Pi even though I'm not doing my report on it. I've already blogged on the book I've chosen, which is Pride and Prejudice. I have read this book before and really enjoyed it but never really had all to much to say about it. I hope that this doesn't turn out too badly...

This was the first time I actually read the author's note at the beginning. Let me just say that that little bit adds quite a lot of perspective to the novel. This one quote sets up the telling of the entire novel and is very important to the book as a whole. "Then the elderly man said, 'I have a story that will make you believe in God.'" (page 10). This little bit pretty much lays out the rest of the book for you. On the simpler side you can see it as it is referring to Pi's story and how one should approach it. It says that this story isn't a random series of incredible events but something on a grander scale. Reading this with out that the only big question that came to mind was whether or not Richard Parker was really there (that's still pretty unobservant on my part though). This can also be seen as showing the entire book's reason for being written.

I find it interesting that after everything that happens Pi chooses to major in two things. "My majors were religious studies and zoology. My fourth-year thesis for religious studies concerned certain aspects of the cosmogony theory of Isaac Luria, the great sixteenth century Kabbalist from Safed. My zoology thesis was a functional analysis of the thyroid gland of the three-toed sloth. I chose the sloth because its demeanour-calm, quiet, and introspective- did something to soothe my shattered self." (page 14). He chooses to major in the two things that get him through his time at sea. Both are things that have been constant throughout his life both on the life boat and during his childhood. He has been living with zoos and religion for his entire life. I think that these are the two places (given the overall theme of the book) where he finds God. "...and the three-toed sloth, such a beautiful example of the miracle of life, reminded me of God." (page 15). That kind of brings up another point, He mentions the miracle of life right next to God. To me this shows that he believes that life is God and to extend that, that life is the search for God. So keeping that in mind you could go back to the title Life of Pi and see right there that He's going to be talking about Pi's journey with God. The way he phrases it too, life of Pi instead of Pi's life or something kind of gives the idea that Pi and God are leveling as equals or something. That last bit might be a stretch but it's interesting to think about.

Looking back I can't see how I didn't realise that religion was as deeply involved as it is. I might as well have not known that Richard Parker was a tiger.