The novel, Life of Pi, is about a boy named Piscine (with the preferred nickname of Pi) and his overseas adventure with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. He and his family decide to move from India to Canada and travel through the Pacific Ocean, but their journey does not end where it is expected to. A sea storm causes their boat to sink while Pi is on deck, separated from his family. He is then put into a life vest, thrown off the side of the boat onto a lifeboat, and saved from drowning on the sinking vessel along with his mother, father, and brother. On the lifeboat, he has to fend off a Bengal tiger, a hyena, and an orangutan to survive. This Pondicherry boy’s boat ride to safety was no ordinary journey. This fiction describes Pi’s unexpected and unbelievable trip through the middle of the Pacific Ocean and his encounters with many unknown and exotic creatures in the sea as well as on islands with his temporary companion, Richard Parker.

The author of this book, Yann Martel did a splendid job writing this story. It was very rich and strong, and the description he gives provides his readers with a very vivid visualization of what is going on in the story. The book starts very slowly and the main part of the story does not begin until a third of a way through the book. I found it to be a bit wordy at some parts. He spends too much time describing aspects of the story that do not need too much explaining. Although the description enhances his readers’ visualizations, too much of a good thing is bad.

Life of Pi is a story based on a children’s story called The Old Man and the Sea. Martel uses a very interesting and clever use of symbolism to compliment the original children’s story. The story of Pi with the animals is actually a translated story of Pi as the tiger, the cook on the boat as the hyena, and his own mother as the orangutan. Using the animals instead symbolized the caring, passionate, and savage of humans. It showed that we can be caring and frightened, but also savage given the situation.

Over all, this novel was a good read. Yann Martel managed to lend more to a story that is already very heavy and also popular. His addition to the story has so much creativity and dexterity. There are so many hidden meanings intertwined into the story of animals and the story with humans. It is up to the reader to how it is all interpreted. This novel obtains multiple different symbols and no matter how much is realized by the reader, the story will always be rich.

I would suggest this novel to almost anybody; mostly to avid readers who don’t mind waiting a little while to get to the climax of the story. Life of Pi has a wide audience. Pre-teens can read it and enjoy it just as much as a senior citizen would. I highly recommend this novel.