Reading a book is a gamble. You bet your time, patience, and interest against all odds, hoping in return that the author gives you what you're looking for--good storytelling. The majority of us readers have fallen into the trap of investing our precious time in dull, forgettable books, practically selling our souls to hackneyed plot twists just to feel some sort of accomplishment by the end of the book. The mediocrity of it all becomes tiresome and discouraging to those that ache to find the next classic.
One book is worth the gamble. A rarity in the literary doldrums, The Life of Pi written by Yann Martel, truly exhibits exceptional storytelling. Raw and zesty, Yann Martel's writing invests in the passions of the youth, the religions of the world, and the instincts of the animal realm to intrigue readers. He sought not to write a book that would be simply read once and then tossed to rot on a dusty bookshelf, but he sought to write a book that would perplex the reader and badger them to pick the book up again and read it a second time; in order for one to fully engage in the text, one must maneuver through the book the first time with child-like naivete then follow up with deep meditation. One passage in the text caught my attention, because it demonstrates Martel's ability to captivate readers with the absurd:
"All living things contain a measure of madness that moves them in strange, sometimes inexplicable ways. This madness can be saving; it is part and parcel of the ability to adapt. Without it, no species would survive" (Martel 51).
The Life of Pi is arguably one of the most interesting melange of concepts and ideas thrusted into just a mere novel. It touches not only on familial relationships, religious conflict, atheism, corruptive politics, animal rights, evolution, adaptation and human loss but also the historical importance of a great story; the idea that a great story is one that is absurd, implausible and unforeseeable, but yet, through the ages, is accepted by society. Even the title The Life of Pi suggests that the main character's story is infinite in nature--much like the timelessness of classic literature. All in all, Martel has written something that is not limited to our generation but to the generations to come.
I remember when you e-mailed me this summer about changing your registration to AP and you said that you had already read this novel and one other and that it had changed your life. I thought that a fascinating statement to make, so I was very interested to read this blog and see what that novel has meant to you. I like the way you see so many different levels to the novel--maybe that's the one you should develop in more detail for the upcoming paper.
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