Life of Pi by Yann Martel - discuss - may contain spoilers

[ResonantAleph]

But I must say, how many others out there are so well versed with the 3 teachings as you are?

Very few, which is precisely my point. I get the feeling he wrote this book to accommodate a reader with only a vague, if not entirely superficial, understanding of religion in general. I'm not necessarily saying you have this level of understanding, only that by drastically simplifying the three preeminent bodies of faith in our world, even if only in the interest of the understanding, and, therefore, inclusion of the greatest number of readers, Martel risks misrepresenting all three of the world's most populous religions in one fell swoop.

[IanBookMan]

I think I understand what you're saying, if Martel is writting about the religions he shouldn't have simplfied for the general population but stay true to message and not leave room for any misrepresentation.

After only reading your reply I made the connection of PI to many books/movies etc I felt were not up to par, due to the "dumbing" (for lack of better word) down of the subject matter that I knew about.

On one side, I think Martel's audience for the most part would have enjoyed it better had he maybe not been so vague.

But then I think about my neice who was in grade 7 and this book was a recommended reading for her class, not to take anything away from the grade 7 population, but do you think this book would have been suitable reading for her had Martel not simplified?

Thus allowing her and others to experience this book.

[ResonantAleph]

But then I think about my neice who was in grade 7 and this book was a recommended reading for her class, not to take anything away from the grade 7 population, but do you think this book would have been suitable reading for her had Martel not simplified?

No, but so be it. The appropriate response by an author to a body of readers who have only rudimentary understanding of subject matter is not to dumb it down, but to either educate the reader or amend the story. In reference to your last statement:

Thus allowing her and others to experience this book.

Sure, she and others enjoyed this book. But one honestly has to ask if the few days of enjoyment derived from this book are really worth risking a skewed perspective of religion. You have to understand, it's not just a matter of "dumbing down" religion, by depicting what seems to be a perfect tripartite faith practiced by Pi, Yann fails to depict the incompatibilities of these three faiths. They are not, as is hinted at in the book, just three different ways of getting to the same place. They are fundamentally, ideologically different bodies of belief which, when they're not openly contradicting each other, paint vastly different portraits of faith and what it is to be faithful. It would be truly unfortunate if your niece were unable to enjoy this book, it has a truly unique and entertaining plot. But, especially at her impressionable age, finding something else to read has to be preferable to exposing seventh-graders to a simplistic, cookie cutter depiction of religion and the religious.

[IanBookMan]

"But, especially at her impressionable age, finding something else to read has to be preferable to exposing seventh-graders to a simplistic, cookie cutter depiction of religion and the religious."

Maybe i missed your point, but I was thinking about this, don't you think it's better for kids/teens to be exposed to books like this that might lead them to search out more answers?

Perhaps that may be asking alot, but trying to be optimistic (using my own history of reading when I was that age) when I read something that interested me, I would try to find out more about it through other sources.
Now I admit, I'm pretty much guilty of not doing that with PI but I like to think the younger generation will follow through with learning more.

BTW Sorry for the late reply.

[ResonantAleph]

If I may, I would like to answer your question with another question. Could you honestly imagine a kid/teen developing an interest in and exploring the concept of religion due to their exposure to it while reading this book? What garners an interest in the reader of a book is open-endedness. If Life of Pi had only briefly mentioned religion, that is, only touched on it long enough to say it had an influence on Pi, it may have elicited interest to a younger reader. As it is, however, the topic is addressed thoroughly, but with a simple minded perspective. Furthermore, in the event, however unlikely, that this book caused a reader to more closely examine religion, they would find that anyone with even a passingly stable understanding of these three faiths would see their utter incompatibility, thus causing them to lose interest in or think less of the quality of the book, and it seems rather short-sided on the author's part to write a book in which enjoyment of the work and thorough understanding of the subject matter are mutually exclusive.

[Biblioklept]

To be blunt but I don't think your average teen would see the correlation to religion in this book. To them it would just be the trappings of a mind gone mad at seas from depraviation and trauma.

[IanBookMan]

welcome to the party Biblioklept!

aww ResonantAleph did you have to use the word "honestly" in your question?
Not giving me much room to work with now

To answer you honestly, no, I can't see the "typical" teen using this book to explore religion(s) further, there are books that will, but this isn't one of them.
Put it this way, I'm not a teen, havent been for a decade now, but I'm still learning and after reading this book I looked further into actual shipwreck survival stories, the thought of closer examination of religion didn't even cross my mind until this discussion.

So as I pretty much concede this portion of the discussion, there is some aspects that could save my argument.
#1 "typical teen", I don't know your age, but what triggered you to explore the knowledge of multiple religions?
#2 sometimes the most insignificant/irrelevent reference can lead to much larger accomplishments.

Just saying, there's a chance that someone somewhere will maybe inadvertantly use this book as a springboard to higher learning.

Now with that being said - you never really made it clear if you enjoyed the book or not.
You used annoyed, but that doesn't have to mean you disliked it.

[Sandy_124]

I enjoyed the book, but I can't say it was dramatically significant.

I felt it started out rather boring, but really caught my interest when the three religious representatives began arguing. But then the book shifted abruptly, it has a tendency to do that several times as if the whole thing wasn't thought out completely as a whole. You seem to start out reading one book about this boy who doesn't see a difference in religions, then it becomes a book on animals and then a survival guide and finally a strange cross between a science fiction story and a metaphysical premise.

I did like learning about animals the defense of zoos and I liked seeing how the author made a story out of a kid on a boat with a tiger, but I can't say that it moved me or that I would ever want to read it again, on the other hand it is definitely better than a lot of stuff I have read, yes I'm looking at you Pulitzer prize winning "The Road."

[Biblioklept]

God, That book was abyssmally depressing.

[Sandy_124]

The Road? or Pi?

[Biblioklept]

The Road.

[Sandy_124]

*Nods emphatically*

But it wasn't just the story. That book was bad in every way I think a book could be bad, right down to the cover design. The lack of punctuation, the stiff prose, that would make Hemingway chuckle and say "Dude, lighten up. Try using an adjective once in a while." The lack of characterization, description, yada, yada, yada.

I've read probably close to a thousand books I guess, and that one takes the prize as the very worst. You know sometimes I can look at a book and think how it might be made better, but not with that one.

What gets me is that it won a Pulitzer! Moreover, it is the first "fantasy" ever to win one. If I didn't know that when I read it, I would have felt really bad for the guy who wrote it thinking how badly that book would tank. It is like it was written by a really depressed, talentless, sixteen year old Goth. How on Earth did that get published?

*blink*

I'm ranting aren't I? Sorry. I usually like most all the books I read. I'm really a pretty easy person to please, but geez!

[Biblioklept]

It was a book for my book club and I couldn't even finish it.
I do see the reason for the format of his writing. Narrated in a post-apocalyptic world where punctuation is....irrelevant? I found the bleak stiff writing to speak for the bleak surroundings but...damn...it was just no frigging fun at all. It was a chore to read.

[Sandy_124]

I do see the reason for the format of his writing. Narrated in a post-apocalyptic world where punctuation is....irrelevant?

Really? Did it say that? That's wild! I clearly missed that, which is strange since it's not like there was so much to it that it could have hidden from me. Do you remember where it was? I really need to look that up. It is really bizarre, but at least it is a reason.

I'm also a little curious about the stiff = bleak. I am assuming in this case it is just the impression it gave you, not something actually in the book. Can you explain why you relate the prose in the book to bleakness? I only ask because it is an interesting idea, I'm just not sure how you came to that conclusion. I did not get bleak, I just got the impression he can't write very well, or at least isn't very familiar with the English language. Do you know if this was originally written in another language and just translated badly. That would explain a lot.

I thought Steinbeck did a great job of depicting a bleak, depressing, arid landscape of the depression era, but he did so by describing it, not by not describing it. Do you really think it was intentional?

[Biblioklept]

It didn't say that in the book. It was mentioned in a book club discussion guide for the novel.
I did take his stiff writing to be a reference to the bleakness of his surroundings as his other novels are not like that. Cormac is an english speaker born in Rhode Island in the 30's. He was a bit of an odd duck.
I dunno, The Road just kind of turned me off of him for a bit but I do want to read No Country For Old Men before I finally break down and see the movie.