Life of Pi

Just finished reading Life of Pi by Yann Martel (2001) this morning. I recommend it. Essentially, it's the story of a teenage Indian boy who survives the Pacific Ocean in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. It focuses on religious themes, survival, human and animal behavior, and maturity. I was repeatedly impressed with the protagonist's wit and intelligence--he's completely believable and incredibly clever. Several favorite parts: the scene where the pandit, imam, and priest all confront the protagonist about being a Hindu, Muslim, and Christian all at the same time; the carnivorous island chapter; the written transcript of the dialogue between the protagonist and the sunken ship's company representatives; and the breaking up of the book into 100 chapters (this significance is realized about 3/4 of the way through the book).

I'm not usually fond of author's notes preceding a novel, but Martel's proved to be particularly insightful, especially for those who struggle with creating a valid piece of fiction. My favorite part of his revelation is that he took one of his floundering novels and mailed it to a false address with an equally false return address, essentially sending it to post office heaven. Even for the pros, if one element is missing from the story--even if the plot, theme, descriptions, everything else is good--it won't work. Somehow there's comfort in knowing that you're not the only one who struggles with a good final product. Now, if I could just complete a story to even be able to evaluate it along such lines...