A phenomenal book, one of the best books I'd read in a long time. I could not put it down.

I didn't make that connection at first...but i can totally see it now! Thanks anon2001 for ur enlightening perspective!

I think the uncertainity of what happened to Pi, is suppose to mimic the uncertainty about religion.

Its a great book. Stick with it till the end!

yeah paradise....that's what i think too...i think he was delirious at that point in the journey...also it seemed that the castaway had many of the same traits pi did...he was blind etc (at that point in the journey)..

i'm reading "Reading Lolita in Tehran" next...anybody read it? or should i start with "Kite Runner"?

The Kite Runner is excellent!

I don't think Pi ran into another castaway. I think he imagined the whole thing...its kind of confusing...what do u think?

So did Pi really run into another castaway on his trip? I'm a lil lost??

The prose in "Life of Pi" is rich and engaging, but the plot doesn't flow as naturally as other books I'm currently reading e.g. "The Kite Runner."

Okay so now I'm at the half way point and feeling the same way as u--but I think i'm going to finish it. It definetly hasn't been what I expected (kinda got the same feelin when I was reading A.Roy's The God of Small Things--didnt' really get into it until the 1/2 way mark--but then after that couldn't put it down)

In response to Sidd100
Fear is not cognizant of truth or logic. Fear can breed ignorance which in turn can lead to prejudice and discrimination -
We are often told to "face our fears" .. I wonder why...

This is a great discussion book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Who do you think Richard Parker was? The tiger or Pi himself?

Ya'll are very cool...

Despite the best efforts of organized religions, Pi has true faith, without doubt or fear.
Pi sees fear as the great animal emotion - "...animals don't escape to somewhere, but from something." He also refers to "rank" as central to how animals lead their lives. Later, he says that "fear is life's only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life." At the beginning of the book, he compares zoos to religions and says "they both face the same problem - certain illusions plague them both." I wonder which illusions he's referring to...

We could all learn something from the way Nargis reads her books. Incidentally, I'm almost done with the book myself... The division between the secular and the spiritual starts from line one, chapter one: "My suffering left me sad and gloomy." That's clearly Buddhist...suffering is the inescapable and the inevitable in this world. The reconciliation between the sacred and secular begins in the last sentence of the first paragraph: "...did something to soothe my shattered self." The self is often times in texts referred through mirrors (He/She looked at herself in the mirror, etc.) According to one psychoanalyst, the very point of identifying one's self occurs when one identifies with the reflection seen in a mirror. In other words, it's one huge metaphor for self actualization, self perception, 'me', etc. I've got a good two thirds left, but I'll finish it this week if nothing else gets in the way. I'm reading it as a negotiation between the sacred and the secular so far; I'm curious to see if my read holds up. By the way, this is a great discussion...it actually pushed me to pull the book from my shelf. We should do this more often here.

i cant read what nargis said:(:(..can someone do me a favour and repost that?? jak

wow. what more can i say? nargis and rozaiba said it all...

cool analysis nargis...the great thing about the novel was the way it treated all religions with respect and equality and no one at the expense of another...there are many ways to get to the Truth, to make sense of it, and one is blessed if one can understand them all without prejudice...and Pi was blessed...i really respect Martel for having that sensitivity for equality...

(1) Assume faith and reason are diametrically opposed. The question we are debating: which story is true? This doubt is the very tug between faith and reason. Believe in God or believe in nature? Believe in Adam or believe in evolution? Pi asks us to believe in both arguing they are inextricably interlinked. Pi majors in both science (zoology) and religion (theology). Pi observes his life in scientific terms when survival calls but argues he could not survive had he no faith. Scientifically, he could not live with a tiger on an ocean for almost a year. Via faith, anything is possible.
(2) The most obvious analogy is Pi adrift on the ocean with a boat full of animals the same way Noah sailed in his Ark. Both men, peace loving people, good people, without wish to commit sin, are found to lose everything for the unknowable. Why are they being punished? Why is God testing them? They sail for an endless period of time and yet they survive on the faith that their Creator will watch over them. And He does.
(3) The uninhabitable island may be representative of Mecca in the early days of the Prophet where the city was his home, housed his family and sustained all his needs. He lived peaceably in co-existence with his neighbors. It is only after he receives enlightenment (female infanticide is wrong, idolatry is wrong, etc.) in his cave that he becomes a threat and his life is under attack. Same town, same people, same practices, but the threat is just realized, the wrongs are just verbalized. Mecca's harsh environment could sustain Muslims no longer. Similarly, Pi admits he could have lived on this island forever. Prompted by his own curiosity he beds up in the branches and is clued in to daily events around his with new understanding. He is forced to go after realizing the murderous dangers that surrounded him. He could have stayed - ignoring what he saw as long as he slept in his boat at night, but to do that would be to deny a revelation. Once a reality is uncovered, a wrong is revealed, one is obligated to take action. That is what a man of faith would do.
(4) The three religious figures could be representative of the three wise men, coming to see Baby Jesus (Pi) who is with his parents at the time. His parents are perplexed by the attention given to their son but are simple people. Just as Jesus brings a new faith, Pi acts similarly and tries to create a faith of his own encompassing the good from different religions.
(5) The three animals on the boat could allude to Hindu trinity: Brahma is the Creator, Vishnu is the Preserver and Shiva is the Destroyer. Brahma creates the human race by making a goddess out of himself. This could symbolize the female orangutan. She is an animal but exhibits human-like characteristics. She has children she seems to miss, seasickness, and "pride." She harbors all the components of earth-life. Symbolically the Zebra (Vishnu) sustains the Hyena (Shiva) which eats everything in sight. Eventually all are destroyed.
(6) Brahma can also represent the ocean, there is a Hindu parable that relates to this. Creation is everywhere, God is everywhere. Hence Pi prays not knowing where Mecca is and Pi speaks to the sky claiming it is "God's ear."

Well, I didn't LOVE the book. It was kind of slow-paced. But I would like to hear from other readers, particularly Sk1977 and Nargis, regarding their insight into the "hidden" religious aspects of the book.

Woh Nargis, well explained! personally like the story about the animals! It's a well written book! Paradise hope it was worth it!