# The Life of Pi **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-of-pi/641214 "2012-11-16T17:08:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-of-pi/641214/1 "2012-11-16T17:08:14Z")
I did a quick search and nothing turned up for this. Am I the only one looking forward to the movie? I am reading the book for the first time right now, almost finished with it. I am really enjoying it, but at the same time I am struggling to understand parts. I will definitely be reading it again, probably right after seeing the movie next week. Anyone want to talk about Pi & Richard Parker and the deeper meanings? ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-of-pi/641214/2 "2012-11-16T17:47:31Z")
I enjoyed the book but am a bit skeptical from the movie trailers I saw. You might want to avoid too much discussion of the book until you finish it, btw! ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-of-pi/641214/3 "2012-11-16T18:14:31Z")
Yeah… **Papsett** , you should avoid reading/discussing anything until you’ve read the full book. Actually, based on your description of how you handled seeing Brokeback Mountain in the theater (unless you were just being melodramatic), you may want to just avoid the book and film all together. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-of-pi/641214/4 "2012-11-16T18:59:51Z")
I would love to discuss the book - I am very very skeptical about the film (anyone who has finished the book surely knows why). In the ‘trailers’ they keep calling it a ‘beloved’ book - in my book group I think I was the only one who really liked it. Also the main character in the movie previews sounds like Raj from “The Big Bang Theory”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-of-pi/641214/5 "2012-11-16T19:22:26Z")
> [@well\_he\_s\_back](#): > > In the ‘trailers’ they keep calling it a ‘beloved’ book - in my book group I think I was the only one who really liked it. I haven’t read it, but my impression of its reputation is that it is a highly regarded book. It’s one of those books I’ve been meaning to read for years and have just not gotten around to doing yet. ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-of-pi/641214/6 "2012-11-16T19:23:34Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Yeah… **Papsett** , you should avoid reading/discussing anything until you’ve read the full book. I agree entirely with this… enough said. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-of-pi/641214/7 "2012-11-16T20:05:49Z")
pulykamell - I do hope you get around to reading the book! “Life of Pi” is one of my favorite newer books. It’s a book that makes you want to discuss it with someone. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-of-pi/641214/8 "2012-11-16T20:14:29Z")
I too loved the book. The first third is a bit of a slog, but once you get through that part it’s hard to put down. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-of-pi/641214/9 "2012-11-16T20:44:22Z")
_Life of Pi_ is on my nightstand to read as soon as I finish Martin’s _Dance of Dragons_. Should I avoid the movie until I’ve read the book? Or will the book still be as enjoyable if I’ve seen the movie first? Will experiencing one first ruin the other or complement it? I know it might be hard to speculate since the movie hasn’t been released yet. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-of-pi/641214/10 "2012-11-16T20:52:39Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > _Life of Pi_ is on my nightstand to read as soon as I finish Martin’s _Dance of Dragons_. Should I avoid the movie until I’ve read the book? Or will the book still be as enjoyable if I’ve seen the movie first? Will experiencing one first ruin the other or complement it? > > I know it might be hard to speculate since the movie hasn’t been released yet. Yeah, impossible to say until the movie’s out. I don’t think reading the book will ruin the movie but I think it’s possible the movie will ruin the book. There are some surprises that will no longer be surprises, of course, but as someone who’s read the book it doesn’t make me want to see the movie any less. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-of-pi/641214/11 "2012-11-16T21:08:18Z")
Yeah, looking forward. I haven’t read the book but judging from the trailers, it looks like ‘Black Beauty’ only except this time with a tiger! Who the hell doesn’t want to see that? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-of-pi/641214/12 "2012-11-16T21:24:33Z")
Uh - if they turn it into ‘Black Beauty with a tiger’ it will be the worst movie desecration of a book this side of Ron Howard’s attack on the Grinch. no no no no. It’s a thoughtful book, philosophical book, esp about religion. It has an unreliable narrator. I’ll say no more, but I really really am skeptical about the movie. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-of-pi/641214/13 "2012-11-16T21:29:53Z")
The Charlie Rose show spent 40 minutes or so talking to the director and actors, and showing clips, a couple days ago. You can watch it here: [http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/12655](http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/12655) ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-of-pi/641214/14 "2012-11-16T21:48:26Z")
“…and so it goes with God.” ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-of-pi/641214/15 "2012-11-17T00:23:26Z")
It’s not _Black Beauty_. It is at least in terms of the title and the bones of the story, inspired by _The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket_. Poe’s story has a sailor named Richard Parker who ends up casting lots with the crew for who they’re going to kill and eat. Mentioned in Martel’s book is the weird real-life occurrence of an almost identical situation involving a cabin boy named Richard Parker, which occurred long after _Pym_ was written. That actually did happen. Though if I recall rightly Martel continues to blur the line of fiction and reality by never acknowledging the story of Pym, or if he did, he does not say that Pym was a work of fiction. (It also reportedly may take some cues from a Brazilian book about a man stuck on a boat with a jaguar; actually the similarity may end at that.) I liked the book well enough and I’m hoping from what I’ve seen of the trailer that it is nothing like it is depicted in the trailer. I expect to be disappointed, though. I also only had the audio book so it will be unusual to hear a different voice for the main character. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-of-pi/641214/16 "2012-11-17T00:33:28Z")
Another point of similarity that I once found in _Pym_: There is a dog on the boat named “Tiger”, and at one point Pym says Shortly after this period I fell into a state of partial insensibility, during which the most pleasing images floated in my imagination; such as green trees, waving meadows of ripe grain, processions of dancing girls, troops of cavalry, and other phantasies…I had the greatest difficulty in bringing to recollection the various circumstances connected with my situation, and for some time remained firmly convinced that I was still in the hold of the brig, near the box, and that the body of Parker was that of Tiger. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-of-pi/641214/17 "2012-11-17T00:35:16Z")
Excited. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-of-pi/641214/18 "2012-11-17T00:46:47Z")
I am _almost_ finished… will be done on my last break tonight at work. I don’t really know how well this story will translate to a movie, but I am more than willing to give it a shot. And Bob Ducca… no I was not being ‘melodramatic’ about my reaction to Brokeback Mountain. I have no earthly idea WHY that movie hit me the way it did. But I did literally collapse on the kitchen floor when I got home from seeing it. Never happened before or since. Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing it. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-of-pi/641214/19 "2012-11-17T21:51:13Z")
Well, that went well. Enjoyed the book anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-of-pi/641214/20 "2012-11-17T21:56:34Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > It is at least in terms of the title and the bones of the story, inspired by _The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket_. Poe’s story has a sailor named Richard Parker who ends up casting lots with the crew for who they’re going to kill and eat. Mentioned in Martel’s book is the weird real-life occurrence of an almost identical situation involving a cabin boy named Richard Parker, which occurred long after _Pym_ was written. That actually did happen. Though if I recall rightly Martel continues to blur the line of fiction and reality by never acknowledging the story of Pym, or if he did, he does not say that Pym was a work of fiction. I read _Pym_ in college and I’m disappointing this didn’t occur to me while I was reading _Life of Pi_. That’s a great parallel. I thought _Life of Pi_ was beautifully written, and while the movie looks very pretty I can’t shake the concern that it’s going to be equally hokey. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-life-of-pi/641214.md?page=2)