Author: Yann Martel
Published:2003
Acclaimed: National Bestseller
Genre:Fiction
Recgnition: Man Booker Prize, Several positive reviews by The New York Times, The New Yorker, Chicago Tribune, The Times of London, Los Angeles Times, The Economist
My Rating:Read it if you have time to spare

   Over the summer, I went to my local Barnes and Nobles a few of times, looking for something new to read, something interesting, something contemporary, something different. The first couple of times I went to the store my eyes ran across a book called Life of Pi, but it wasn't until the third time I actually picked the book up and read the back cover to see what it was all about, and no it is not about Pi the math term. It sounded interesting enough; it won the Man Booker prize and was on a highly visible shelf in the Barnes and Nobles, so I thought that it would at least be decent.
   The book was sitting in my room for a few weeks, I was too busy at the time to actually pick it up and start reading, but as time went on, my curiosity grew. I wanted to know who this Pi Patel was, that I read about on the back cover and how in the world does he practice three contradictory religions, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity (which of course was one of the first things they mentioned after his name.) Eventually, I picked up the book and began to read.
   Life of Pi, for me at least, got off to a rocky start, as the narrator began by describing the difference between a two-toed sloth and a three-toed sloth…need I say more. But I forced myself to read on, and slowly the plot began to pick up. The narrator forgets the sloths and moves on to more interesting stories of how he began to practice three religions, his defense for maintaining zoos and eventually how he came to be on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a hyena, zebra and Bengal tiger! I would explain more, but that would give away the story.
   Martel gracefully touches upon controversial issues such as the belief in God, religion, the maintaining of zoos without digressing too much from the plot. He delivers a story with all the details, including those that you thought you did not need to know, but manages to keep the reader interested until the very last page. The novel is something that can be read lightly for pleasure, without having to concentrate too hard on the plot or to keep up with many characters. Life of Pi is simple, yet sophisticated and has the balance of a good novel.
   This book is definitely not my favorite book, maybe not even in the top ten, but if you ever are going on a long plane, train, bus, car ride or just feel like picking something up for a bit of light reading before bed this is something you should consider to read.