the Scott Stein

You know the old story--boy stranded in a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean with a full-grown Bengal tiger. Martel’s skill in making the implausible plausible is impressive--the tale practically drips with authenticity. We care so much about the protagonist Pi, believe so fully his plight, the pages keep turning. It’s a shame the ending goes postmodern, creating doubt that any of it happened, after the author did good work to make us certain that it did. There’s a bit about meeting up with another lifeboat that also stretches credibility, even in a novel that has a fantastic premise to begin with. Lesson: trust your story, make it real, and respect your reader’s belief in your work--which Martel does most of the novel. Too bad the author or his editor did not choose to leave postmodern literary games out of it. Still, The Life of Pi sucked me in and held me, even if I felt let down and found myself skimming the last few pages. Despite the ending, highly recommended.

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