The Double Life of Pi

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The wonderful novel, Life of Pi, by Yann Martel is once again in the spotlight.  The novel won the 2001 Mann Booker Prize for best fiction written in English by a citizen of  the Commonwealth of Nations.  Now it is a fabulous movie by Ang Lee.  As you might surmise from the above comments, I am a big fan of Life of Pi.  I led my book club discussion on the book and have defended it against many of its detractors.  It seems you either really love this book or really hate it.  I asked the usher at the theater how people were reacting to the movie and he said about 50/50.  So, I guess if you didn't like the book, you're not going to like the movie.  I went with someone who didn't have a clue about the plot and she loved the movie.  Even if you don't like or "get" the movie, it is visually stunning.  I saw it in 3D and it was spectacular.  So, after 12 years I'm once again thinking about the double Life of Pi.  I think that what confuses people the most is:  WHAT IS THE TRUTH?! Which story told by Pi is the real story? In the movie the stories are being told by Pi to a writer  many years after the shipwreck.  Which to believe...  Read more...

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

In my book club, Bibliochix, we nominate books based on the fact that none of us had previously read the book. I quickly offered up The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. I really don't remember where I had read about it, but it piqued enough interest to go to Amazon.com to check out reviews etc. Stephen King, a writer who I greatly admire for Shawshank Redemption, The Stand and The Green Mile, equated The Story of Edgar Sawtelle to Life of Pi. Now, Life of Pi is one of my all time favorites. We're talking numero uno baby. So, I put it up for a recommendation and it was accepted. I was distraught when Oprah picked it as one of her selections. I despise Oprah selections. It usually means one of the following is in the book: abuse, abuse, depression, death, murder, abuse, you get the picture. So, when she picked Edgar, I went into a depression. My first thoughts were the dogs are abused, the boy is abused, the mother is abused. SPOILER ALERT! And in some ways all of this comes true. Much has been said about the ending. I read an interview with David Wroblewski, the author, and he was asked as to whether the book is fashioned after Hamlet. He said, "Hamlet was the initial reference point for the story. But I quickly began to subvert that as much as I could. ..... I think of it not as a retelling of Hamlet but as evoking Hamlet. I was trying to draw on the much larger traditions of Shakespearean drama. " If you know the plot of Hamlet, and if Edgar is Hamlet, then you know the ending. Many reviewers are angered by the ending but, hey, it's Hamlet, man. Shakespeare. Read more...