Lu
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Post by Lu on Apr 9, 2007 12:16:06 GMT -5
It was the same for me, memccart. Everything Pi has done that I think I wouldn't be able to do, I started thinking about how I would act in the same situation...maybe I would change as much as Pi did. I was shocked by Pi's description of the 9 steps to tame a tiger (or any other animals)...I wouldn't be able to do THAT. It was weird also because during the part 4 I began to feel sorry for Richard Parker, as he would be a little cat, but those 9 steps suddenly remember me that he was a tiger and so a dangerous carnivore...suddenly back to reality!
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Isa
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Post by Isa on Apr 9, 2007 14:12:28 GMT -5
lol, I don't know how many times I found myself half-wishing that this would turn into a Disney story and Richard Parker would start acting like a big domestic cat!! If there's one thing Martel didn't quite succeed in conveying to his reader, it's Pi's constant fear of Richard Parker - I kept forgetting that the tiger could kill Pi, but Pi obviously didn't. But with hindsight, maybe that was intentional...
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Lu
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Post by Lu on Apr 10, 2007 7:35:13 GMT -5
lol and start singing like the animals in Disney's Robin Hood or the mice in Cinderella...it would be so fun! I think that it was intentional, maybe would be too stressing for the reader feeling constantly Pi's fear of Richard Parker...and when you remember that the tiger could kill Pi, you feel even more sorry, not only for Pi's condition of castaway but also because you forgot his fear. Does it makes any sense? I'm not sure I've explained clearly what I mean..
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Michelle
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Post by Michelle on Apr 10, 2007 7:38:47 GMT -5
I think Pi's fear of Richard Parker probably ebbed and flowed just like our fear for Pi. I think it probably was intentional for us to forget. I'm sure Pi has some base level of constant fear, but it is only when his fear grows that we are shown it again and reminded of it. I don't know if this makes sense either...
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Isa
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Post by Isa on Apr 10, 2007 7:44:11 GMT -5
lol, yes, you two make plenty of sense! I also think it might be intentional because he does seem to want the reader to feel plenty of sympathy for Richard Parker, which would be hard to achieve if we only thought of him as a terrible beast that can kill at will.
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Post by Dominique on Apr 12, 2007 23:22:38 GMT -5
I agree, I felt sorry for Richard Parker at times, but at other times I found myself wishing he'd be swept of the boat or something like that (even though tigers can swim). I think it was intentional too. I felt really sorry for the sea turtles! The poor things I don't think I could have eaten a turtle if I was in the same situation. I thought what you said about how he escaped his ordeal faith intact was interesting memccart, I hadn't thought much about that. I agree a lot of people faced with the same experiences of loss and extreme hardship would probably have been disillusioned with their faith, and yet Pi is still religious years later and we know this through the author's descriptions of his house and stuff at the beginning. I do remember him having doubts at some point while on the boat, vaguely. I wish I could remember where.
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Bina
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Post by Bina on Apr 15, 2007 6:23:09 GMT -5
I guess I would´ve eaten the turtles. I´d do that to survive even if I shudder to think about it.
I think in the beginning Pi remembers how his father taught him how dangerous tigers are and that he should never think of them as domestic animal but later in the story it doesn´t seem to be on his mind.
And I agree, it´s amazing how Pi didn´t give up on his faith. I like how we get to know the older Pi and what his life is like after his ordeal.
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Lu
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Post by Lu on Apr 19, 2007 3:55:25 GMT -5
I agree with you, I think it's amazing that Pi hasn't been disillusioned and still has his faith, I also started thinking about what I would have done in his situation and I'm not sure I wouldn't give up my faith, though it would be a consolation to me for being alone in the Pacific Ocean in constantly danger of death.
Ok, I'm going to start section 5. It's nice how the tiger hasn't attacked Pi, even if he has caught a dorado fish and they're both very hungry, his taming worked very well! They're aware they need each other and Pi said that clearly after they saw a ship, he thanks Richard Parker for being there. I loved the first words of that chapter (86): "Richard Parker, a ship!"...sounds like they're both human! I was surprised by Pi's reaction to the ship which couldn't see them and didn't rescue them, I think I would become mad if I was him. Really mad. My favourite part, int this section, is Pi's conversation with Richard Parker, it's amazing. I loved their little argument about Richard Parker's accent, so funny! And also when the tiger admited he had killed two human...it's like hearing the point of view of a tiger about the matter. At first I thought Pi's conversation with another castaway was completely imaginary (I was pretty convinced of that), maybe it was just an insect still on the lifeboat or something like that, but he finally revealed himself being real...so real that Richard Parker eat him. I'd like to know who the other castaway was, and why he was there and so on... I was sad when Pi find food on other castaway's lifeboat, I was glad because he managed to eat something but sad because the one Pi called his brother lied to him about having food and water.
I can't wait to read the end of this book!
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Michelle
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Post by Michelle on Apr 19, 2007 14:33:35 GMT -5
I was so confused when the conversation b/w him and the other castaway began. I was also mad at Pi for trusting him - although I think you would be so happy just to have someone else there that you would trust anyone. He seemed dishonest from the beginning and then it turns out that he would have killed Pi if it had not been for Richard Parker. I wonder if he was even blind...
I also think that seeing a ship pass by would be the most disheartening thing. I feel like that could have made Pi give up completely. I was so excited and then so dissapointed. This book does a good job of making you feel what Pi is feeling.
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Bina
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Post by Bina on Apr 20, 2007 11:22:28 GMT -5
I think I would´ve given up when the ship sailed passed me. Pi was so close to being rescued, it´s horrible. I also remember being confused about the blind guy. That seemed to happen all the time while reading Life of Pi. First I thought the story was real, then that Richard Parker was human, . . .I guess I´m easily tricked
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Michelle
First novel published
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Post by Michelle on Apr 20, 2007 12:06:38 GMT -5
I thought the story was real, too...
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Isa
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Post by Isa on Apr 26, 2007 13:12:47 GMT -5
Glad to see I wasn't the only one thrown off by the arrival of the French castaway - I thought that part was very confusing but as you guys pointed out, Martel does a good job of making us feel the way Pi is feeling. At this point in the story, Pi is very weak and blind, so everything that happens is sort of a blurry, semi-reality. Even when he recovers his sight and lands on the island, I found myself wondering if it wasn't all a fantasy and that in reality, Pi was just wasting away on the boat, his mind wandering. And then of course came the ending...!
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Lu
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Post by Lu on Apr 29, 2007 5:36:03 GMT -5
I finshed Life Of Pi and I loved it. I really liked the ending even if it was a bit confusing for me and I had to read it twice. I haven't made up my mind about that ending yet ...Yann Martel did a really good job! I didn't know how Pi could feel safe on that strange island, it has many things which wasn't exactly sure and I had a general impression that there were something wrong...but I didn't expect the island being carnivorous as Pi finally found. As many other times in the story I reminded Richard Parker being a tiger there, when he killed meerkats beyond his need and he returned to be a magnificent animal; when they reached the island Pi saw him jumping hesitatingly out of the boat and then coming back the evening unrecognizable. I loved the part in which Pi restarted to tame the tiger and his description of the training, I managed to picture very well in my mind Richard Parker jumping through a hoop! He really seemed a cat, "filled with amazement when the hoop fell over." I thought Richard Parker wouldn't like Pi's decision of leaving the island and I was afraid he would try to attack him, but I was glad to see he didn't...that means he was aware the island was dangerous. I really enjoyed Pi's conversation with the two of Maritime Department, Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba, the latter made some funny comments during their talk. I was both confused and sad reading new version of Pi's survival, I don't want it to be true and I WANT to believe the other story! Is it true that Pi says that his story must be tell in 100 chapters? I thought I've read that somewhere in the book but I can't remeber and find where, now.
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Post by Dominique on Apr 29, 2007 5:39:22 GMT -5
I thought it was a good ending too. I felt the conversation recording at the end of the book was a bit absurdist in style, as with perhaps the confusion over the richard parker/french guy in the last section. It was certainly funny!
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Lu
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Post by Lu on Apr 29, 2007 5:46:25 GMT -5
You're right, it was confusing...I liked to believe that Pi was speaking with the tiger but, at same time, I'd like to absolve Richard Parker from having killed a man and a woman.
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