Really wasnt all that impressed with this book. Had a hard time getting into the slow start as others have said but forced myself to finish it. Definitely need to look at it through a phillisophical view but just didnt like it.

I tried to read this book two times and kept putting it down after about 15 pages, until the third time I made it through the first boring bit to discover that this was a GEM of a novel!!! It really picks up about halfway through the book, culminating with an amazing ending. A must read!

Fantastic read ... If you have the imagination and keep your mind open to what happens in the story!! I personally loved this book and the way things don't end up the way you expect it to is always a real treat for me. I would highly recommend this book although would caution people that have to make sense of and rationalize a story - I promise it will all come together in the end :) Couldn't put it down and recommend it to everyone.

This is a great book, especially for the summer because you will want to just sit outside and read it all day. This is definitely a book you won't be able to put down and will leave you pondering. Great read! Since this book is a couple of years old you can find it at your local thrift store - I've seen a lot of them at goodwill, or buy it online used for a great price.

You've read the reviews, so you already know what this is about.
I'm adding one more recommendation!
I love this book!
I read it several years ago and couldn't put it down.
I've read it another couple of times since.
Such an amazing story!

A very interesting book. This is the type of book that are for the people who want a book to ponder on. It's not just a straight up story and what you read is what you get. This book is one long metaphor and leaves a lot left to your interpretation. While the concept of the book requires a bit of personal insight the language and structure of the book are not difficult making the book easy to read and follow. It's a good book for book clubs because it brings up many points that can be discussed, since this book displays many facets to it's story it makes it easy to re-read to see the story in a new light.

i LOVE LOVE LOVEd this book! It's so psychological, and gross.
Life of Pi is a great way to immerse yourself into a journey of death, starvation, and learning how to survive in general. It's somewhat of an intense read, so not much of a summer book...However, it's GREAT for those lazy winter days when all you want to do is curl up by the fireplace and hate on tigers for a while.

I really enjoyed Life of Pi, though I can totally see why other reviewers thought otherwise. The entire novel is based on metaphor and story telling. If you are into books that really make you ponder and question when you are finished... this probably would be a good book for you.

Not meant for straight shooters who like a lot of action in novels. Yes... at times I did feel like it went a little too.. er -- slow. But I find with Life of Pi that if you approach it with an open mind, you may get more out of it then going into it with certain assumptions in mind.

I agree that it would make a great book club read. Lots to think about and different interpretations would be interesting to hear. They are making a movie out of Pi as well... so I would curious to see how the producers would play it out.

This book is a "thinker". Philosophy, metaphor, and all the other stuff you learned in 20th Century English Lit will be required prerequisites before you pick this book up. It's not a light read, because what you think is going on, is not.

Actually, this would make for a fabulous book club pick. A beach read? That would really depend. I personally liked it, but can certainly see why the previous reviewer did not.

I was tremendously disappointed with this book. Many people had recommended it to me, and it was a best seller so I thought it was a sure thing. I was wrong – I hated the whole thing.

Life of Pi tells the story of Pi, a young boy growing up in India – his father owns a zoo, so he grows up surrounded by wild animals. He is a smart boy, and feels very close to God – oddly, he chooses to be a practicing Catholic, Muslim and Hindu. Due to political turmoil in India at the time, the family decides to sell all of their animals and move to Canada. In a dramatic twist of events, the ship they are sailing on sinks, and Pi is left sharing a lifeboat with a hyena, an orangutan, an injured zebra and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. The bulk of the book is the story of their amazing journey.

My problem with the story is that I felt very little happened. There were not a significant number of events, and I thought they story lacked momentum. I was sitting there waiting for something – ANYTHING – to happen. Upon finishing the book I spoke to the same people who had recommended it to me, asking them how they could have loved such a slow and boring book. It seems that there is a profound underlying meaning to the story (which I still don’t think is all that profound, but that’s just me) that went completely over my head. Apparently while I was busy waiting for something to happen, I was missing the significance of what WAS happening. Part of me wishes someone would have told me to pay attention that that before I had started reading. The other part thinks that if I didn’t get it on my own, perhaps the book just really wasn’t for me.

My profound disappointment with this book is based on going on with high hopes. I blame this on the people who recommended it to me, the fact that it is a best seller, and also the claim on the back of the book by one reviewer that said something like, this is a story to make you believe in God. In hindsight I should have known that that was too large of a claim – anything that makes such a lofty promise is bound to be a let down, and it was.

Although I had a bad experience with this book, I would still reccomened it to others. If you don’t like books that are uneventful then it is definitely not for you. However, I think that if you are able to connect with the story the way it seems many have, then you will truly enjoy it. Good luck to you!