Hello all! April’s theme is ADVENTURE.

Our book is… Life of Pi by Yann Martel, and the reviews are out! You can see them below:

Life of Pi, an adventure novel by Yann Martel, is a book about the experiences of a young boy named Pi Patel as he struggles to survive on a lifeboat for 227 days with an assortment of exotic animals. Pi grew up in a zoo, and so he learned how to interact with all different types of animals: timid herbivores, fierce predators, and curious mammals alike. So after a shipwreck, when he is stranded on a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, and a Bengal tiger he dubs Richard Parker. The boy, lonely, lost, and afraid, develops a tenuous partnership with Parker to survive, and in those 227 days he learns about himself, nature, and the tendencies of animals when trapped in close quarters. There is violence in this book, but it is taken only to a certain extent, and the descriptions are brief and to the point, much like violence in the wild. The descriptions of the sea and the sky are so vivid that you are transported to the lifeboat, and the emotions felt by the characters jump off the page at the reader. Philosophical and filled with grand purpose, this book is not suitable for a casual read on the beach. The emotions are deep, and the scenes stretch out to make the reader think on questions about life. Although this book is indeed an “adventure” novel, the slow and ponderous nature of the turmoil within Pi and how his experiences shape his worldview makes this novel more of a philosophical read in my mind. Readers who enjoy action, but much prefer deep thinking and reflection, this is the book for you.

— Sine Thompson, ‘24

Life of Pi is a novel narrated by Pi Patel as an adult reflecting upon his life. Growing up in Pondicherry, India, Pi developed two passions: religion ( he practices Hindu, Christianity, and Islam simultaneously) and animals. His father ran a zoo, which later plays a greater role in the novel. Because of political happenings in India, Pi’s parents made the decision to immigrate to Canada, a choice that leads to their demise and where most of the novel goes on to talk about. The Patel family travels on a boat which is filled with zoo animals. The ship sinks. Pi is the only one who makes it out alive on a lifeboat filled with dangerous animals. After some time drifting at sea, it is only Pi and a tiger, who is dubbed Richard Parker. Together, the duo wash up on a shore, and Pi is saved. The novel ends with a few words from the older Pi. Overall, I think that the novel was extremely creative. Pi’s story is weirdly relatable, whether it is seeing his time on the boat as a revelation in your own life or perhaps seeing Pi’s relationship with Richard Parker as a metaphor to being friends with someone who will never like you as much as you like them. However, this is your warning: the book is basically a few hundred pages of a teenage boy on a boat with a tiger. Inevitably, the book gets dull. Life of Pi is a slice of life book trying so very hard to be about action. For fans of adventure and romance and all things dramatic, I’m not sure this book is for you.

— Emma Meng, ‘26

Thanks so much for tuning in! This is the last installment for the 2022-23 school year. Thanks again to all of our readers, and we will be back in the fall!!