Books I read over the summer:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Final Days by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein

The Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Boomsday by Christopher Buckley

The Life Of Pi by Yann Martel

All throughout The Life of Pi, which detailed the experiences of a shipwrecked boy (Pi Patel) floating in the Pacific on a small boat with a full-grown tiger, the protagonist struggles with the proper use of an anchor. He need not worry about the book  however, because he single-handedly anchored the entire thing. Never have I been introduced to a literary character who was more emotionally, intellectually, or spiritually centered. His strength and intensity stayed with me long after I put the book down.

Initially, as Pi described his childhood in India, I mistook his strength for a weakness. His self-possession came off as self-importance. He seemed too serious and somber for a young boy. However, as he journeyed along, he displayed a sense of humor that was impossible to ignore. Experiencing this humor from someone who I had previously thought to be so serious forced me to re-evaluate Pi's character. Additionally, the fact that the novel was told from the point of view of the adult Pi, a voice of maturity and reason, lent further depth to his character. Not only did the venerable, confident voice perfectly suit the tone of the novel, it also gave the reader another perspective into the soul of Pi, and this book seems to be first and foremost interested in Pi's extraordinary soul.

Pi's journey takes almost a year to complete before he is finally washed on to Mexican shore and saved. He travels with a hyena, an orangutang, a zebra, and, of course, a tiger. Soon, the hyena has killed the zebra and orangutang, and the tiger has killed the zebra. And, despite Pi's constant fear of a tiger that could so easily dispose of him, Pi ultimately tames it and makes it docile. One especially poignant scene involves an instant when the tiger is poised to attack and kill Pi. Pi stares the tiger down and forces him to back off.  What is so remarkable about this scene is Pi's ability to win in a battle of wills with such an intimidating adversary.

Even the seemingly confused end of the novel was a further display of Pi's strong soul. When he tells his story to Japanese insurance men, they doubt its veracity. So he tells them another story, this time substituting his animal companions for humans. Instead of a maternal orangutang, he says he was with his mother. Instead of a vicious hyena, he explains that he traveled with a mean-spirited cook. Whether or not the facts are aligned with this story or the original one, neither Pi nor the author seem to care. Instead, Pi poses this ironic question: "which story is better, the story with the animals or the story without the animas?" The question seems to imply that there is only one right answer: all of the characters from both of the stories acted like animals.  For me, this was a powerful ending, because as I reflected back on the stories I realized that all of the characters were animals, except Pi. To its end, the novel found Pi challenging himself and others to transcend his animal nature. The last page of the book describes how touched the Japanese men were by his story, despite their initial doubts. I wholeheartedly agree with them.