Synopsis (Credit: books.google.com)

After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, one solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild, blue Pacific. The crew of the surviving vessel consists of a hyena, a zebra (with a broken leg), a female orang-utan, a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger and Pi — a 16-year-old boy. The scene is set for one of the most extraordinary works of literary fiction in recent years.

Winner of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction, 2002.
On the Combined 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die List.

(Bought second-hand at Help the Rural Child Charity Bookshop, Victoria Road, Mowbray.)

What a fabulous book!

Where to start? It is a book wearing so many jackets. This is, among others,

• a story about the adventures of a boy and a tiger;
• a fresh look at religion, faith, and our tendency to pigeon-hole God;
• laugh-out-loud funny, often;
• profound, cutting to the essential elements of life, endurance and survival;
• about the symbiosis between story and fact;
• a fresh look at the wonder of nature; and, ultimately
• about life.

In my experience, reading Yann Martel is first and foremost a rich and joyous journey. It doesn't mean he'll take you on a detour when it comes to some of the harsher realities of life: in fact, he'll hit you over the head with them when you least expect it. However, he'll balance the scales with the beauty and wonder of life in a way that has you rereading passages frequently. One emerges slightly bruised, as from a vigorous Turkish massage and bath: scrubbed clean and invigorated, with a head full of thoughts, and fresh eyes.

Not convinced yet? Just the short chapter on fear is enough to make this book compulsory reading already.

Or try this for size:

Love is hard to believe, ask any lover.
Life is hard to believe, ask any scientist.
God is hard to believe, ask any believer.
What is your problem with hard to believe?

Picture credit: Wikipedia. A Bengal tiger much like the one featured in the book. Click on it to see a bigger version.

Bookring

This book deserves to travel and meet more people. I am in no hurry to get it back but if the ring runs out of participants, the book must please be returned to me. Let's do it in two stages:

Stage 1: South African Bookring — International shipping doesn't come cheap, so we'll have a national round first.

Stage 2: International Bookring — Once local interest starts to fade, the book will embark on the international leg of its journey.


Guidelines

•  If you want your name to be included or removed, or moved down the list, PM me.
•  If you are based outside South Africa, please indicate whether you would be willing to ship internationally if required. The book weighs about 240 g (8,5 oz). Dimensions: 198 x 130 x 25 mm (7,8 x 5,1 x 1,0 inches).
•  The list is subject to change at any time based on geography, mailing preference, or other considerations.
•  Make a journal entry when you receive the book.
•  Read the book. Let's aim at passing the book on within 4 weeks of receiving it. If you need more time, it should normally not be a problem. Just let me know and keep the communication lines open.
•  Make another journal entry to share your thoughts on the book. Ensure that your comments do not include any spoilers. Should you wish to discuss the book in a way that might spoil the experience for participants who prefer reading a book cold, rather make use of the Book Talk forum thread started for this purpose.
•  PM the next in line for his/her postal address or discuss arrangements to ensure a smooth transfer.
•  Pass the book on to the next person in the form of a controlled release.
•  For arrangements regarding this bookring or to keep those further down the participants list informed, please make use of the Bookrings, Bookrays and Bookboxes forum thread.


Participants

Route Map

Stage 1: South African Bookring (started 2012-09-02)

1.   Stoepbrak (Oranjezicht, Cape Town, Western Cape)
2.   Digteby (Stellenbosch, Western Cape)
3.   jrfep (Cape Town, Western Cape)
4.   Izikhova (Oranjezicht, Cape Town, Western Cape)
5.   Offline reader SA (Elarduspark, Pretoria, Gauteng) (1 year on the road)
6.   Hondbedot (Arcadia, Pretoria, Gauteng)
7.   Mietie (Arcadia, Pretoria, Gauteng) (2 years on the road)
8.   Horinkie (Hout Bay, Western Cape) (8 years on the road)   << currently here
9.   Boekswael (Tamboerskloof, Cape Town, Western Cape)
10.   Hangmatskollie (Vredehoek, Cape Town, Western Cape)
11.   Who is next? If you would like to add your name here ...
:
m.

Stage 2: International Bookring

m+1.   ... or here, PM me.
:
:
n.
n+1.   Stoepbrak (Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa)

Passed on to Digteby.

Thanks for starting the ring. I hope you'll enjoy the book. It can only be better than the one you're reading at the moment!

Received from Stoeprak

I know its a best seller, I know its a new movie. But not my kind of book. To streched out like going nowhere slowly.

release to Izikhova

Thanks to Stoepbrak and Izikhova for letting me squeeze in the qeue before I have to go back to Venezuela. I have had a couple of busy weeks and haven't been able to update my status in BC.

I recieved the book during a meet-up with Stoepbrak and Horinkie, the 24 of January. I had to finish some read before I could start this one, now I am in the middle of the book and I hope to finish soon.

This is indeed a powerful book with many things to tell. However, my impressions are mixed. I understand why the book is so highly praised, but can agree with some fo the critics as well.

We all know that the book is about a kid and a Tiger on a boat, and you expect that sooner or later the book will take you to that point. So you start reading the book as a preparation for that. But the book will sometimes takes unexpected turns, not as much in the story per se, but in style.

The first part is pretty much oriented to the questions of faith and religion, and sometimes I though that would be the predominant feature. But in the second part it is mostly about survival, a long and very detailed account, with some very interesting pieces of narration and inventive, but that some times got a little bit too long and repetitive, and at times it seemed to me that the author forgot to link with that pursue of faith, or god. But the third part is the real link between both, and is were you appreciate the connections between many chapters that seemed incongruous at first. However I think the final punch is not necessarily for everybody's delight, some might like it, some might remain unconvinced or unimpressed. For me is was a great turn, because it makes you want to read back and start again, looking for those hidden connections.

But... there are some aspects of the book that seemed to remain unconcluded, unaccounted, unexplained. I think the author could have gone in more deep discussions about some topics.

I think it will remain a matter of personal taste, I just recommend you read till the end, and judge by yourself.

Finally delievered back to continue the bookring, now is Izikhova's turn, I hope you enjoy it!

March 2013. Awesome, amazing - what does one say at the end of a journey like this? Hard to believe and even harder to let go. Magic.

On 2013-07-24 the book travelled to Pretoria, Gauteng, to visit the keen but offline reader SA. She thoroughly enjoyed the book and rated it highly but declined to provide comments for a journal entry.

Book is travelling to Hondbedot in Arcadia, Pretoria.

Ontvang van Izikhova.

Interessant geskrywe, beeldende taal. Was hartseer oor die einde.

Aangestuur na Mietie.

By Hondbedot gekry. Lankal, maar kom nou eers by die opskryf uit.

Lekker leesboek gewees. Moeilik om neer te sit. Algehele indruk baie positief.

Bietjie fyn druk vir ou oë, maar leesbaar.

Op pad na Horinkie. Lekker lees!

Baie dankie vir die boek, Stoepbrak & Mietie.