From an Amazon.co.uk Review - which is apparently inaccurate, [see Lucycat's entry] but I haven't read the book yet!!!

Some books defy categorisation: Life of Pi, the second novel from Canadian writer Yann Martel, is a case in point: just about the only thing you can say for certain about it is that it is fiercely and admirably unique. The plot, if that’s the right word, concerns the oceanic wanderings of a lost boy, the young and eager Piscine Patel of the title (Pi). After a colourful and loving upbringing in gorgeously-hued India, the Muslim-Christian-animistic Pi sets off for a fresh start in Canada. His blissful voyage is rudely interrupted when his boat is scuppered halfway across the Pacific, and he is forced to rough it in a lifeboat with a hyena, a monkey, a whingeing zebra and a tiger called Richard. That would be bad enough, but from here on things get weirder: the animals start slaughtering each other in a veritable frenzy of allegorical bloodlust, until Richard the tiger and Pi are left alone to wander the wastes of ocean, with plenty of time to ponder their fate, the cruelty of the gods, the best way to handle storms and the various different recipes for oothappam, scrapple and coconut yam kootu. The denouement is pleasantly neat. According to the blurb, thirtysomething Yann Martel spent long years in Alaska, India, Mexico, France, Costa Rica, Turkey and Iran, before settling in Canada. All those cultures and more have been poured into this spicy, vivacious, kinetic and very entertaining fiction.

This Booker Prize Winner is going to be my fourth Book ring/ray. So I want plenty of participants to make it as successful as my previous three. I haven't read it myself yet but that is because I am a bookray addict and keep joining everyone else's! So I am letting this one travel while I set up BA [BookCrossing Anonymous]! Please PM me with your BookCrossing name, location and whether you can ship internationally or not.

Chelseagirl [UK]
Olliebear [UK]
LucyCat [UK]
Starbytes [Malaysia]
Illinicheme [California, USA]
WWestWind [Colorado, USA]<--- skipped
Baaic [Iowa, USA]
Digitaltempest [Alabama, USA]
Quorcester [Massachusetts, USA]
Talkland [UK]

Here are some guidelines:
1 Upon receipt please journal that it has arrived, this is the easiest way to keep tabs on where the book is.

2 When you have finished reading the book, we would love to read your thoughts on the book [this means another journal entry folks]!

3 Each person PM's the next in line for the book so they can post it on to them.

4 The persons in bold have had the book with the last person the one who is currently reading the book.

5 Any problems or changes please PM me and I will try and sort something out, and above all please enjoy the book!

Book arrived safely! I've put it at the top of my TBR pile, will just finish off the library book I've started (why do I bother with the library when I've got about a hundred of my own books still to read??) and then get going on this!

This is an extraordinary book. It tells the tale of a young Indian boy, Pi, who is shipwrecked with only a tiger for company. Conjuring up a range of fantastical images that leave the reader wondering if it could be just possible for the tale to be true, this is a hugely entertaining yet thoroughly thought-provoking novel, and worthy of its Booker-prize winning status.

As well as being an amazing shaggy dog story, it's crammed with fascinating facts about the animal kingdom, religion, wisdom and life itself, and will have you questioning your own beliefs with every page you turn. As stories about survival against the odds go, this is one of the best and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Released on Tuesday, October 07, 2003 at In the hands of Royal Mail! in Postal release, England United Kingdom.

To be posted to Olliebear later today ... hope you enjoy it!

Hurrah! It arrived safely in my hands this morning...thankyou Royal Mail! I have just started another book - would you believe it - but will read very fast so I can get this one read too...then will pass along to my pal Lucycat.

Well, I found this book incredibly hard to get into although easy to read...can't properly explain it but once I did get inoto it I found it to be incredibly moving and so descriptive I found myself feeling thirsty and hungry whilst reading it...salty too! What a fantastic book...I really really enjoyed it and despite my initial worries I am glad I stuck with it.

Will be passing onto Lucycat now when I see her this week for a pamper day together...ooh I feel guilty having a facial and manicure when I have just read of someone suffering so much...ah well!

Zoo passed this over to me during our pampering sesh sans pixies today, and I'm really looking forward to it. Will PM Starbytes for her addy now, and then hopefully the book will be able to move on as soon as I'm done.

I'll journal again then.

Update 2/11/03

I've got to admit, having looked forward to reading this for so long I was prepared to be disappointed. How wrong was I??

Great book, fantastic premise, and Pi is the most enchanting lead I've come across for a very long time...I found the idea of his 'wanting to love God' (in any form) utterly captivating.

One gripe (all right then, a series of gripes, but not about the book)...I notice Sarah's pasted across a review from Amazon.co.uk that was written by Sean Thomas.

Did he even bother to read the book?? 'Richard' isn't the Bengal tiger's first name...his name is 'Richard Parker'. It's never abbreviated. It's as though it were all one name. Think ''Cher'.

Pi's voyage to Canada isn't blissful. For a start off we jump onboard as there's a loud noise of some description, and Pi reflects that they've been working like dogs from dawn til dusk, eating in his mother & father's quarters because they don't get on with the the officers or crew, and flopping into bed bone tired at the end of each day.

Is there ever a monkey on the boat? No, there's a female Orang-Utang. Does the zebra ever 'whinge'? Well, it would be hardly surprising if he were slightly upset, given the circumstances, although it would be an incredibly uncharitable soul that stooped to accuse him of 'whinging'...

Did Pi ever consider that God was cruel? Which god was that, then? And unless I blinked and missed it, Pi and Richard Parker didn't spend a right lot of time pondering recipes of any description.

'The denoument is pleasantly neat' obviously translates as 'Erm, I didn't actually read it right to the very end, no...'

Thomas, you're fired...

Released on Monday, November 03, 2003 at http://starbytes.bookcrossing.com in Taman Desa, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.

Headed out to Betty in today's post...hope you enjoy it every bit as much as I did! :O)

Received it today!! Thanks, Lucy!! I'm really looking forward to reading this!! Will journal again asap!

Update 28th February 2004: I finished this book in one sitting!! And it's 4.30am now!! *g* The moment I started Part 2 of the book I just couldn't put it down!! The first part of the book did somewhat go on for awhile, but it was also interesting, his ideas about religion and spirituality, and very insightful. The information about his spirituality and about zoology were great background for understanding the later part of the book.

About Part 2 of the book, all I can say is...Wow!! I am a little confused, though, on whether it's a true story or not. Because the author's note and part 3 of the book led me to believe that it's a true story, but the story itself is so unusual, so extraordinary, that I can't believe it really happened. But then again, truth is stranger than fiction. If it was fiction, though, I can only say kudos to Yann Martel for being so meticulous with the details within the book. I believe he did a lot of research to make this book as believable as it was. If it was the truth, well, kudos to Pi, he has my utmost respect.

Thanks for sharing, talkland! I so thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was one of the most enlightening and inspiring books I've read!! I'm thinking of getting a copy for my personal collection, I'm sure I know a few people who would benefit from reading this too. Thanks again!! :)

Released on Thursday, March 25, 2004 at another bookcrosser in Oakland, United States of America Controlled Releases.

mailed to Illinicheme

Arrived safely in California today. Thanks starbytes for passing it along! I'm looking forward to reading this one, and I'll journal again when I'm finished.

Wow.

I ended up loving this book, which isn't always the case with novels that have received so much hype before I've gotten around to reading them. What a fascinating main character, and such an interesting approach to story-telling.

The only drawbacks are minor. I thought the 100 chapters lead to a few excessively abrupt transitions, but overall I liked the structure. It allowed Martel to cover large passages of time, focused the reader on key ideas, and was very convenient for people like me who do much of their reading on buses (i.e. in short chunks). The book was a bit slow to get started, and a few times I found myself wondering "why is he pontificating on this?", but the end effect is that the reader gets to know the main character very intimately. My final minor gripe is that the *semi spoiler alert* algae-island didn't quite ring true. I could suspend disbelief about the tiger in the life-boat, but an acidic man-eating island? *end spoiler* But then again, it really makes you consider the effects of being stranded at sea on one's sanity and lucidity.

This book will definitely make you think! Thanks to everyone for sharing it. I will send it along as soon as I get the address of the next participant.

This book will finally be on its way again. WWestWind never responded to my PMs, so Pi will skip ahead to baaic in Iowa. Enjoy!

Received about a week ago. I've got one book in the queue ahead of it, but then I'll be right on it.

This is a nice thought provoking book. I think it presents a far more interesting look into the nature of reality than, say, Sophie's World. I guess my favorite bit in the story was the bit about the island of the meerkats. But then, I think meerkats are kind of funny.

Martel's a bit of a cantankerous author, and this book has actually generated more than its share of controversy. Pi and Martel both seem mostly contemplative, though prove to emotional outbursts. The same could passibly be said for Richard Parker, the tiger.

I've sent a PM to WWestWind to give him or her a chance to get back in on the journey. Otherwise, I'll send it to the next person next week.

'Life of Pi' has return home from it BookCrossing adventure. Thank-you everyone for taking part.

Released on Wednesday, October 27, 2004 at about 4:00:00 AM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at the town centre in Eastbourne, England United Kingdom.

RELEASE NOTES:

Bus shelter outside Court House in the Avenue.