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Bookclub-in-a-Box Discusses Life of Pi, by Yann Martel: The Complete Guide for Readers and Leaders
Bookclub-in-a-Box literary discussion guides offer interpretations and analysis of the themes, symbols, and writing styles of your favorite contemporary novels. Each guide also includes a handy plot synopsis, the author's biographical information, discussion questions, and more. They are ideal for use by book club members, teachers, students, and literature lovers. Discussion guide does not include the novel itself.
About the Pi Patel and his family decide that life in India under Indira Gandhi is not a pleasant one. In their effort to seek a better life for themselves and their children, the Patel parents choose Canada as a peaceful, life-affirming destination. They sell their zoo in Pondicherry, India, and they board a freight ship for the new world, taking along some of their animals. At the beginning of their journey, the ship sinks and Pi's life takes a different turn. We travel along with Pi on his life's journey through his childhood in Pondicherry and his oceanic survival for 277 days alone in a lifeboat with only a Bengal tiger as a companion. The story promises an adventure that some may find hard to believe. Can miracles exist? What is the power of faith? What guarantees survival?
About the Pi Patel and his family decide that life in India under Indira Gandhi is not a pleasant one. In their effort to seek a better life for themselves and their children, the Patel parents choose Canada as a peaceful, life-affirming destination. They sell their zoo in Pondicherry, India, and they board a freight ship for the new world, taking along some of their animals. At the beginning of their journey, the ship sinks and Pi's life takes a different turn. We travel along with Pi on his life's journey through his childhood in Pondicherry and his oceanic survival for 277 days alone in a lifeboat with only a Bengal tiger as a companion. The story promises an adventure that some may find hard to believe. Can miracles exist? What is the power of faith? What guarantees survival?
66 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 29, 2005
6 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
Marilyn Herbert
83 books42 followersAs an educator, school librarian, writer, book-talk presenter and facilitator, Marilyn loves to read and talk about books. Her enthusiasm for reading and sharing led her to unite her two favorite things: people and pages. In turn, this led to the creation of Bookclub-in-a-Box, the ultimate discussion companion for contemporary works of literary fiction. Marilyn is always looking for a great debate about books and welcomes all feedback.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
Currently reading
November 20, 2008Well this is the closest I can get to the actual version of the book Life of Pi, short of the spanish version. Why I can not imagine.
I am only several chapters in, and I realize I may be somewhat behind the curve on this one, but this book is wonderful! Especially if you like animals or have ever loved zoos. Also if you like writing. It's like eating confections, each chapter is marvelously crafted and full of delights and meanings. Charming, insightful, funny, and I understand there's something about a boat and a tiger...
Get it! read it!
I am only several chapters in, and I realize I may be somewhat behind the curve on this one, but this book is wonderful! Especially if you like animals or have ever loved zoos. Also if you like writing. It's like eating confections, each chapter is marvelously crafted and full of delights and meanings. Charming, insightful, funny, and I understand there's something about a boat and a tiger...
Get it! read it!
June 12, 2012
I've read this book twice! A young Sir Lankan boy finds himself on a life raft with a Tiger, wounded Zebra and a bear....let the story grip you after that!!! I loved it! If you are an animal lover then you must read this book!
August 17, 2019
I lead a book group at my apt that meets 2x monthly. Our read for August 2019 is
and because of the depth and philosophy, I've been using the guide to help our members notice themes and other important ideas.
and because of the depth and philosophy, I've been using the guide to help our members notice themes and other important ideas. 
March 8, 2012
The Life of Pi, by Yann Martel. so a book made for small adventerus minds turned out to be a dissapointment
so i read another book for science and i was not impressed at all, the book was about a kid who literally lived in a zoo in like india. he grew up with the zoo animals and gained alot of skills from the animals. but he also discovered alot about religion for 124 pages! so after all the religion stuff dissapeared it started turning into an okay book until the adventerous boat scene with the hyena and the gazel, oh and orange juice (the orangutang), had ended.
now to be honest i did read the book but not all of it, the book had bored me so much that i fell asleep reading it and found my bookmark in 15 or so pages in farther then i remember, but so little happened that it didn't effect and difference from what i remember, and what it was when i picked the book up again.
so in this great confesion because i do think you will read it thompson, i just want to say "i read the book, but i didn't understand it at all". so if you ask me what happened all i really got out of it was he lived in a zoo they went over seas, the boat crashed he survived on a lifeboat with a few animals, sooner or later they dissapeared and thel lion came out and pi and it lived happy ish and peacefully.
so i read another book for science and i was not impressed at all, the book was about a kid who literally lived in a zoo in like india. he grew up with the zoo animals and gained alot of skills from the animals. but he also discovered alot about religion for 124 pages! so after all the religion stuff dissapeared it started turning into an okay book until the adventerous boat scene with the hyena and the gazel, oh and orange juice (the orangutang), had ended.
now to be honest i did read the book but not all of it, the book had bored me so much that i fell asleep reading it and found my bookmark in 15 or so pages in farther then i remember, but so little happened that it didn't effect and difference from what i remember, and what it was when i picked the book up again.
so in this great confesion because i do think you will read it thompson, i just want to say "i read the book, but i didn't understand it at all". so if you ask me what happened all i really got out of it was he lived in a zoo they went over seas, the boat crashed he survived on a lifeboat with a few animals, sooner or later they dissapeared and thel lion came out and pi and it lived happy ish and peacefully.
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July 30, 2011This book is one of those that remain in memory for a long time. It is a novel tale, filled with striking imagery, mysterious adventure, and unforgettable reality of coexistence between an Indian teenager and Bengal tiger, aboard a life boat drifting for nine months in the open of the Pacific. It explores a developing relationship between an animal and the person that is neither friendship, nor attachment, but a bond on many varying levels that ends just as abruptly as it began.
With the use of philosophical allegory, Yann Martel explores the dualities between good and evil, physical and metaphysical, conscious and subconscious, reality and imagination, instinct and will. The most refreshing part of the novel is its ending, which presents the reader with a choice in the form of a “second story” as an alternative explanation for the misadventures that befell the main character. The reader is then left with an option of deciding which story to believe, or whether to believe at all.
With the use of philosophical allegory, Yann Martel explores the dualities between good and evil, physical and metaphysical, conscious and subconscious, reality and imagination, instinct and will. The most refreshing part of the novel is its ending, which presents the reader with a choice in the form of a “second story” as an alternative explanation for the misadventures that befell the main character. The reader is then left with an option of deciding which story to believe, or whether to believe at all.
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May 20, 2012Life of Pi is a fantasy adventure novel written by Canadian author Yann Martel. In the story, the protagonist Piscine "Pi" Molitor Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, explores issues of spirituality and practicality from an early age. He survives 227 days after a shipwreck, while stranded on a boat in the Pacific Ocean. - Wikipedia
December 30, 2012
I had a hard time getting into Life of Pi when I tried to read it a few years ago. It wasn't until I saw the movie that I realized it was an allegory. I figured there was a lot more to this story than I had picked up on. This was a fun, short book -- kind of like "Cliff Notes" that explained the themes and symbols very well.
February 24, 2014
Read this book years ago and, as this is my bookclub choice for our next discussion, was going to re-read it. However, as the element of surprise was no longer there, I found it a bit of a plod and in the end I have opted to watch the film instead.
April 28, 2014
Good story, good narration. It got a bit tedious through the last third - too much detail about deprivation and hardships which were already legion. Still, loved the author's sense of humor and sense of humanness.
June 7, 2011
Very good but not an easy read...loved it!
November 3, 2012
wonderful fantasy book about survival, religion, the animal kingdom and salvation. what more is there??wait until the end:)
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April 20, 2014A bit boring to start with, but when the TIGER enters, it all starts happening. The question is: is the tiger real, or not......? A poetically, whimsically enjoyable book.
Currently reading
January 30, 2009AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
September 22, 2011
A painful read. I slogged through it, but really do not understand what all the hype was about
August 7, 2012
Wonderful! Soon to be a motion picture!!!!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews