Life of Pi: Part 1

I began reading Life of Pi as I do most required reading books- completely uninterested and sure I was going to hate it. The cover alone, a picture of a boy and a tiger on a raft, seemed tedious and miserably boring. As I began the author's note, howver, it soon pulled me in. One of my good friends went to India this past summer to work at mother Theresa's home of the dying. As sad as his stories and pictures were, I looked to hear and look at them, and soon loved the country of India. When I first read that the author was traveling to India, I was even more eager to continue reading. Then when he went to a coffee shop to relax- well, there's nothing more relaxing to me than coffee, so I was hooked.

I was confused at times, however, at what was real and what wasn't. When Martel and Adirubasamy meet and talk about Pi Patel, I wasn't sure if he even existed. After reading it several times, I realized he in fact doesn't. In part one, the reader soon finds out that Pi has endured a lot of devastation ,but exactly what is unclear. I thought I had missed something and had to re-read. I now know that this book is one that I can't just skim over, but that I have to really read.

One of the things I like most about Part 1 was when he talked about the zoo where he grew up. Here Pi learned about freedom, habits of nature, and helped shaped his belief system. I thought this was a really neat way for Martel to develop the characters for us. I'm excited to continue reading this!