The author's note at the beginning of Life of Pi was interesting to me because of how the author, Yann Martel, described his writing process. He does thorough, extensive research on whatever he writes about. I like that he tries to make his work as close to reality as possible. I understand what he means when he described his book that had the perfect, most realistic characters, excellent sentences, and facts woven into the fiction to make it as realistic as possible, yet the story won't work. I feel that way about my essays sometimes.
I also liked the new perspective that Pi put on zoos. I had never thought of freedom as being a negative thing for animals; I suppose I have always been the "well-meaning but misinformed" person when it came to the subject. Pi has a good point though. Animals are not homesick for the wild while they are in zoos. We would not shout or dance for joy if someone "freed" us of our homes, so why would animals? Zoo life, with plenty of food every day, safety, luxury, and comfort, is definitely so much better for animals than the fight for survival of the fittest in the wild. The author really does offer some interesting information and new perspectives to the reader, it just takes him forever time to say what he wants to say, which is why I think some people are turned off to the book.
One thing that I do not like about Pi is that he says he practices so many different religions.The fact that he says he belongs to all of them at once means that he really belongs to none of them, because all of their values and beliefs conflict with one another. Maybe this is a sign of inner conflict within Pi. Either way, he needs to pick one belief system that he agrees with and live his life accordingly.
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