I just finished Yann Martel's "Life of Pi".

[vixengrl]

It was sort of an odd fit for me (I am, not to give away the ending, the sort of person who does not prefer the "version of the story with the animals in" in real life, but I don't mind the animal version in allegories) and yet I liked the style and the way the details almost rendered the idea of a shipwrecked boy sharing a lifeboat with a tiger plausible, while still seeming a bit surreal.

I'm still working over the bit with the algae and the meerkats. (Any ideas about that? My thought is that the carnivorous island was partially a hallucination--a subliminal message that nature was too damn deadly and he better get his ass in gear and find some land. But allegorically, I think it was about not becoming complacent with what looks like a safe thing, because it drains you and can keep you from your goal.)

Ever like a book even though the moral of the story, so to speak, isn't something you normally agree with? What was the book?

[applegrove]

1. I agree he had to get his ass in gear and the warning was what was happening on the island.

[moksha]

2. I had a very similar response to Life of Pi.

I got the layers, but couldn't quite fit the weird island in any of the layers. I didn't understand it. I finally came to think it was human nature and our desire to be comfortable. Complacent is a good word for it.

[Curmudgeoness]

3. Hated this book. I never really understood most of what the

author was saying. And that just makes me feel stupid, and I really hate to feel stupid. I hate to have to ask people what a book meant.

[abluelady]

4. One of My Favorite Books Ever

I read it many years ago and don't remember all the details. I do believe all of it had to do with our desire for survival and learning how to survive. I agree with your thoughts about the meerkats and algae.

[LWolf]

5. I loved "Life of Pi."

Including the ending.

I can't think of another I've liked despite the theme, but I'm sure there are a few. I read a lot of books. So many that even the most memorable take some time to filter to the top.

[northoftheborder]

6. This was one extremely rare book which I started, could.....

.....not get into, and quit. I seldom can do that, have to finish, even if crummy.

[Sheepshank]

8. This

I tried...I had several people tell me it was worth sticking through to the end. I still couldn't. One other book stands out as one I had to quit even earlier in the narrative. Rushdi's Satanic Verses.

[Hamlette]

7. the author says the book is about religion

something about life being more interesting with religion than without. Which could be true. I find life plenty interesting without.

I loved the book. Might be time to read it again.