Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Life of Pi by Yann Martel is about an Indian man whose name is Piscine Molitor Patel. He is a normal man who attended the University of Toronto and double-majored in religion and zoology. Piscine describes his childhood within the first part of the novel, and how it relates to his majors of college. His father used to own a zoo. Piscine describes the behavior of animals and emphasizes the fact that animals live a happy life in a zoo. He knows the activities of many animals in the zoo from watching and analyzing the animals every day on his way to school. Piscine also majored in religion. He is Muslim, Christian, and Hindu all simultaneousely. He describes how he learned about each religion. Being born in India, he was raised as a Hindu. He says that he will always be a Hindu. Later, he went to a church and was enlightened by Christianity. Also, he learned of the beliefs of the Muslims by a baker whose name was Mr. Kumar. In the beginning of the book, Piscine expllains how he got his unusual name and the troubles in life because of his name. He was named after a magnificent pool in France. His family friend had taught Piscine how to swim. The pool's name was the Piscine Molitor. Piscine had many troubles, being raised with a name like Piscine. At his elementary, school everybody would pronouce his name wrong, even the teachers. The kids called him "Pissing" for his elementary school career. "Piscine" is pronounced with an emphasis on the "Pi-," as in the math symbol (π). Eventually, Piscine got so tired of people mispronouncing his name that everyday, he would go up to the chalk board and write his name as he was pronouncing it aloud. I really like this book because if the detailed descriptions of the events on Piscine's life. Also, I am very enlightened by Piscine's theories of both religion and zoology. Not only is Life of Pi an interesting book, it is also quite insightful and adventurous.