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This is probably one of the more interesting fiction books I have read in awhile. It is a story written in a memoir style in the perspective of a man, Johnny who is recollecting the years of his childhood and early adulthood and particular his best friend Owen Meany. The memoir-like fashion is believable as a real story because the narrator seems to have difficulty setting events out and starts by telling the reader everything and then trying to more realistically separate the story out into parts.
Owen is a dwarf-like child, incredibly small for his age with an incredibly unique voice which is a symbol throughout the book for both his power and what turns out to be his "destiny." Owen throws what seems to be an ill-fated baseball at the beginning with astonishing results and this also becomes symbolic of his role throughout the book in relation to the narrator. As the book progresses Owen becomes more and more convinced of something - that he is the guiding hand of God and that his fate is entirely in the hands of God. The book also contains some useful testimony about religion - Owen does not behave like a monk or anointed one but rather is critical of the presentation of different religions in his hometown and in his experiences.
As the boys grow up into the era of Kennedy and the Vietnam War, Owen becomes more and more convinced of what he is meant to do. An interesting concept emerges - that of blindly following what he believes to be his destiny while believing it wholeheartedly and the question seems to beckon - how can someone have a destiny if there manifests a choice whether to follow it or not?
I think this novel was slightly too long, although it did keep me reading all the way through because of what I knew was coming. The voice of the narrator begs to the very end but in the last few chapters I was beginning to wonder if there would ever be a forseeable conclusion.
An enjoyable read, none the less.
Perhaps not up to the hype I'd heard about it. This book was an entertaining tale of a 16-year-old boy involved in a boat crash which kills his entire family, the whole crew and a zoo full of animals with the exception of a zebra with a broken leg, a female orang-utan, a hyena and a Bengal tiger.
An author's note at the beginning of this book describes this event as at least based in truth and the book finished with a confusing interview, enlightening the reader that perhaps we will never know. Either way it's a good story.
One of the primary themes in this book is that of religion as a road to comprehending reality. It's explored throughout in a variety of ways as the main character Pi has practiced up to four religions at one time and part of the reason he continues to survive is because of his religious understanding of what is happening around him coupled with the extraordinary situation he finds himself in. The graphic descriptions of the demise of various animals within the book had me cringing and Pi, a vegetarian finds himself grabbing fish and turtles out of the water in order to feed himself and the tiger.
This story was meant to make the reader believe in God, why this is I am still not sure. While Martel makes decent use of a deeply spiritual character in the book, it is not clear how a less spiritual person is meant to gain a belief because a "miracle" has happened.
A decent read that churns your stomach in many parts.
This author is genius, the one thing you can be sure of in his books is that they will never ever be predictable. The twists and turns of the book come out of nowhere and seem completely unlikely but they contribute something to the plot as well. The underlying theme of religion was what kept this book going, and it did so very well.
The book details the lives firstly of Amanda and John Paul Ziller, a young couple living in the sixties in the USA. Several other characters are introduced throughout but mainly Marx Marvelous, a scientist gone astray and Plucky Purcell, an ex-athlete joining in on the spectacular.
There's not much to say about this book that won't give it away. It deals primarily with the concepts of spirituality and philosophy and each character contributes in his/her own way. There is a convergence of ideas showing the similarities between religion and science collecting an interesting philosophy throughout the entire book that not so much combines the two as it debates and settles with neither one nor the other. And when I say debates, it is not debating...
Definitely more scandalous than The Da Vinci Code but less read. Mainly because a lot of people just can't see where the hell Tom Robbins is coming from but personally I can and I think his writing borders on excellent.
