An Entry. In which I expound on my affection for Yann Martel's Life of Pi.
"First wonder goes deepest; wonder after that fits in the impression made by the first."
It's been a while since I last read Life of Pi - years, maybe. It's always strange to revisit things that you used to love when you were younger; revise your impression of them. It's not that you become jaded and cynical, it's just... oh, I know you know what I mean. Now when I look through the book it strikes me how simple it is. There is beauty in the simplicity, of course, but nonetheless it is simple. As I was turning the yellowed pages of my beaten-up copy just now, I asked myself, is Life of Pi overrated?
I'm not sure. On one hand, it's not half as overrated as some similarly-themed books I've been persuaded into reading - Five People You Meet In Heaven, for example. I think that book is way too sentimental and rather pedantic. Life of Pi is much subtler, in my opinion. But then, as I say... reading it with older eyes makes everything different. The passages that are so pretty in my head seem almost lacking something on the page.
Still.
It's funny how an unreligious person like me loves such a religious book so much, but I do. I think it's because the core of Life of Pi is hope, and deep down I'm an optimist (despite the Radiohead - shut up). It's a fable, really, a fable about faith and spirit and the inherrent human passion for life - I get reminded of Hoppipola by Sigur Ros (which, for the uninitiated, is Hope in Icelandic), and also some Coldplay. It's kind of epic, and at the same time personal. There's a lot of symbolism that I see now that I didn't last time when I wasn't as sharp literarily. The writing is clean and sparse and deft, very funny now and then, all the more moving.
In summary. Yellow Elk hearts Life of Pi. Oh, and I heart the cover art, too.
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