Martel, Life of Pi

WEEK 4. YANN MARTEL, LIFE OF PI (2002)

‘It is as the author says, a novel which will make you believe in God – or ask yourself why you don’t’ – Lisa Jardine

‘It is the nugget of a good idea, but it is spread out over 300 pages by an author who seems to have a knack for making the fantastic seem utterly mundane’ – Finlo Rohrer

Yann Martel was born in Spain, lives in Montreal, speaks French as a first language and writes fiction in English. His third book, Life of Pi, won the first Booker Prize to be sponsored by the financial services group Man (known from then on, officially, as the ‘Man Booker Prize’).

Editions:

Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Edinburgh: Canongate, 2002; Edinburgh: Canongate, 2003).

2002 Shortlist:

Yann Martel, Life of Pi
Rohinton Mistry, Family Matters
Carol Shields, Unless
William Trevor, The Story of Lucy Gault
Sarah Waters, Fingersmith
Tim Winton, Dirt Music

2002 Judges:

Lisa Jardine (chair), David Baddiel, Russell Celyn Jones, Salley Vickers, Erica Wagner

Topics:

• Children and Animals.
• The Concept of ‘Fun’: Sexing Up the Booker Prize.
• Narrative and Belief.

Reviews:

Justine Jordan, ‘Animal Magnetism’, The Guardian, (25 May 2002)
Tim Adams, ‘A Fishy Tale’, The Observer, (26 May 2002)
Judith Palmer, ‘Life of Pi’, The Independent, (22 June 2002)
Jonathan Kiefer, ‘Fascinating Life of Pi Gives Readers a Reason to Believe’, San Francisco Chronicle, (23 June 2002)
Gary Krist, ‘Taming the Tiger’, New York Times Book Review, (7 July 2002)
Bryan Walsh, ‘Castaway with Karma’, Time, CLX, vi (2 September 2002)