2001Booker 2002
Life of Pi
Yann Martel · b. 1963 · Canada
Why it matters
A shipwrecked Indian boy shares a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger for 227 days, then offers, at the end, a second, unbearable story to choose instead. Martel's Booker winner asks which version of survival a reader would rather believe.
At a glance
philosophical novelspeculative fiction
Difficulty 3/10fast pace319 pagesA clear, fable-like castaway narrative despite its unsettling final twist.
Deep dive
Which of Pi's two shipwreck stories you choose to believe, and why Martel built the whole novel to make sure you'll never really know.
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