Sunday, October 25, 2009

Lemon Pi

Nate and I just finished listening to a book on tape - Life of Pi. I do believe that my friend Maya has been suggesting I read it for a few years now. I very much enjoyed it ... although I didn't like how the book ended. It left me feeling dissatisfied ... as endings usually do (as I think I have said before, I don't much like the end of books.)


It is the second book we have listened to on tape - the others include The Great Divorce and Mere Christianity. My husband really enjoys listening to books on tape and the idea of reading books together. I think he got the idea from his parents who do the same thing. I am really enjoying it - it gives us something to discuss beyond our own lives, the news, and the gospel. Although, I must admit we tend to relate everything we read to those three categories anyway ... especially the gospel. Of course both the C.S. Lewis books are about religion and thus church doctrine informs our discussion of those books, but Life of Pi also has a unique perspective on religion. The narrator's voice is also exceptionally interesting and entertaining.

Anyway - its a good read. And no, neither of the two words referred to in the last post were found in this book. They are, however, found in the new Dan Brown book Lost Symbol which I am currently reading on my own. But I must say, I have been slowing down a bit on the reading of it because I am close to the end - only a 125 pages left. And have we learned about my reading habits ... yup, that's right ... I don't like the end of books. And so I will let this one drag out for a few weeks I am sure. Aggravating, isn't it?

1 comment:

TheBenandKaties said...

I really enjoyed "Life of Pi" specifically because of the ending. I'm not sure if I interpreted it right, but for me the entire plot is dependent on a short statement that Pi makes during his interview with the Japanese investigators. After listening to both stories, Pi asks the men if they can prove that either story is true or false, and if it would make any difference in the end. They admit that they cannot, and Pi responds, "Thus it is with God."
The idea is that either God exists or he doesn't. We get to choose which story to believe. Do we believe in exciting stories with chimpanzees, zebras, and tigers? Or do we believe in boring stories with just plain men. I've found that when talking to people who have read this book, the majority of them that are atheist or agnostic are convinced that the story with people in it is the truth, while those that belong to a faith tend to believe the tiger story. I think that says a lot.