Sign in with Facebook
Paul Bryant's Reviews > Life of Pi
Life of Pi
by
by
Oh finally I get it. I read this a couple of years ago and it was supposed to be all about God. But no, it's not a religious allegory at all. It's about the collapse of communism. As the ocean liner of communism sinks under the weight of its own massive incompetence (a good idea, but the captain was drunk and the crew were sticky-fingered rascals), you leap overboard, clamber on to the only available boat (capitalism) only to find that there's a giant tiger on board which will eat you unless you can keep feeding it your hapless fellow-creatures.
When I thought this novel was about God I gave it 2 stars. It didn't make sense. But now I realise - it's a perfect metaphor - three stars.
When I thought this novel was about God I gave it 2 stars. It didn't make sense. But now I realise - it's a perfect metaphor - three stars.
Sign into Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ to see if any of your friends have read
Life of Pi.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
Comments Showing 1-24 of 24 (24 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Whitaker
(new)
Aug 16, 2011 02:23AM
So, what's the island with the flesh dissolving plants?
reply
|
flag
This would be.... er... the false hope of the Chinese model... er.. no... you're right, it still doesn't make sense!
Paul wrote: "This would be.... er... the false hope of the Chinese model... er.. no... you're right, it still doesn't make sense!"LOL! Actually, that might work! The flesh dissolving is the pollution eating people up.
So, er, it follows that Marx is like God, but only a little bit?
Ha... does that make Lenin like Jesus, but only a little bit, and Trotsky like the Holy Spirit? Hmm, so Emma Goldman can be Mary Madgalene, yes I think that could work, and Stalin... is ... wait, yes...logically... Stalin is St Paul - I know it sounds strange, but both of those guys took a radical doctrine of liberation and distorted it into an inhuman system which almost destroyed humanity. Then... Brezhnez is the various popes consolidated together, Mao is Luther, of course, and Che Guevara is Paul Tillich, and I think according to the African Anglican community, our present Archbishop of Canterbury is Gorbachev!
I love this game. Would OGPU be a little bit like the Spanish Inquisition? But I'm stumped on the KGB. What is the Vatican's military intelligence and counter-espionage organization called? I'm embarrassed that I don't know.
Well, I did consider the Jesuits, but do they do wet work?Maybe it's not necessary, on reflection. They only need to be a little bit like the KGB.
It's pretty tedious as religious allegory, turns out that it's actually about Marxism! Makes sense to me.
If someone now points out to me that Yann Martel has said that it's definately religious, I am going to invoke Marcel Duchamp and claim that this novel is a readymade. The Life of Pi is my urinal!
Paul, are you taking the piss again?I'm sorry, I couldn't resist that.
I heard where Moby Dick is a Marxist allegory. Maybe all sea stories are. And Heidi, too. And maybe My Antonia.
Hm, you're right. It does make sense when you put it that way :)
In The Pooh Perplex we discover that Rabbit is a filthy capitalist exploiter: When Pooh gets stuck in the rabbit hole, Rabbit uses him for an UNPAID towel rack.
Your short review is far more entertaining than this 400 page turd. Thank you.
Interesting, I never thought of it this way
Wow. That metaphor actually works really well...
surprisingly well...!
But maybe is possible that your interpretation isn't the same as Martel's?
yeah but what's the author got to do with his novel? he doesn't have the last say in the matter!
it all makes sense now! Thank you!
