Monday, April 18, 2011

Pretty Good Pi.

"The ship sank." That's how this next part of Life of Pi starts. No ominous creaking that turns into a full blown disaster, or explosion that causes people to go running and screaming and no endless anecdotes that seem to go nowhere. Just one line,"The ship sank." In a world that is filled with over 100 ways to say one thing, you gotta appreciate simplicity sometimes. But I think the reason I love this line is because it seems like (because I'm pretty sure this isn't how it works) Martel looked at the first part and said "That's a lot of freaking description for no good reason. Any reader would probably be on edge with me right now. So to better portray the telepathic image of this fossil (Stephen King anyone?) I'll keep it brief. Now what happens basically? Well the ship sank... yeah that'll be it. So the much disliked superdescription is gone and the story gets even better. Pi's attachment to his faith (read:faiths) is more emphasized in his character this go round, and Martel brings that out more by staying brief and concise. I'm digging it so far, but time will tell...

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