Life of Pi
Part One (Toronto and Pondicherry): Chapters 1–6
Summary
The main text of the book begins with Pi’s declaration that he has suffered a great deal, leaving him despondent. The nature of his suffering and its source are not yet clear to the reader. Pi tells us that he continued his religious and zoological studies and was a very good student. He mentions that his religious studies thesis addressed aspects of Isaac Luria’s cosmogony theory. He speaks at length about sloths and observes that their very survival is ensured by the fact that they are so slow and dull; they virtually disappear into the background. We learn that Pi is now working, though he does not say anything about his profession. We also learn that Pi misses India and loves Canada, and that he misses someone named Richard Parker.
Pi mentions his stay at a hospital in Mexico, where he was treated exceptionally well. He lists his ailments—anemia, fluid retention, dark urine, broken skin—and says that he was up and walking in about a week’s time. He tells us he fainted the first time he turned on a water tap and heard the water rushing forth and describes how he felt wounded when a waiter in an Indian restaurant in Canada criticized him for using his fingers to eat.
The narrative briefly switches to the author’s point of view. The author describes Pi as a small, gray-haired, middle-aged man, who talks quickly and directly.
Pi’s narrative resumes, as he reflects on his boyhood in India. Pi relates that he was named after a pool. His parents did not like water, but he learned to swim from a family friend, Francis Adirubasamy, whom Pi calls Mamaji. Mamaji was a champion swimmer when he was young, and he instills in Pi a love for the ritualistic nature of swimming, stroke after stroke. Mamaji’s favorite pool in the world is the Piscine Molitor in Paris, and it is after that pool that Pi received his unusual name.
Pi’s father, Santosh Patel, used to run the Pondicherry Zoo, and Pi explains that he grew up
Summary
The main text of the book begins with Pi’s declaration that he has suffered a great deal, leaving him despondent. The nature of his suffering and its source are not yet clear to the reader. Pi tells us that he continued his religious and zoological studies and was a very good student. He mentions that his religious studies thesis addressed aspects of Isaac Luria’s cosmogony theory. He speaks at length about sloths and observes that their very survival is ensured by the fact that they are so slow and dull; they virtually disappear into the background. We learn that Pi is now working, though he does not say anything about his profession. We also learn that Pi misses India and loves Canada, and that he misses someone named Richard Parker.
Pi mentions his stay at a hospital in Mexico, where he was treated exceptionally well. He lists his ailments—anemia, fluid retention, dark urine, broken skin—and says that he was up and walking in about a week’s time. He tells us he fainted the first time he turned on a water tap and heard the water rushing forth and describes how he felt wounded when a waiter in an Indian restaurant in Canada criticized him for using his fingers to eat.
The narrative briefly switches to the author’s point of view. The author describes Pi as a small, gray-haired, middle-aged man, who talks quickly and directly.
Pi’s narrative resumes, as he reflects on his boyhood in India. Pi relates that he was named after a pool. His parents did not like water, but he learned to swim from a family friend, Francis Adirubasamy, whom Pi calls Mamaji. Mamaji was a champion swimmer when he was young, and he instills in Pi a love for the ritualistic nature of swimming, stroke after stroke. Mamaji’s favorite pool in the world is the Piscine Molitor in Paris, and it is after that pool that Pi received his unusual name.
Pi’s father, Santosh Patel, used to run the Pondicherry Zoo, and Pi explains that he grew up