Just finished Life of Pi.
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JayKeeley
Be still, O wand'rer!
We've actually been pretty vague with the spoilers, I suggest you finish it.
Once he got on the boat, I pretty much flew through it reading about 100 pages each sitting, the tense moments between him and Richard Parker made it pretty difficult to put down. I mean you know he's going to make it because he's all growed up telling the story, but still.
The part where he goes delirius and starts discussing food with Richard Parker was my favorite.
Once he got on the boat, I pretty much flew through it reading about 100 pages each sitting, the tense moments between him and Richard Parker made it pretty difficult to put down. I mean you know he's going to make it because he's all growed up telling the story, but still.
The part where he goes delirius and starts discussing food with Richard Parker was my favorite.
JayKeeley
Be still, O wand'rer!
The thing is though, even if you knew the full story, it would still be riveting just because of how much it makes you think about....well, everything.
I love this.JayKeeley said:You lose. Read often?
Ugh, business books. I remember my boss giving me that Where My Cheese At Nikkuh?!? or whatever the fuck that thing was called, it was like 60 pages of large print w/ lots of pictures. I literally read 2 pages before instantly falling asleep, throwing the book off me when I awoke 20 minutes later.lurch70 said:
JayKeeley
Be still, O wand'rer!
So do you think Pi believed in science and religion equally? Or did he have a bias towards one over the other?
I think his science offered the absolutes, but it was all quite well contained and finite. The religious apsect went beyond boundaries that couldn't be explained, and so therefore took precedence simply because he was so fascinated with it all.
The fact that he looked at religion through such pure eyes also helped make it seem so much more endearing. He thought of it as a brotherhood of man as such, whereas zoology was perhaps the equivalent from an animal point of view. Of course, this latter part didn't come about until he got his doctorate.
I also enjoyed the fact that to remove hypocrisy (and the cancerous part of the religion that's interpreted to make people believe all other religions are wrong), he followed more than just one belief. Although he chose Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam, I believe he followed them because they were geographically and sociologically accessible. Had a Bhuddist monk lived next door to Piscine, he would have probably been besotted with Bhudda as well.
I think his science offered the absolutes, but it was all quite well contained and finite. The religious apsect went beyond boundaries that couldn't be explained, and so therefore took precedence simply because he was so fascinated with it all.
The fact that he looked at religion through such pure eyes also helped make it seem so much more endearing. He thought of it as a brotherhood of man as such, whereas zoology was perhaps the equivalent from an animal point of view. Of course, this latter part didn't come about until he got his doctorate.
I also enjoyed the fact that to remove hypocrisy (and the cancerous part of the religion that's interpreted to make people believe all other religions are wrong), he followed more than just one belief. Although he chose Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam, I believe he followed them because they were geographically and sociologically accessible. Had a Bhuddist monk lived next door to Piscine, he would have probably been besotted with Bhudda as well.
I was waiting for Richard Parker to talk to him the whole time, to get the Buddhist angle thrown in for good measure.
Hmm, I never thought about his views on science, to me it just seemed like the zoology aspect (including taking care of RP) was just due to necessity and practicality (and of course love for animals). He didn't seem to allow anything with regards to the animals get in the way of his religious beliefs. They seems wholly seperate really.
Embracing 3 different religions was great. What better way to piss off the religious zealots than to confuse them by trying to love God too much.
Hmm, I never thought about his views on science, to me it just seemed like the zoology aspect (including taking care of RP) was just due to necessity and practicality (and of course love for animals). He didn't seem to allow anything with regards to the animals get in the way of his religious beliefs. They seems wholly seperate really.
Embracing 3 different religions was great. What better way to piss off the religious zealots than to confuse them by trying to love God too much.
JayKeeley
Be still, O wand'rer!
One Inch Man said:
The part where he is confronted by the guru, mullah, and vicar on the boardwalk is just classic, classic, classic. Especially since his father knows nothing about any of it!
JayKeeley
Be still, O wand'rer!
One Inch Man said:
But what about later in life? Did his opinions change when he was grown up (present day)? The book opens with an excerpt from his thesis about the three-toed sloth. Obviously, later in life he pursued a life in science by obtaining his PHd, and I'm curious as to whether science may have eventually superceded his religion, or at least equalled it.
It goes back to what I said about ghosts -- the ones who are most susceptible are children. Pi as a boy could have had faith in religion simply because he was still basically just an innocent little kid.
Reign in Acai
Of Elephant and Man
Anybody catch the movie yet? On the fence in terms of peeping, if it stays true to the novel, I'll gladly cash in an AMC Silver ticket.
I still haven't seen the movie. The book is good, but I could have easily given up halfway through. Thankfully I didn't because the ending is worth reading.
The correct name is Who Moved My Cheese? I literally burned this book in my fireplace. I took pictures of its filthy remains. Fuck everything business. [/post at work]I love this.
einride
your best friend
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as far as i understand, the movie is very faithful to the book, and if it is, then the book is fucking shit too, i'm sorry
what was so spiritual or enlightening or clever or thought-provoking about this?
all it really even says is "oh you know, maybe god isn't real and yeah i guess different religions contradict each other but that's alright because it's pleasant to believe in little fairytales innit" which is the WEAKEST and DUMBEST excuse a religious person can have
not a single thought that this film expresses or question that it poses is any more profound than what any thinking man has had a million trillion times, and frequently much less so
and apparently most people were Stunned by the Amazing 3D Visuals A+ 10/10 but i watched it on a 24" crt tv with mono sound and thought it looked cheesy and plastic as hell so fuck you, I Am Not Deceived by your smoke and mirrors bullshit
1/10 false metal
I liked the book as a fun story with some good metaphors on the island, and the ending bit. I didn't much think about it after a few months had lapsed though, and only casually recommended it to a few people. There are much better books for deep introspection, if that is what ye seek.
Not sure why I made the Rushdie comparison 8 years ago, but that's definitely a solid candidate for something thought provoking. Hopefully nothing of his ever turns into a film... oops I just saw that Midnight's Children was released last year. Oh well, I haven't read that one yet anyhow.
Also while I've seen many movies that I'd consider intelligent I don't think anything from Big Hollywood ever qualifies. Well, it's possible, but pretty unlikely. I remember when many were calling Inception a movie that had to be seen several times in order to "get" and I laughed my balls off. Fun visual popcorn flick and nothing more, just like most of this stuff, including The Lovely Bones.
Not sure why I made the Rushdie comparison 8 years ago, but that's definitely a solid candidate for something thought provoking. Hopefully nothing of his ever turns into a film... oops I just saw that Midnight's Children was released last year. Oh well, I haven't read that one yet anyhow.
Also while I've seen many movies that I'd consider intelligent I don't think anything from Big Hollywood ever qualifies. Well, it's possible, but pretty unlikely. I remember when many were calling Inception a movie that had to be seen several times in order to "get" and I laughed my balls off. Fun visual popcorn flick and nothing more, just like most of this stuff, including The Lovely Bones.
einride
your best friend
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not necessarily but if you're going to make grand sweeping claims like "wow this shit will make you believe in god" you'd best have something cooking that's a bit better than some warmed-over pascal's wager leftovers
not introspection, but anything at all of substance please
I must've blocked out all the religious stuff, I don't remember any of it anymore. It would be very much like me to not give a shit about religious angles to this whole mess, haha. People found G-d through this thing?! LOL @ that.
I was far more interested in the man against animals against nature bits, the psychology behind repressed memories, and finally how people always believe the lie in light of the truth. At least that's how I interpreted it, that there were no animals on the boat to begin with. The island introduced interesting metaphors that, well, I never much thought about later.
I was far more interested in the man against animals against nature bits, the psychology behind repressed memories, and finally how people always believe the lie in light of the truth. At least that's how I interpreted it, that there were no animals on the boat to begin with. The island introduced interesting metaphors that, well, I never much thought about later.
einride
your best friend
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well in the framing story, with the writer interviewing pi, it is said quite literally that "this story will make [the writer] believe in god" and it ends with him going "WOW WHOA, YOU WERE RIGHT" so yep, that was the INTENT of the story
even if it had functioned as intended it wouldn't have done that though, it never tells anyone why they should believe in god. it tells them, at best, "maybe your life would be better if you could just give up and believe in a pretty fairytale once in a while. why not try THE BIBLE for instance?"
okay no offense, and i haven't read the book and you haven't seen the movie but wow, how is this possible when the word "god" is spoken about once every 5 minutes throughout and the whole thing is LITERALLY a fable or religious parable with the conclusion being little more than "y'all best believe in god"
well i don't know if the book makes it as blatantly clear, but yeah, the animals were never there, they were just ham-fisted one-to-one metaphors for the other surviving people in the lifeboat. cook = hyena, sailor = zebra, mother = orangutan. so you have two stories that are mostly the same, except in one it has pretty and cute animals instead of terrible evil real-life people. also suddenly there's an imagined flesh-eating island for no apparent reason.
as far as i can tell the entire message of the book/movie is that if the end result on your life is the same, why not believe in a lie? i mean wouldn't it be great to believe that the universe is a benevolent place and that there's a god looking out for you and who loves you? it's almost exactly this shit all over again except several hundred years too late, and the author presents it as if it's some new, deep, revelatory truth
so
well it goes further: the author actually suggests that it is PREFERABLE to believe in the lie, even when you know it is a lie, as long as the lie is more pleasant.
in that, he's completely glossing over a few facts:
1) ACTUAL religious people (not this post-modern fair-weather religion people subscribe to these days) do not believe that their religion is a lie, they believe it is the truth
2) BELIEVE IT OR NOT but there are people who think truth is preferable to lie even when the truth is not sugar-coated and pleasant
3) religion is not fluffy and pleasant
EDIT: and to elaborate on your point: you might remember that pi, the writer, and the japanese interviewers from the shipping company ALL KNOW that the lie is a lie, but they all agree it is more pleasant, so that is the version that is getting canonized, so to speak. but at no point do they actually BELIEVE that this was the chain of events that actually happened. so... yeah
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