I hate to sound all hipster, but I read LIFE OF PI before the movie came out.

I’m re-reading it, now. Unlike my mother and daughter, I’ve only read it once. Mom read it, turned the last page, opened it at the front, and read it again. #4 daughter read it through three times.

We haven’t seen the movie yet. When you love a book as much as we do this one, you hesitate to see the movie, in case it sullies the perfection in your mind. Mom and I, though, do plan to see it, and #4 daughter is awaiting our report.

If you haven’t read the book, I highly recommend it. Here’s a link to LIFE OF PI in versions both print and electronic, movie tie-in and pre-movie, illustrated, and you-name-it.

Here’s a link to a Wikipedia article about LIFE OF PI, which is quite good, and has links at the bottom to reading group and global read-along stuff.

What is so compelling about the book? I’m always a sucker for survival stories, but PI is more than that. It’s true strength, like the strength of its narrator, comes from what lies within it. It’s when the reader thinks about the book in between one bit of reading and the next that the real story of the story happens. It happens within the reader, not within the book.

Whether you’ve seen the movie or you haven’t, whether you saw the movie and loved it or hated it or thought it was meh, I heartily recommend you read the book. Then come back and tell me what you think.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: A character reads a book which speaks to his or her heart and mind.

MA