Yann Martel's novel tells the story of a 16-year-old Indian boy who is shipwrecked in the Pacific and survives 227 days at sea in the company of a Bengal tiger. Since this fact is now well known, as well known as the fact that the book recently won the Booker Prize, Life of Pi risks being shrunk to the monad of its narrative 'premise', like any Hollywood concept movie. Doubtless, people will choose to read it insofar as they can tolerate this premise. And the reduction of the novel to its magic realist challenge would not be unfair, since the book is constituted of little other than this singular story, and moreover is explicitly - that is to say, theoretically - about the inevitability of the magical in storytelling. Martel's novel is evangelical in its defence of the shimmeringly implausible. 'If you stumble at mere believability, what are you living for?' the survivor asks, once he has found land and is being interviewed by two investigators who do not credit his tale. According to Lisa Jardine, who chaired this year's Booker judges, Martel has described his novel as one 'that will make you believe in God'. Life of Pi is proud to be a delegate for magic realism, and wears a big badge so that we don't forget it.

LRB 14 November 2002 | PDF Download