Life of Pi

Well this was a relatively enjoyable read, it was certainly more interesting than the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin was.

I am unsure if this book was fiction or non-fiction, though I am inclined to believe it was fiction due to the incredibly unlikely things that happen in the story. On the other hand, when the main character recounts his story to reporters at the end of the book they make the same conclusion of the story being fictitious and press for the real story, which the main character is unable to provide them since the real story is what he had already told. During the conversation he accuses the reporters of not wanting the true story, but rather that they wanted a story that would confirm their existing knowledge of the world without expanding their horizons. In this sense I am forced to wonder if perhaps the unusual qualities of the story do not necessarily make it false. Granted it is miraculous to think that someone could survive in a lifeboat for nearly a year with a full-grown tiger as a passenger, but if things truly progressed as they did then it is not quite impossible.

I could discover if the story was true or not through some research, however I feel it is more satisfying to leave the nature of the story unknown in this case and enjoy the uncertainty. Now I can choose whether or not to believe the story is true based on my mood, rather than have to deal with the reality, whatever it may be.

Apart from that, I found the view of religion held by the main character to be quite interesting, as it is strikingly similar to my own beliefs. The main character practiced three religions at once because he felt all of them let him get closer to god. This led to a rather amusing scene as the priests of each religion (or appropriate substitute depending on the religion) all converged on him and tried to badger him into picking a single faith, at the same time attacking each other verbally with the zeal that can only be found in religious fanatics.

My own personal belief is that there is no organized religion that can truly claim to have all the answers and be the one true faith. I believe there is a supreme being(s), I believe he(they) did create the universe, but I don't believe that the Christians are the only ones who worship those beings properly, nor do I believe any other religion has the only correct method of worship. I've noticed that all religions share the same basic principals, namely their code of conduct, things like "thou shall not kill" are present in all religions (excluding Satanic ones, in which killing is glorified). Keeping this in mind, I feel that the best way to honor whatever "God" exists is to follow those things that are considered by every religion as morally correct. I don't need to go to church to know that killing people is wrong, nor do I need to go to any other place of worship.

Because of this belief, I despise most, if not all, organized religions. Particularly in the case of Christianity, organized religions are very eager to toss their beliefs out the window and use religion as an excuse for their depraved acts, namely crusades against other religions. In my opinion there is no religion that is justified in attacking another simply because they are different religions, it goes directly against the values that are supposed to be an integral part of the religions. I want no part of such corrupted organizations, so I do not go to church or any other religious institution.

It was interesting to find my view replicated in this book to a degree, whether or not there is actually a person out there who feels that way.

Apart from these things I have little to say about this book, so I think I will end here. This leaves only one more blog post to go before this ends, so soon I shall be saying farewell for the last time, but until that time farewell.