Life of Pi: Deluxe Illustrated Edition | 
| Author: Yann Martel
Creator: Tomislav Torjanac
Publisher: Harcourt
Category: Book
List Price: $23.00
Buy New: $4.45
You Save: $18.55 (81%)
New (41) Used (18) Collectible (7) from $4.17
Avg. Customer Rating:  31 reviews
Sales Rank: 951
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.5
Dimensions (in): 9.7 x 7.6 x 1.1
ISBN: 0151013837
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780151013838
ASIN: 0151013837
Publication Date: October 7, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Yann Martel's imaginative and unforgettable Life of Pi is a magical reading experience, an endless blue expanse of storytelling about adventure, survival, and ultimately, faith. The precocious son of a zookeeper, 16-year-old Pi Patel is raised in Pondicherry, India, where he tries on various faiths for size, attracting "religions the way a dog attracts fleas." Planning a move to Canada, his father packs up the family and their menagerie and they hitch a ride on an enormous freighter. After a harrowing shipwreck, Pi finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean, trapped on a 26-foot lifeboat with a wounded zebra, a spotted hyena, a seasick orangutan, and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker ("His head was the size and color of the lifebuoy, with teeth"). It sounds like a colorful setup, but these wild beasts don't burst into song as if co-starring in an anthropomorphized Disney feature. After much gore and infighting, Pi and Richard Parker remain the boat's sole passengers, drifting for 227 days through shark-infested waters while fighting hunger, the elements, and an overactive imagination. In rich, hallucinatory passages, Pi recounts the harrowing journey as the days blur together, elegantly cataloging the endless passage of time and his struggles to survive: "It is pointless to say that this or that night was the worst of my life. I have so many bad nights to choose from that I've made none the champion." At one point in his journey, Pi recounts, "My greatest wish--other than salvation--was to have a book. A long book with a never-ending story. One that I could read again and again, with new eyes and fresh understanding each time." It's safe to say that the fabulous, fablelike Life of Pi is such a book. First published in 2002, Martel's breathtaking breakout novel became an international bestseller and went on to win the Man Booker Prize, and was also named Amazon.com's Best Book of 2002. In 2005, after an international competition, Croatian artist Tomislav Torjanac was selected to illustrate a special edition of Life of Pi that features 40 stunning illustrations that present a new perspective on this modern classic. --Brad Thomas Parsons
Amazon.com Exclusive: Outtakes from Tomislav Torjanac's Early Illustrations for Life of Pi 
Tomislav Torjanac's Artist Statement
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Island Study | 
Lifeboat Study | 
"I quite deliberately dressed wild animals in tame costumes of my imagination." | 
"Only when they threw me overboard did I begin to have doubts..." | 
"And what a thump it was." | 
"I threw the mako towards the stern." |
Product Description
Life of Pi, first published in 2002, became an international bestseller and remains one of the most extraordinary and popular works of contemporary fiction.
In 2005 an international competition was held to find the perfect artist to illustrate Yann Martel s Man Booker Prize winning novel. From thousands of entrants, Croatian artist Tomislav Torjanac was chosen. This lavishly produced edition features forty of Torjanac s beautiful four-color illustrations, bringing Life of Pi to splendid, eye-popping life.
Tomislav Torjanac says of his illustrations: My vision of the illustrated edition of Life of Pi is based on paintings from a first person s perspective Pi s perspective. The interpretation of what Pi sees is intermeshed with what he feels and it is shown through [the] use of colors, perspective, symbols, hand gestures, etc.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 26 more reviews...
 An amazing story July 18, 2008
This is a truly beautifully written book and an amazing story. I love animals and this story provides such a wealth of fascinating insight into animal behaviour. I know it is not a new publication, but this made no difference to the tale, plus the illustrations are wonderful. What a great value also - I know I will be re-reading this time after time.
An allegory within and allegory July 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a really classic book.
This is an allegory within an allegory and therefore is a doubly deceptive book. If you try to read reality into it, you have missed the point. Remember this is a novel; it is not real life and and I do not refer only to the seeming confusion on the end.
This is the story of the difficulties of a young man forsaking one culture to live in another, when he is given no choice. Think of this boy moving from India to Canada and the difficulties that he faces particularly the pull of India that, if he does not conquer, will destroy him: the 450 pound tiger he has to control. Think of the alien character of the sea: Canada is as alien as the sea.
This is a truly exciting book that I recommend people re-read from the double allegory perspective.
 The World Of Pi Completely Grab Me! July 12, 2008
How exciting and memorable! But, in stating that, parts were unrealistic, even for fiction. But, in stating that, it was most enjoyable reading, from the zebra, the hyena, the orangutan, the bengal tiger, to all the outstanding illustrations...it was a delightful reading experience. Peggy Inez, Author [[ISBN 978-159858-400-4 The Gully.
Where's God? July 11, 2008
I don't understand what "Life of Pi" has to do with God. The references to various religions in the first part of the book don't amount to anything more than name-dropping of some significant figures in the religions and minimal descriptions of some basic religious beliefs. It's not an exploration in the vein of, for example, "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." It's just a catalog that's not even as interesting as the catalog of animals under Pi's father's care.
Contrast the lack of depth to the religious discussion with the book's author's claim that Pi's story made him believe in God. Where's this coming from?
This is just one of the ways in which the book doesn't quite meet its potential. Although "Life of Pi" is highly imaginative and entertaining, it's burdened by a number of weaknesses. For example, the framing mechanism of the author who hears the story and then finds Pi doesn't seem essential. What does the author add to the picture? Or, Pi's slip into immediate anonymity in Canada isn't believable in our media-saturated world. And what did he conclude about religious belief in the 20-plus years since he was rescued? We don't find out.
The best part of the book, from my perspective, comes when Pi finds the island of seaweed. It's an eerie existence with an astounding ending, and it's a series of images that will remain in my mind for years and years.
So read the book and enjoy it. But don't expect too much.
WOW! July 9, 2008
This is an absolutely gorgeous edition of Yann Martel's 'Life of Pi'. The pictures are vivid and beautifully drawn. The pages themselves are heavy and quality. I'd recommend this as a gift for yourself or any reader. A young reader, especially, could get lost in the fable told between the pages of this special edition, both in word and drawing.
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