What is the use of a recipe? A recipe is a teaching tool, a guide, a point of departure. Follow it exactly the first time you make the dish. As you make it again and again, you will change it, massage it to fit your own taste and aesthetic. Eventually it will become your own personal recipe - Jacques Pepin
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Embarking on another trip, I found myself searching for an audio book to keep us entertained. Life of Pi, a story about Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, and his shipwreck with a Bengal tiger, recently made into a movie, seemed like a safe bet.
To be a good long distance travel audio book requires a couple of things, for me. First, the narrator must be upbeat and entertaining, rather than droning in such a way as to put you to sleep. This book succeeded on that front. Second, the book itself must catch my attention and have a swiftly moving plot. I'm afraid it fails on that score.
The narrator, as Pi, goes off on long digressions about zoos and the animals in them, comparative religion - erroneously, I might add - and even historical swimming pools in Paris. We listed for several hours and never got to a point where we felt engaged, so we gave up and listened to XM Satellite Radio instead.
If you like long flowery descriptions and pointless pontification, go ahead and read - or listen to - this one.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment