By Kendra Hibbert
March 7, 2003
Life-changing, epiphiniac (yes, I made that word up) endings are what most books are all about - those coming-of-age tales we all fall in love with that have the narrator declaring in one form or another: “That was the day I decided never to fight with my dad/shoot heroin/mess with dinosaur DNA ever again.” Some of the best books, however, don’t actually have these events. They are instead simply a string of moments joined together, usually framed in a road trip narrative or some kind of journey and concluding simply when the characters have reached their destination. This week, the two (relatively) new books I’ll be taking a look at follow just that format – LIFE OF PI by Yann Martel and YOU SHALL KNOW OUR VELOCITY by Dave Eggers.
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LIFE OF PI has been on many bestseller lists around the world and it’s easy to see why. The majority of this book reads like a candidate for the Oprah Book Club (if she was still doing current books) – an inspirational ode to the miracles in life. The introduction (written in Martel’s own voice) tells the story of how the author came in contact with Pi Patel – the protagonist and inspiration behind the story – and how when he was first told this story, he was informed that hearing it would make you believe in God. And sure the first 300 or so pages of this book is set up like an amazing true-life story that is supposed to make you wonder about the astounding things possible in this world (though a somewhat predictable story since we already know Pi survived the ordeal). The last 50 pages, however, are what make this book stand out in my mind.
The book is broken up into three parts - the first following little Pi in his formative years growing up in India the son of a zookeeper, with his Mother and older playfully bullying brother. This part establishes Pi as a curious boy who shows a childhood interest in animals and who later in his early teens takes up religion as a hobby – not just one religion but many – becoming a devote Christian and Muslim and Hindu at the same time. Martel thus establishes the two major themes in this book, animals and God and how the flora and fauna reflect The Almighty’s work on earth. Martel also includes in this section various pro-zoo theories that characterize animals (like humans) very content to live a peaceful existence so long as they have a roof over their head and a full belly. Not only do these theories seem to make a lot of sense they also set up a scenario in which the second part of the book can take place.
This second part is the meat of the story. The high concept chronicle of 16 year old Pi’s seven-month ordeal on a life raft in the ocean with only a Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker to keep him company. By using the small emergency kit of supplies he finds on board Pi must establish dominance over the tiger so that they can exist on the same small raft and keep him constantly fed and content so the dangerous beast won’t feel the need to turn on small Pi. This is the most Oprah-esque part of the book (I know it must seem that I have a personal grudge against Ms. Winfrey - I assure you I don’t – it’s just the easiest and best way to describe the CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL/Modern-day-miracle-stories-that-are-supposed-to-inspire-you-to-live-your-life-to-the-fullest-but-really-only-depress-you-with-the-realization-that-you-haven’t-done-anything-with-your-life literary phenomenon that I have little patience for reading unless it’s particularly well written). Pi’s ordeal on the ocean is one of painstaking effort of survival. Martel spares us most of the more tedious parts of the daily raft life but does include some interesting moments including his training of Richard Parker and a strange deserted island he finds near the end of the trip.
Normally the epiphany would come at the moment when Pi sets foot in Mexico seven months after the ship he was on capsized. The last part of the book, however, which takes place after Pi has been saved – is told through the notes written by two Japanese investigators who have been hired to discover what caused the sinking of the ship Pi was on. When the mending young Pi tells them his story of life on a raft with a tiger they are understandably skeptical and prod him for more information. What he tells them then is in my opinion what makes this book stand out. This is not a story, as the introduction would have you believe, that will make you instantly believe in the existence of God. If anything it makes you question it.
Because of this surprise ending, THE LIFE OF PI is more like a dark journey through man’s psyche - like a HEART OF DARKNESS disguised in a CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE STRANDED ON A LIFE RAFT SOUL package. There is an epiphany in this novel but it happens not for the main character but rather for the audience when the real meaning of the story is made known. To reveal it here would be spoiling this novel, but believe me when I tell you that these last pages change the entire meaning of the book and elevate this novel above the predicable inspirational stories of the same genre.
Dave Eggers YOU SHALL KNOW OUR VELOCITY is almost the opposite kind of story. The follow-up to his lauded first book, the autobiographical A HEARTBREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS, this novel follows the antics of Will and Hand, two post-slacker twenty-somethings who decide to take off for a week of touring the world using the large sum of money Will suddenly finds himself in possession of and - because of his guilt of good fortune - is determined to get rid of by arbitrarily giving it away to people they meet on their travels. This “playing God” isn’t as easy as it sounds – Will is of the understanding that getting rid of the money will somehow make his life better. But he finds himself questioning the “goodness” of what he’s doing – whether randomly passing out huge amounts of money in poverty-stricken sections of Senegal and Morocco will in fact only fill these people with false hope and how does he know that the money will even be spent for good, anyway?
Along the narrative way, Eggers throws in flashbacks to the death and funeral of the boys’ longtime friend Jack and the account of how Will got to be beat up so badly, the injuries of this scuffle plaguing him as he makes his trip. He also throws in many internal conversations Will has in his head, trying to make sense of the world and sifting through the events that lead him to where he is now in his life.
The formatting of YSKOV is unique and reflects the genuine, raw sensibilities of the writing. Strewn throughout the novel are rough visual aids reflecting the complex emotions and wandering style of the story – maps drawn on graph paper and out-of-focus photographs – that make this book feel like you’re reading someone’s diary rather than a published novel. The front cover doesn’t contain the title anywhere on it (that only appears on the spine) and is taken up with three sentences declaring: “Everything within takes place after Jack died and before my Mom and I drowned in a burning ferry in the cool tannin-tinted Guaviare River, in East-Central Colombia, with forty-two locals we hadn’t yet met. It was a clear and eyeblue day, that day, as was the first day of this story, a few years ago in January, on Chicago’s North Side, in the opulent shadow of Wrigley and with the wind coming low and searching off the jagged half-frozen lake. I was inside, very warm, walking from door to door.” Then the novel is off and running, not pausing for copyright notices or dedications but starting from the page inside the cover. The result is you’re taken away from the normal reading experience and thrown straight into Will’s life.
The novel ends when Will and Hand get back home safe and sound with no great revelation or moral life-lesson learned – that’s not really the point of Eggers’ novel. The purpose of this book and many like it is the journey that these guys take. It’s the tiny realizations these characters have along the way rather than the one big epiphany which makes it feel that much more realistic and makes the book that much more enjoyable to read.
Next Column: Due to huge amounts of my time henceforth (for a while, anyway) being dedicated to non-book reviewing facets of my life, I’m cutting down to one reviewed book per column for the next few months, starting next column with John Grisham’s THE KING OF TORTS.
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