Yann Martel - Life of Pi

11. In chapter 23, Pi sparks a lively debate when all three of his spiritual advisors try to claim him. At the heart of this confrontation is Pi’s insistence that he cannot accept an exclusively Hindu, Christian or Muslim faith; he can only be content with all three. What is Pi seeking that can solely be attained by this apparent contradiction? Is there something common to all religions? Are they “all the same”? If not, how are they different? Is there a difference between faith and belief?

12. What do you make of Pi’s assertion at the beginning of chapter 16 that we are all “in limbo, without religion, until some figure introduces us to God”? Do you believe that Pi’s faith is a response to his father’s agnosticism?

13. Among Yann Martel’s gifts is a rich descriptive palette. Regarding religion, he observes the green elements that represent Islam and the orange tones of Hinduism. What color would Christianity be, according to Pi’s perspective?

14. How do the human beings in your world reflect the animal behaviour observed by Pi? What do Pi’s strategies for dealing with Richard Parker teach us about confronting the fearsome creatures in our lives?

15. Besides the loss of his family and possessions, what else did Pi lose when the Tsimtsum sank? What did he gain?

16. Nearly everyone experiences a turning point that represents the transition from youth to adulthood, albeit seldom as traumatic as Pi’s. What event marked your coming of age?

17. How do Mr. Patel’s zoo-keeping abilities compare to his parenting skills? Discuss the scene in which his tries to teach his children a lesson in survival by arranging for them to watch a tiger devour a goat. Did this in any way prepare Pi for the most dangerous experience of his life?

18. If shock hadn’t deluded him, do you think Pi would have whistled and waved at Richard Parker? What would you have done?

19. Pi imagines that his brother would have teasingly called him Noah. How does Pi’s voyage compare to the biblical story of Noah, who was spared from the flood while God washed away the sinners?

20. Is Life of Pi a tragedy, romance or comedy?

21. Pi defends zoos. Are you convinced? Is a zoo a good place for a wild animal?

22. What did you think of Pi’s interview with the investigators from the Japanese Ministry of Transport? Do you think Pi’s mother, along with a sailor and a cannibalistic cook, were in the lifeboat with him instead of the animals? Which story do you believe, the one with animals or the one without animals? When the investigators state that they think the story with animals is the better story, Pi answers “Thank you. And so it goes with God.” What do you think Pi meant by that? How does it relate to the claim that this is a story “that will make you believe in God”?

23. The first part of the novel starts twenty years after Pi’s ordeal at sea and ends with the words “This story has a happy ending.” Do you agree?

THE FACTS BEHIND THE HELSINKI ROCCAMATIOS

YANN MARTEL

This memorable debut, originally published in 1993, was hailed for its power and elegance on both sides of the Atlantic. Dealing with such themes as storytelling and illness, war and music, death and bureaucracy, memory and material objects, these tales are moving and thought-provoking, as inventive in form as they are timeless in content. They display the startling mix of dazzle and depth that has made this Man Booker Prize-winning author an international phenomenon.

The title story, winner of the 1991 Journey Prize, is an intensely moving tragedy, told with spare style and originality, qualities found in all four stories in this collection. Together they establish Martel as one of the most interesting writers working in the world today.

‘A vivid and entrancing storyteller.’ Sunday Telegraph

£ 6.99

ISBN 978 1 84195 612 1

www.canongate.net

TIMOLEON VIETA COME HOME

DAN RHODES

Cockroft, a faded composer and socialite, lives in self-imposed exile and fantasises about true love and extravagant suicides. Rattling about his dilapidated farmhouse in the Italian countryside, subsisting on a trickle of royalties from past successes, his only constant source of company is the ever loyal Timoleon Vieta – a mongrel with the most beautiful eyes.

However, when a handsome but surly individual – known only as ‘the Bosnian’ – arrives unexpectedly, the strong bond between Cockroft and Timoleon Vieta is put under strain …

In this tragicomic work of macabre beauty, Rhodes amuses and moves in equal measure. One of Britain’s most promising and original young writers has produced a novel of unexpected twists and inspiring humanity.

‘By turns hilarious and heartrending. Rhodes is that real, rare thing – a natural storyteller.’ Sunday Times

‘A delight, a masterpiece of beautifully unforced comedy.’ Observer

‘Everybody should go out and buy Timoleon Vieta Come Home … A story worthy of WG Sebald, universal in its scope and ambition.’ Rose Tremain, Daily Telegraph

£ 7.99

ISBN 978 1 84195 481 3

www.canongate.net

THE PENELOPIAD

MARGARET ATWOOD

From the Booker Prize-winning author of The Blind Assassin

For Penelope, wife of Odysseus, maintaining a kingdom while her husband was off fighting the Trojan war was not a simple business. Already aggrieved that he had been lured away due to the shocking behaviour of her beautiful cousin Helen, Penelope must bring up her wayward son, face down scandalous rumours and keep over a hundred lustful, greedy and bloodthirsty suitors at bay …

In Homer’s Odyssey , Penelope is portrayed as the quintessential faithful wife, her story a salutary lesson through the ages. In a splendid contemporary twist to the ancient tale, Margaret Atwood has chosen to give the telling of it to Penelope herself, answering the question: ‘What was she really up to?’

‘Penelope flies with the help of the sardonic, dead-pan voice Atwood lends her, a tone half-Dorothy Parker, half- Desperate Housewives .’ Boyd Tonkin, Independent

‘[An] exquisitely poised book.’ Lucy Hughes-Hallett, Sunday Times

£ 7.99

ISBN 978 1 84195 704 3

www.canongate.net

CARRY ME DOWN

MJ HYLAND

Shortlisted for the 2006 Man Booker Prize

John Egan is a misfit, ‘a twelve-year old in the body of a grown man with the voice of a giant who insists on the ridiculous truth’. He is also someone who has a gift: he knows when people are lying. He hopes that one day this unusual talent will bring him fame and guarantee his entry into the Guinness Book of World Records , but until then, he must deal with the destructive undercurrents of his loving but fragile family.

Set in Ireland in the early ’70s, Carry Me Down is a deeply sympathetic take on boyhood and the unspooling of a young mind, told in gripping and at times unsettling prose. Playing out its tragic plot against a disarmingly familiar background, this is a book that refuses to portray any of its lovingly drawn characters as easy heroes or villains.