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/lit/ - Literature

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3287145 No.3287145 [Reply] [Original]

Oh look, it's Melville's writing style, but actually well executed.

>> No.3287151

Someone gave me this book this past Christmas. I have to ask, is it actually good, it does not seem like it.

>> No.3287153

Oh look, it's shallow kiddie shit.

>> No.3287170

>>3287151
It has a very, VERY slow an heavy first act, which draws a lot of comparisons to Melville.

Then it gets really, really good. Now that it's become insanely popular everyone has to pretend to hate it, but I believe it is one of the best works of fiction written in the last 50 years.

>> No.3287178

>>3287170
Alright thanks. If I am partially familiar with Melville (Moby Dick, Billy Budd) do you think I will be able to enjoy it more or is it still too slow?

>> No.3287181

The ending made me rage, but I actually really liked this book up until then.

>> No.3287184

>>3287178
Act II is great. Act III is absolutely incredible, and makes Act I greater in hindsight.

It's a fantastic story and well worth reading -- just stick it through till the tiger shows up.

>> No.3287188

It was good up until the ending. It is not so much the ending itself that bothered me but that it was so poorly executed.

>> No.3287194

>>3287188
Really? I must be the only one who loved the ending.

>> No.3287197

I really liked how the mind-numbingly tedious information fed to you in the first portion of the book all becomes really important later on. It felt like a reward.

>> No.3287215

>>3287145
I actually found the writing to be the worst part of the book. I could tell the entire time that Martel had never stepped inside of a writing class his entire life. Just lazy conceits and try-hard similes. Obviously some people can just naturally write well without any classes but this dude seriously needs help. If the character Pi wasn't so inherently interesting by design the story would ultimately fail. I liked the book overall, but I'm not going to read anything else of his until I have a good reason

>> No.3287223

contemporary writing split into acts is the dumbest shit ever.

>> No.3287229

>>3287215
You've literally just written every review of Moby Dick ever written.

>> No.3287233

Is it worth reading even though I've seen the film?>

>> No.3287290

>>3287215
>implying writing classes

>> No.3287450

It's the Avatar of modern literature. If you like it you're full fucking pleb.

>> No.3287478

>>3287181
this

>> No.3290039

>>3287233
Not really. The book could've been half as long and nothing of value would've been lost. Carnivorous island is the only part I enjoyed. Haven't seen the movie, but surely that's in there.

>> No.3291547

>Before film comes out

>FANTASTIC BOOK

>After film comes out

>TERRIBLE BOOK

>> No.3291567

>>3291547
nope

>> No.3291581

Horrible book but what else to expect from a Canadian. The only thing /lit/ about Canada is that Hemingway spent a few years in Toronto fucking hot Canadian girls while writing for their shitty paper until he saved up enough money to go to Paris.

>> No.3291586

>>3287145

it's trash if you like to use your brain while reading.

>> No.3291589

>>3291581
>hot Canadian girls

The girls in Montreal are way hotter than the girls in Toronto unless you like Indian or Chinese.

>> No.3291592

>>3291547
I remember /lit/ shitting on it before the movie was advertised.

I don't want to read it because I heard it invokes Pascal's Wager as a justification for Christianity, which is kind if stupid if that's what got so many people to love it.

>> No.3291598

I liked it. Although 'magical realism' with an indian setting was cliche even when this came out. Seemed like he was doing his best to write a Salman Rushdie book.

>> No.3291601

>>3291592

You heard wrong.

>> No.3291618

>>3291601
"After giving all the relevant information, Pi asks which of the two stories they prefer. Since the officials cannot prove which story is true and neither is relevant to the reasons behind the shipwreck, they choose the story with the animals. Pi thanks them and says, "and so it goes with God"."

That is, essentially, Pascal's Wagers.

>> No.3291626

>>3291598
mfw I dropped Midnight's Children half way through

Need to finish before THAT movie comes out and everyone decides it's shit too

>> No.3291637

>>3291618

No it isn't. The wager is about odds and outcomes, Life of Pi is about preference.

The wager is "you could go to hell if you're wrong, but if you're right it won't be anything". Life of Pi is "you can't really know which really happened, so you choose which story you prefer".

>> No.3291641

>>3291618

Also, Life of Pi has nothing to do with Christianity. Pi believes in like every religion available to him.

>> No.3291651

>>3291637
Okay, my criticism still stands, that's a shitty justification.

>> No.3291656

>>3291651

If you think so. Personally I think it's quite nice. But you're obviously a little anti-religion, so the book isn't really for you anyway.

>> No.3291658

Melville's style is great. I have no idea what you're talking about.

>> No.3291660

That book was written for 3D, it's so fucking obvious.

>> No.3291676

>>3291656
>you're obviously a little anti-religion

Not at all, I only think religion, morality, really any ideology ought to have a solid rational ground on which it stands, and that we shouldn't just chalk it all up to preference.

And I get that everything is preference in the subjective sense, it doesn't mean ideologies should be impervious to criticism.

>> No.3291683

>>3291676

>blah blah blah

>I suck lots of dicks

>> No.3291706

>>3291683
Are you a child?

>> No.3291764

>>3291676

>Not at all, I only think religion, morality, really any ideology ought to have a solid rational ground on which it stands

But you realize that's just your preference. You just prefer these beliefs to have a rational basis.

>it doesn't mean ideologies should be impervious to criticism.

Who said anything about criticism? I don't know where this is coming from.

>> No.3291786

>>3291706

No, I'm an adult who knows better than to waste one's time with children.

>> No.3291825

It's a good gateway book for the casual Pleb. Its nothing special though.

>> No.3291837

>>3291825

>its
>it's

Fuck you.

>> No.3291871

>Oh look, it's Melville's writing style, but actually well executed.

you either obviously haven't read life of pi or you haven't read melville. the book wasn't terrible but it was nowhere near great either. it's mediocre shit with an interesting premise.

oh. and guess what?
got you, faggot. i knew you'd look.

>> No.3292061

>>3287170

Oh Thanks, because I found it extremly hard to overcome the first act, but I trust you saying it will become really really good later.

>> No.3292099

>>3287229
Melville is a fantastic writer you dolt

>> No.3292108

>>3292099

He is.

>wrote my thesis on Moby Dick