Granny Eyre Stuff

It's time to truly live up to my name and make a blog post about a book. Recently I just finished reading Life of Pi  by Yann Martel. I'd give it a 5 out of 5 even though it wasn't life changing. Martel brilliantly took the 227 lonely days that Pi Patel spent stranded on a lifeboat with a tiger and turned it into a captivating book. I've read The Old Man and the Sea and Moby-Dick, so I know how boring sea novels can be at times. (I'm not saying those are horrible books. They have their merit, but they were a bit dry at times.)

Life of Pi begins with a boy whose family owns a zoo in India. It's a magical place to grow up, but Piscine very clearly knows the difference between animals and humans and does not imagine that the animals are his friends. Still though, he learns quite a bit about life, death, and animals while growing up there. In addition to animals, Pi also takes interest in religion, joining three somewhat different religions: Christianity, Islam, and Hindu. The chapters about his exploration through these belief systems are interesting and informative. There is no bashing of one religion over another because the character equally believes in all of them. As a Christian, the few pages where Pi discovers Christianity were beautiful because they were a reminder of the time when I first understood how much God did for humans.

I had seen the movie before reading this book, but my memory of the movie wasn't that great. I remember ranking it above March of the Penguins, but I was upset by the confusing ending. The book ends similarly where the reader is unsure what exactly is the true story. After taking a class in contemporary fiction, I think the author is going for the contemporary ideas where truth is left up to the individual. That is evidenced by Pi's interest in multiple seemingly contradictory religions and the somewhat similar stories. Before making a final judgement on the movie, I probably should re-watch it in light of the book. After reading the book, though, I'm really unsure how the movie ever captured the detailed dialogue of thoughts expressed by Pi in the book.

If you're looking for a thought-provoking quick read, I'd suggest Life of  Pi. I think I could even read this book numerous times.



___________________________________

On a separate note, I have also been fulfilling the Granny part of my pseudonym by crocheting up a storm. Since I came back the this area the day after Christmas I have crocheted an entire blanket and made quite good progress on another. I don't have a picture of the first since it is in the washer right now, but it is fuzzy blue and worsted weight gray. I'm finding that I prefer to crochet with worsted weight yarn over the fancy yarns that are often sold. I like the even stitches I can get with worsted weight.

Here is a picture my second blanket. It's a new stitch pattern for me and I'm quite pleased with the way it's turning out. I think I'll go around the edge with a solid color to tie it all together.

Well that's all for now. More to come soon!

-Granny Eyre-