My feelings towards the first one hundred pages of the "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel, contrary to those of many of my peers, are positive. Though at time confusing, the constant story switching keeps me on my feet and interested in each new story. Having read a multitude of books, I've come to expect the metaphorical mountain climb the first 100 pages of any book can potentially be. I've trained and conditioned myself to persevere through even the most boring of back stories to get to the good stuff in a book. I expect the first 100 pages of the Life of Pi to be challenging and boring, but I was pleasantly surprised by the color and intrigue of chapters 1 through 29. Martel uses vivid detail to describe things I know very little about.
One reason the book is so interesting is the fact that I have very little knowledge of India and zoo keeping. I have already learned so much about in just these few chapters. For instance, keeping a zoo is almost the opposite of running a hotel though the jobs seem similar, the zoo is to the animal as the Ritz Carlton is to the human, and hungry tigers are very ferocious animals.
Pi's story becomes confusing where he becomes confused: religion. He changes religions often, never satisfied, but always passionate about prayer and religious rites. I enjoy the switches in point of view from Pi's to Martel's then back to Pi's. This adds depth and intrigue.
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