John’s Blog

Your typical boy-meets-tiger story. This is a novel that describes an Indian boy’s trek from Pondicherry, India to Canada, with a pretty notable shipwreck in the middle. For most of the book, Pi Patel is stuck on a very small boat with a very large tiger — but it’s a pretty gripping read, nonetheless.

One of the judges who awarded the book the Booker Prize basically said that the book has a flawed beginning & end, but there’s a ton of great stuff in the middle, and that’s how I feel. I was reminded a lot of reading The Old Man and the Sea, by John Steinbeck, in high school — in particular, I was reminded how bored I was when reading that book, and how not-bored I was when reading Life of Pi. There’s something very compelling about the way that Martel writes the character — makes you both want to believe in the story and also makes you think a lot about what you’d do in similar, or analogous, situations, which I suppose is the whole point.

At the end of the day, I think this is a story that’s a little bit about perception, and a little bit about God, a little bit about culture — but mostly it’s a story about creating the type of world that you want to have, even in the direst of situations.

Definitely worth reading.

This is a great book! It’s a short book, written by a frequent contributor to NPR, all about candy. He talks about his own candy addiction for a bit (always has between 3 and 8 pounds of candy in his house — actually gives a rundown of the candy in his house when he was writing the book). Talks a lot about the candy that he remembers from his youth, how it all evokes such strong memories. Lots of interesting history and stories about the candy industry. Did you know that Snickers Almond is basically rebranded Mars bars? Or that while Americans love milk chocolate, most of the world loves dark chocolate? And that that was an effect of Mr. Hershey introducing and marketing milk chocolate starting at the Colombian Exposition in Chicago in the late 19th century? [Aside: another book that I’ve read this year that’s relevant here is called The Devil and the White City — all about the Colombian Exposition — great book. Shredded Wheat was introduced at that fair, as was Alternating Current. Momentous.]

Anyway, in the really magical part of the book, Almond writes about taking tours of a number of regional candy makers — companies that are still straining to stay alive. Consider the Twin Bing — a cherry candy made in Iowa. Or the Idaho Spud, produced in its eponymous state. [When Kathy and I were in Montana, I was **thrilled** to find Idaho Spuds at a convenience store in the middle of nowhere. Until I took the first bite. Ugh. Some sort of marshmallow/nougat/coconut concoction. But you’ve got to give them credit for trying.]

Like I said, it’s a short book, easy to read. And it really will bring back all sorts of memories. Big tip: he mentions that the absolute best candy bars that he found during his trip are the Five Star Bars, by Lake Champlain Chocolates. You can get them at Whole Foods, or by writing away for them. Absolutely delicious.

The book’s only real flaws, in my opinion are these: (1) he has a real bigotry against white chocolate, and (2) he never once mentions the Zero Bar — a staple of my youth.