Yann Martel

The author of life of pi comes back to haunt me again. With his sequel Beatrice and Virgil, his writing style becomes stranger than ever. His imagination becomes ferocious. In this book, Yann Martel goes into one of his strongest believes: There are not enough written medium fantasy on the holocaust. This is what he believes as an author, and as a main character in a book (Henry) 

The whole beginning of the book starts off as what seems to be an author’s appreciation. Don't be fooled.

There were so many things running threw my mind when I read the beginning. I kept thinking, and thinking, and thinking about WHAT type of story it was. I had all these facts about the character and they all matched up to the author, and his life in some way or another. And I know it all means something. Yann Martel seems to have a reason for all these repeats and overlaps. 

          The story starts strong and weird. To me, it felt like dialogue. Like someone was actually telling me a story, and there was so much detail. –I think it is important to note that this story is written in the third person- I know Yann Martel wrote this book just the way he did for some very strong purposes. Nothing that seems random in his books are. There is a reason for everything in his books.

When he wrote this, Yann Martel was thinking about the reader, he was thinking about HOW he was going to be able to keep the reader reading, keep them interested. But at the same time, he wanted to tell a story. He has so many metaphors and themes and morals, it’s hard to keep track of them all. And it is hard to really understand what he is trying to tell us. Yann Martel’s books are very deep, and they have many layers of intensity in them. You can dig into one and find that there is a mythical purpose behind the coffee shop Henry (the main character) works in. But if you explore more into what that means, I'm sure that you would find a moral reason to the mythical reason of the coffee shop. And IM POSITIVE, if you are really motivated enough to really tunnel threw all of that and more. The moral will in someway or another, tie back to the holocaust.

“Why is it you see the holocaust in everything?”

-I believe that this is probably one of the most important quotes in the book. For one, there aren’t many quotes. Two, it is Henry’s wife talking to Henry. And three, following it, describes how Henry doesn’t see the holocaust in everything. He sees everything in the holocaust.

Themes and questions I have begun to track threw the book:

Taxidermist? What’s that? thats so random.

A donkey and a howler monkey...that’s so random.

Animals? What’s with all the animals?

Lots of morals on zoos. 

Theo, I bet he's going to become a very big element in this book.

The wife seems really understandable and nice . . .

These books are both placed in places that aren't very distinct. Say someone asks where your book takes place. You wouldn't be able to give a defining answer.

Canada, comes up in life of pi, Beatrice and Virgil, and he authors back round. 

Showing flaws in people threw animals.

ANSWERS/ background research on Yann Martel's book:

In an interview of Yann Martel, he says something along the lines of "every book is somewhat like an autobiography for the author. There has to be some aspect of fiction that is at least based off of some truth,” He Also said that he used this technique to lure the reader in. I can Beatrice and Virgil, and not only [physically but morally lost their way.

He had a whole reason behind their names, and the adventures they went on. For example, the reason behind Beatrice's name is that it means paradise. This is a very important key fact in this book. He also uses animals instead of humans because the book is holocaust fiction, and by using animals, "we know animals, but you know nothing about them" -which according to Yann Martel, allows your disbelief to be suspended.

"When you look at the holocaust, you need those kinds of guys"-Yann Martel