Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Life of Pi

This is one of those books that will stay in my memory for ever. I listened to it on CD and it was very well read.  The story is that of a man in a lifeboat with a tiger, which doesn't sound too interesting, but it was. Somehow, despite the picture of the tiger on the front of the book, I didn't realize what it was about when I started to read it, so the part where Pi (yes that's his name) realized there was a tiger on board was a complete surprise to me. From there the book just got better and better. 

The book recently came out as a movie and, while I don't usually go to the movies very often, I did go and see this one as many people were saying it was a really good movie. Everything about the movie was excellent: the acting, the animals, the story line and the whole production. I heard the criticism that the movie was too long, but I didn't find it so.

I did read Yann Martel's second book, Beatrice and Virgil, and very much disliked it. The reason being that it was the story of an author who had had a very successful book who was struggling to write a second book. I felt it was autobiographical, and not very good in itself. Usually if I like one book from an author, I like all of them, but not in this case. It just didn't have the feel of quality of the Life of Pi. People suggested that the book was an allegory and had a double meaning, but I didn't see it.

Life of Pi

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Steve Jobs

The book was somewhat long, but never boring. I learned many facts about Steve Jobs that I didn't know before.  Although he was the CEO of Apple, he wasn't the only one with ideas, the book often appears to claim that he was the only one who came up with the design ideas. 

Steve Jobs gave Walter Isaacson free range to write whatever he wanted in his book, and it seemed factually accurate. My only criticism was that there was a little too much detail. Frequently there were transcripts of whole conversations that maybe didn't need to be there. 

I listened to this on CD and I'll just say that I've heard better readers of audiobooks. 

As members of a book club in Silicon Valley, many people knew people who knew Steve Jobs. And one of our group used to work for Apple. That is why we decided to read a biography when we didn't usually do so. That, and the fact that Steve Jobs had just died when we were choosing the books. 

It was definitely a good book to read, but needed more time than average because of its length. 

I would like in the future to read another Walter Isaacson book, he has also written the following:

Einstein: His Life and Universe
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

Book Club Questions for The Infinite Tides

I reviewed The Infinite Tides here

The book is fairly new and I couldn't find any book club questions for it, so here are some I have written that may help your discussion.

1.  What was the main theme of the book? Was there a meaning to the story?

2.   Did you like the character of Keith or not?

3.    Did Keith’s marriage fail just because he was out of space and not available at the time of his daughter’s death, or would it have failed anyway?

4.    What do you think of what his wife did? Should she have spoken to him face to face instead of through electronic media?

5.    How did Keith deal with his loss? What should he have done?

6.    Were you surprised that Keith was a local celebrity? How does he handle his new fame?

7.    Did you see a parallel between Jennifer and Nicole and Keith’s own wife and daughter?

8.    Is Keith’s reaction to his loss typical of men in general? Do women react to grief differently than men?

9.    How did his friendship with Peter and Luda help his return to normal life?

10. What do you see in the future for Keith?