Fearful symmetry

at just before quarter past 12 in the am, on Thursday the 20th December, I finished reading Life of Pi

Not bad going considering i only started reading it in early December, not so great considering I bought the book from a charity shop at least two years ago, and not so great considering it won the man booker prize in 2002, so must be at least ten years old by now

But I had promised myself that I would read it before the film came out, (with a UK release date of the 20th, yep, that's today, I reckon that it's fair to count that as a win on y part) although as I started seeing a few more trailers for the film, I couldn't help but think that it looked a bit dull...

yet, I decided to go ahead and read it, regardless of whether the film appealed or not

and it was a fascinating read! to a point. to an almost specific and exact point.

the book lays out a lot of background, life in India, growing up at a zoo, building identity and finding three different religions.

and it was almost just as good when we are castaway with Pi, aboard a life boat with a Bengal Tiger and a handful of other Pondicherry Zoo survivors, although this was only entertaining to a point, to the point at which you wonder where else the story can actually go.

and then it goes slightly surreal, firstly delirious, then verging on sci-fi, and then just rather odd as it cannonballs towards the almost unsatisfying end.

and I'm still unsure whether I still wanna bother seeing it or not, although now I am slightly more curious to see what has and what has not made it into the film from the book

and all the reviews I have heard so far have unanimously agreed that the film is visually amazing, which it very well may be with special effects at their peak, but is the film any good??!....