I said that I would follow up my last post about The Life of Pi with a few more thoughts. First, let me reiterate that I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It was inspiring and troubling. The end was less than satisfying, although it fit the book perfectly, I suppose.  I think most people who read it will find themselves alternatively cheering and dismayed (and chuckling outloud). Or you might be like me mom and put it down after a few pages saying, “The author must have been on drugs.”

Here’s a long passage that I highlighted near the beginning in which Piscine (Pi) considers whether or not to believe in Jesus. I love the way he describes and reacts to Jesus. The ending caught me by surprise.

The first thing that drew me in was disbelief. What? Humanity sins but it’s God’s Son who pays the price?….

I asked for another story, one that I might find more satisfying…But Father Martin made me understand the stories that came before it–and there were many–were simply prologue….

That a god should put up with adversity, I could understand. The gods of Hinduism face their fair share of thieves, bullies, kidnappers, and usurpers. What is the Ramayana but the accoiunt of one long, bad year for Rama? Adversity, yes. Reversals of fortune, yes. Treachery, yes. But humiliation? Death? I couldn’t imagine Lord Krishna consenting to be stripped naked, whipped, mocked, dragged through the streets and, to top it off, crucified–and at the hands of mere humans, to boot…

Why not leave death to mortals? Why make dirty what is beautiful, spoil what is perfect? Love. That was Father Martin’s answer….

This son…who goes hungry, who suffers from thirst, who gets tired, who is sad, who is anxious, who is heckled and harassed, who has to put up with followers that don’t get it and opponents who don’t respect Him–what kind of god is that? It’s a god on too human of a scale, that’s what. There are miracles, yes, mostly of a medical nature, a few to satisfy hungry stomachs; at best a storm is tempered…Any Hindu god can do a hundred times better.This Son is a god who spent most of His time telling stories, talking. This Son is a god who walked, a pedestrian god–and in a hot place, at that–with a stride like any human stride…What kind of a god is that? What is there to inspire in this Son? Love, said Father Martin….

I’ll stick to my Krishna, thank you very much. I find his divinity utterly compelling. You can keep your sweaty, chatty Son to yourself. That was how I met that troublesome rabbi of long ago: with disbelief and annoyance….

He bothered me, this Son. Every day I burned with greater indignation against Him, found more flaws in him…

On our last day, a few hours before we were to leave Munnar, I hurried up the hill on the left…I booted up that hill…Short of breath I said, “Father, I would like to be a Christian, please.” He smiled, “You already are, Piscine–in your heart. Whoever meets Christ in good faith is a Christian. Here in Munnar you met Christ.”  He patted me on the head…I thought I would explode with joy…It was a good smile he gave me. The smile of Christ.

I entered the church, without fear this time, for it was now my house, too. I offered prayers to Christ who is alive. Then I raced down the hill on the left and raced up the hill on the right–to offer thanks to Lord Krishna for having put Jesus of Nazareth, whose humanity I found so compelling, in my way.

Later on Pi meets a Suffi master (a mystical Muslim) and converts again. One of the strangest, funniest scenes in the book is when all three of his religious teachers meet (Hindu, Christian, and Muslim) none too happily.

Did I say this book jerks you around? It does, but life can be confusing like that– and amusing like that. Hard to simply solve: like Pi. I think I have a faith rooted in Reality, and mystery, and I don’t mind people and books raising hard questions–especially if they are such a pleasure to absorb.

If the book sounds interesting so far, read it, and then let me know what you think.