Washing Machines - Freestanding - Front Loading - Energy Efficiency: A - Max Capacity: 7.5 kg - Spin Speed: 1400 rpm - Width: 59.5cm (On Ciao since: 09/2006)
Production Year: 2002 - Comedy - Director: Richard J. Lewis - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring: James Belushi, Gary Basaraba, Jody Racicot, Christopher Shyer, (On Ciao since: 02/2006)
This 4-star hotel complex is set in amongst a tranquil pine forest and landscaped gardens, ideal for a relaxing getaway in the Balearic sun.From your room’s own...
Postage & Packaging: refer to website Availability: Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
excl. Breakfast - HRS Rating: 7,98/10 - Quite and relaxing aparthotel resort sorrounded by pinewoods and the Mediterranean sea. Direct access to a charming...
Postage & Packaging: refer to website Availability: Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
The Cala Pi Club resort is a modern complex overlooking a picturesque sheltered bay, located 30 kilometres from Mallorca's capital, Palma. The 118 air...
Cala Pi
Postage & Packaging: refer to website Availability: Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
Located in a beautiful setting in southern Majorca, 30 minutes from Palma city centre and 20 minutes from the airport, this resort is an ideal base for those...
Postage & Packaging: refer to website Availability: Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
The Cala Pi Club resort is a modern complex overlooking a picturesque sheltered bay, located 30 kilometres from Mallorca's capital, Palma. The 118 air...
Postage & Packaging: refer to website Availability: Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
Pi is classified as a refined, oriental, woody fragrance. This masculine scent possesses a blend of a fresh scent of light citrus, in combination with a...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Temporarily out of stock. Order now and we'll deliver when available. We'll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon as we have more information. Your credit card will not be charged until we ship the item....
Advantages: Imaginative,funny and captivating. Disadvantages: none
...and India; the latter country became the place where he found his inspiration for this novel.
He has been making a living by writing since the age of twenty-seven, publishing a book of short stories and going on to become a critically acclaimed author with his novel ?Self?
?Life of Pi? is his third novel and the winner of The Man Booker Prize 2002.
He lives in Montreal where he continues his writing, I for one hope to see a new novel as soon as possible.
Introduction
Under the title of ?Author?s Note? Martel weaves true life with a touch of fantasy to explain the background of this novel, using it as if he was hunting down the story for himself by means of talking to Pi, the hero of the story. Various notes throughout the story keep this fantasy alive and are a work of art in themselves.
What attracted me to this novel? The back...
Advantages: Very well-written, funny, unputdownable Disadvantages: As with every book, it has to finish at some point
...LIfe of Pi is a story about a teenage boy living in India in the 1970s; nothing is particularly staid about Pi: his name is short for Piscine (as in the French word for 'swimming pool), his father runs a zoo, and Pi decides that there is room in his heart for Hinduism, Christianity and Islam (at one point he thanks Lord Krishna for bringing Jesus into his life)!
However, Pi's father decides to relocate to Canada, and on the journey (which he has to share with many of the zoo inhabitants) across the ocean to the new continent, Pi's ship is wrecked and he finds himself stuck on a lifeboat with a hyena, an orang-utan, a zebra with a broken leg and a large Bengal tiger.
What ensues is Pi's attempt to survive in this highly unusual situation, which he does for far longer than would be expected
I found this book very readable and felt quite...
Advantages: A great story, endless interpretive possibilities Disadvantages: Slow to get going
...Writing about religion can be a tricky business. If you're too controversial, you're pretty much guaranteed to upset an awful lot of people (although it never did Dan Brown any harm). Go too far the other way, and it can all seem a bit dogmatic, alienating a large proportion of your potential readership. However, strike the right balance, and you could just end up with a story that challenges and provokes its readers as much as it entertains them - this is almost certainly what Yann Martel has achieved here.
Of course, Life of Pi isn't necessarily a religious story at all; the subject is approached within the text, but if you choose not to find such meaning in the subtext, the only reference to the topic exists as a side-point in the character development, and need not impinge on your reading at all. Approach from the opposite...
Advantages: An amazing story Disadvantages: Starts a little slow
...When I came across THE LIFE of Pi by YANN MARTELL in the resident's lounge of an hotel in Spain, something stirred and I immediately grabbed it with both hands, furtively slinking off with it. Naturally, I left the book I'd just finished reading in its place (what do you think I am, some sort of filcher?)
So I swapped books...and I'm so very glad I did.
The basic premise of the book is the story of a young, 16-year-old Indian boy, Piscine Molitor Patel, who survives a shipwreck only to find himself sharing a lifeboat with a badly-injured zebra, a hyena, an orang-utan and a 450-pound Bengal tiger called Richard Parker (don't ask).
Not so ridiculous as it first sounds. You see, Pi's father is, or rather was, zookeeper at Pondicherry Zoo. The family have decided to up sticks and emigrate to Canada, and many of the animals...
Advantages: Thought provoking, Educational, Absorbing and Original. Disadvantages: The special features have more potential, could do with improvement.
...Produced by: Eric Watson
Directed by: Darren Aronofsky
Stars: Sean Gullette as Max Cohen
Released: 1998
Run time: 84 mins
Certificate: 15
note** shot in black and white reverse film
I only purchased this film in January and it has become a favourite DVD in my collection. It was recommended to me by a lecturer and I am pleased to say it met with my expectations.
DVD:
The Pi symbol takes centre stage on the cover of the DVD underlined with the words 'faith in chaos' they say don't judge a book by its cover but with this DVD you can.
Special features Include:
Deleted scenes
Music Video
Behind the scenes montage
Trailer
Directors and actors commentary (liked this)
Cast and crew Biog
Background:
This film is concerned with analysing the relationship between numbers and nature. This offshoots into Max Cohen...
pjw2006
02.08.2006 (13.08.2006) ·Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Pi (DVD)
Advantages: A Book that you won't be able to put down. Disadvantages: Not one thing.
...Each year the BOOKER PRIZE is awarded to for the best full length Novel written in English by a Citizen of the Commonwealth or Republic of Ireland. This year a Canadian won this prize.
Yann Marel's book called LIFE OF PI won the first prize that was awarded on October 22, 2002. I watch the award Ceremonies that were broadcast from the British Museum in London.
I had just finished reading this book, (it took me a Month to read it because of my blinf eye), but in the old days when I had the use of both eyes I could have read it in a day).I'd like to tell you about it. It was Published this year and it has 320 pages.
I know that this is a Novel but I am not so sure because Yann Martel wrote his book after a trip to India. In India he met a very old Man who asked him if he wanted to hear a story that would change his belief in G...
Advantages: Superb ending, gripping storyline. Disadvantages: Slow beginning can be tedious.
...This is an absolutely gripping story of survival against the odds. with a bit of added philosophy and metaphor thrown in for good measure!
THE STORY
The story begins by describing the childhood of the main character, Pi Patel (named after a swimming pool!) and the circumstances that led to him finding himself stranded at sea with a tiger. Pi's father owned a zoo in India, and the first part of the book describes the interesting characters in his life, both human and animal, and his experiences of living life in a zoo. It also describes the influences in his life that led to his passion for religion, and how his afinity with Islam, Hinduism and Christianity impacted upon his life.
The second part of the book begins with a move for Pi's family from India to Canada, due to changing circumstances in India. The zoo is sold...
Advantages: Totally original, amazingly emotional, truly a wonderful book. Disadvantages: You will not find anything as good as this in a while...
...Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Canongate books
ISBN: 184195392X
Price: £4.23 for student edition, around £10.50 hardback, and if you're lucky enough Asda might have it in stock for their usual paperback price of £3.73!
Synopsis
------------
Firstly, I would just like to say that this is only the fourteenth review for Life of Pi. I state this because frankly it shocks me that easily one of the best books from modern years (and certainly a modern classic) can be so easily overlooked!
The hardback edition of Life of Pi was released in mid to late 2002 and continued as a very strong sales success up until late 2003, when it was finally released as paperback. It is currently riding high in the charts at the moment, and certainly I could not recommend this enough.
What the book is about...
Advantages: The book is highly unusual and has a gripping narrative drive. Disadvantages: Some may find it rather difficult to accept the main premise of the book.
...Here we have a very strange story indeed.
First a biographical hinterland is established for the main character, Pi, that being the nickname of an Indian boy, who is 16 years old during the main section of the book. He grows up learning a great deal about animals of all descriptions, because his father is a zookeeper, and the family - his parents, his older brother and he - live at the zoo. He is an earnest, sensitive boy, deeply attracted to religious belief and its expression.
When he is 16 the family set out, along with many of the zoo animals, some of which Pi's father has sold prior to voyage, to go to Canada to start a new life. The ship in which they sail sinks en route - we are never sure of the cause of the sinking - and Pi manages to hold on to his life by holding onto a lifeboat! - This lifeboat for a time, amazingly...
Advantages: such an outrageously unlikely scenario that becomes realistic and believable the more you read Disadvantages: the first half of the book was a slow build up to a fantastic story
...This was the first review I wrote for Ciao, and it is also one of the best books I have read for a long time. I don't think my initial review did the book or me any justice, so I have decided to have another go.
***Background***
Yann Martel was born in Spain in 1963, and grew up in a variety of places all over the world including France, Costa Rica, Mexico, Alaska, and Canada. As an adult he has spent time in Iran, Turkey, and India. He currently lives in Montreal. (what a great wealth of cultural experiences to begin a career as an author with!)
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel was the winner of the Man Booker Prize for fiction in 2002.
As far as I can see from research on the Internet, The Life of Pi is the first and only book by Yann Martel to date. However according to an interview with Yann Martel...
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