Katie Butcher

It’s taken me ages to read ‘Life of Pi’. It’s been partly because I’ve been busy with my parents visiting, but more because I really struggled to get ‘into’ it. In hindsight I think I should have tried harder to get into the story because I realised by the end that ‘Life of Pi’ is a superbly written and thoroughly original novel. It won Yann Martel the 2002 Man Booker prize.

‘Life of Pi’ is about a teenage Indian boy called Piscine (‘Pi’) Patel. His family run a zoo but one day they decide to close the zoo and emigrate to Canada. On the way to Canada their ship sinks. Pi makes it into a lifeboat but soon realises he’s sharing it with a wounded zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a Bengal tiger called Richard Parker. Over the next few days nature takes it course and it ends up being just Pi and Richard Parker remaining on the lifeboat. Thus begins a fascinating and moving story of survival which lasts 227 days. Pi not only has to find what he needs for survival in the middle of the Pacific but he also has to ensure that he does not end up being Richard Parker’s next meal.

I could see this book being a study text for school English classes. It leaves a lot to think about and raises many points that would be good for discussion and debate. Now I’ve finished it I feel I should have perhaps read it with more thought than I did. I plan to keep my copy and I think I’ll try and read it again in a few months time.

A somewhat peculiar promotional site for the ‘Life of Pi’ can be found here.

Most people who know me know that I’m not fussy and will eat and drink practically anything. It’s not often I come across something that I don’t like, but recently I did.

The other week I was surveying the tea and coffee aisle at Morrisons and decided I would try some nettle tea. I picked up some ‘Clipper’ Organic Nettle Tea Bags. I brewed some nettle tea the next day and found it tastes really rather unpleasant. I could only manage a few mouthfuls and then had to throw the rest away. It tasted how I’d imagine hot water would taste if you stirred grass cuttings into it and then strained it. Awful. I truly can’t believe there are many who would find that beverage nice to drink. I think the only people who drink it must be health freaks who force themselves to eat vile tasting foods hoping it’ll make them live longer. I’ve decided I’d rather live for not-so-long but actually eat and drink things that taste nice. I love ‘normal’ tea and green tea (especially with lemon) so I think I’ll stick to those.

If anybody wants to try some nettle tea, I’ve got 19 bags.

I really hate it when extremist minorities try and impose their stupid opinions on everyone else and make out that they’re right and everyone else (usually the majority) is wrong.

http://www.peta.org.uk/feat/feat-feedingkids.asp

I can’t believe that PETA have been allowed an advertisement that makes this claim. It’s, frankly, completely devoid of reason and insulting to the majority. From the article PETA’s definition of meat is burgers and bangers, and people who give their children ‘meat’ feed them only that and nothing else. Of course a diet of only burgers would not good thing, but a feeding your child meat and fish along with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables is the best thing for them and can NEVER EVER be called child abuse. Surely a balanced omnivorous diet is far far better than that of a vegetarian who keeps stuffing their face with cheese pizza, chips and crisps?

‘The Island’ by Victoria Hislop was much better than I was expecting it to be and I actually found it very interesting. The story is set around the island of Spinalonga (just off the Greek island of Crete), around the time of the 2nd World War. Spinalonga was the last active leper colony in Europe, and lepers were taken there to quarantine them from the main population. As little as 50 years ago, if you lived in Crete and were diagnosed with leprosy, you were taken away from your family and friends to live off the mainland on Spinalonga. Many people lived out the rest of their days on the island and never saw their families again. Fortunately, in 1957 the colony was closed down as a cure for leprosy had been found. The island is now uninhabited but is a popular tourist destination for day trips.

Although the story is fiction, the fact that it is set around a real place makes it all the more poignant. The author does a good job at capturing what it was like for leprosy sufferers and the people around them. The story is fast moving, which I liked, although the plot does lull a bit in the middle. I thought the opening chapters were the best and it was particularly moving when the village teacher was diagnosed with leprosy and has to leave her husband and two young daughters and move to Spinalonga.

I’ve never been to Crete, but if I do ever go I feel I would like to visit Spinalonga.