The World According to Garp, de John Irving

I've read The World According to Garp, by John Irving.

Quatrième de couverture : Garp is a book that captivates all who read it. Peopled with the most extraordinary characters you will ever meet, here is a novel that will make you laugh, make you weep and, above all, make you think.

I knew the title of the book since quiet a long time, but i never really knew what it was about. And know that I've read it, and wouldn't really know what to say it was about, either.

I chose to read it because the title was mentioned in the last book I've read, Misery from Stephen King, and I went to the library the afternoon i finished that book and borrowed it. I was glad that I found it in english.

If I had to explain this book, I would say it's about Garp, the main character, from the day he was conceived to the day he died. It's the book of his life, from his first school days, to the weird way he died, and everything in between : his career as a writer, his marriage, his kids, and the things that happen to all of them.

His mother was never attracted to men, but she wanted a son, and had him - Garp - in quiet a weird way that is described in the first chapter. She writes a book that she becomes famous for - A sexual convict - and that will forever change her life and Garp's life.

All along, I was hoping for the book not to stop. I felt so good in the universe of this book, I really felt like I knew Garp since he was a child and then that I learned a lot from him through his aging. This novel really sticks with you, it's different from any other book I've read, and in a really good way.

Currently I'm trying to read another book, but I have to say, I'm still a bit stuck on this one. It's so elaborated, every detail makes sense, you feel so close to Garp and his family that it's a bit weird not to read from them anymore.

I think that The World according to Garp is one of my favorite books, I'm very glad I came to read it !

Life of Pi, de Yann Martel

J'ai lu "Life of Pi" de Yann Martel.

Quatrième de couverture : Pi Patel, a God-loving boy and the son of a zookeeper, has a fervent love of stories and practices not only his native Hinduism, but also Christianity and Islam. When Pi is sixteen, his family and their zoo animals emigrate from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship. Alas, the ship sinks - and Pi finds himself in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi. Can Pi and the tiger find their way to land? Can Pi's fear, knowledge, and cunning keep him alive until they do?

I heard about the book because of the movie they made of it. It was a while ago, and I never watched it but I almost bought the book. At the last minute, I decided against it for various reasons (I was a bit afraid that the book would be boring)

I'm glad I didn't bought it because I found it a couple days ago in my public library, in english ! And I'm very found of reading in english.

It didn't take me a long time to finish this book, since I have holidays and that means a lot of spare time. The book wasn't at all boring, apart from a small part of the castaway life that the narrator tells us about : when he gives up on hope and has nothing else on his mind apart from finding ways to eat and drink. But that was to be expected in such a story, and the author managed to keep things interesting.

Pi Patel has a strong faith in God and is very innocent, candid. I really liked this character, the way he tries to stay optimistic and never gives up on life. The other thing that I liked a lot was the fact that he has to live with a tiger in a very confided space : a lifeboat.

The relationship between those two main protagonists is very interesting and evolves through the story, it goes from fear to love as Pi decides to take his fate in hand (either he doesn't do anything about this problem and might end up eaten by a tiger, or he tries to show him how the "alpha animal" is, and establishes a certain safety)

I enjoyed the reading of this book, and I think I'll try to see the movie soon ! I prefer doing things in this order : reading first, and then watching the movie if there is one.