Friends Not Food Episode #2

Posted by Sasha Charles in College English · Pahomov · B Band on Tuesday, January 10, 2023 at 6:27 pm

On today’s episode, we are investigating author Yann Martel’s identity and how it did or didn’t influence his writing in “Life of Pi.” Listen here! (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EAULMISWyyXd6gAG2qBXqujNPMX06rwv?usp=sharing)

Bibliography

Conroy, Catherine. “Yann Martel Finds Jesus – in the Form of a Chimp.” The Irish Times, The Irish Times, 3 Mar. 2016, https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/yann-martel-finds-jesus-in-the-form-of-a-chimp-1.2555423#:~:text=Martel’s%20background%20is%20%E2%80%9Ccompletely%20secular,to%20explore%20the%20human%20condition.%E2%80%9D Links to an external site..

This interview with the author of Life of Pi, Yann Martel, told us about the author’s personal relationship with religion. The novel has many religious themes, the author’s note quoting a man saying he has “a story that will make you believe in God.” The interview states that Yann Martel himself isn’t religious, which gives us a lot to think about in terms of what he may or may not have gotten right in writing such a religious character. It may give us an explanation to some of the more religious scenes that feel very dramatized or inaccurate.

Comments (9)

Flora Hernandez-Mekonnen

I liked how you explained what you were discussing in the beginning. You built off the quote nicely and used it to guide your conversation well. Maybe next time you could talk a little more about the religion or do some research about it.

David Friedman

The background research that you did was impressive and helped guide the conversation. The conversation that you pulled between the father and Pi was prevalent to the subject and made it more fun to listen to.

Samuel Gombiner

I appreciate the amount of research the hosts did, outside of just analyzing their novel, to give us a better understanding of the relationship between the story, the novel, India, and religion.

Thomas Moore

I think that you could've done a little research to accurately talk about religion in India culture. I think this would make the analysis much deeper as it coorsponses to your book.

Owen Lin

I like how you explained in the very beginning what you would be discussing in this podcast. Even though there was background noise in the podcast it made it feel more natural. I also liked the part where you were able to share your opinions on the book while talking about it instead of just talking from the author's pov.

Katelyn Chen

I liked the quotes you guys pulled out from the book about the character's identity to connect to the New Historicist lens. I also like how you guys researched more about the book to understand what the author is doing.

Oluwadamola Akinboro

I really liked your podcast you guys did an even better job than the last one. I think the quotes that were talked about in the podcast heightened the experience a lot. The questions that were raised seemed interesting and everybody seemed really supportive of each other.

Samaiyah Snowden

You did a good job of connecting the topic of religion to the book, and also the authenticity of letting your listeners know that you don't know everything about being religious. Also, the back-and-forth dialogue felt natural, and you communicated in a meaningful and questioning each other's statements to dig into it deeper.

Sa'Mya Burton

You did an amazing job explaining key points. For example you did a good job explaining the religion. Also did well on how religion connects to main events.