Search YouTube for a video in which Yann Martel speaks. Attempt to find a different video than your classmates (though not all 80 of you will be matched with your "own video"). Briefly summarize what he says, then react in 300+ words to Martel's ideas. Who is interviewing him? What is the context of this video? What topics is he discussing? What sort of man is he? What seem to be his goals with/for his art?
74 comments:
Story 2,
Yann Martel appears to be an honest man who will speak the truth bluntly if needed. He spoke of how Pathology and Zoology created no success for himself, so a shift in the tide was needed. He started writing when he was 27 years old, but admitted, “I was not a very good writer when I started off.” To know your own weaknesses and strengths remains a true act of knowledge. Many people cannot admit their flaws or weak-points, but Martel pertained to be very straight forward. He also gives off the impression that he lives life to simply enjoy life. He appears to enjoy the journey rather than the destination. He distinctly points out that knowledge is powerful beyond anything else. Martel reminds me to a great extent of how a role model’s out view on life should be. He speaks with an overwhelming confidence that is followed up with strong wits. In the video, I could not tell if he was married or obtain information on his family life. The video strictly stuck to the novel Life of Pi and what inspired him to start writing, and the ups and downs of it all. The most devious down-side happened to be the cold, hard fact how writing was new to him when he started. He said he did not know much of what he was doing, but as time went on, his writing improved. He proves to be dedicated when he talks about how often he revised his writing. He claimed it to be fascinating to watch the words improve over time, and to know that he himself, was doing such. The biggest up-side appeared to be his success in a novel that meant an immeasurable amount to him: with pride, satisfaction, and expression. Overall, Martel gives off the “role model” image, and to me, has magnificent reasoning to do so.
Marso 1
In the interviews of Mr. Martel that I viewed, he was extremely engaged in talking about the art of writing as well as how the novel relates to both politics and religion. One statement that struck me profoundly was that a writer is not his product as a painter or musician may be, but rather it is his book that is famous. Mr. Martel was very open to the fact that his novel may have simply been lucky in its placement and timing in order to ensure its success, but has no regrets about writing. He felt “Anything creative is worth doing” because it as the chance to live on and leave a legacy. I feel that even if Mr. Martel had not been extraordinarily successful with any of his novels, he would continue to write novels as writing is what he is passionate about. We have talked in class on Mr. Martel’s views on politics as he feels all politicians should be specifically well-read on novels, but I was unsure of this notion. After all, I would rather have my leaders reading from history books and current non-fiction in order to enact policies. The quote, “Art (specifically novels) is asking questions, politics is solutions” changed my mind on this issue. A novel has the unique ability to pose hypothetical and challenging questions that may not be omnipresent in history books. I feel strongly that Mr. Martel thrives in one of the focuses to fiction—to challenge the reader to think critically—and because of this, politicians should commit time to this genre. Finally, he welcomed the question of religion and his experiences with them (reading the fundamental texts of Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam). He was quick to note that both art and religion are irrational, but that we cannot operate without them. Essentially, we cannot fully comprehend art or religion, but need both in order to survive life. If we are never challenged in something that is too conceptual for us to comprehend—at least at first—we then lack challenge and are lives become dull. We need both art and religion to convince and remind us to think selflessly and do good for the betterment of society. This can all be summed up when Mr. Martell said, “Art is intramural, religion is extramural, but both put evil into perspective. Overall, I feel Mr. Martell is a relatively simple man. He seeks to challenge readers, and thrives when interacting and responding to them. He feels his profession allows him to contribute to this world in an extremely beneficial way, and will continue to write passionately as long as time allows him to.
Myrlie 2
While listening to Yann Martel speak, I was not only entertained, but captured by his insightful view of his novel, Life of Pi. When Martel was asked why he thought his book became so popular, his main thought was because of the unique religious aspect. I was also surprised to find out that Life of Pi was released in Canada on September 11, 2001. His novel could have brought comfort to those devastated by the terrorist attacks. Pi mixes three religions to achieve a better understanding of how to love God. This gives the reader more possibilities to relate to the novel since faith is described in such a broad way. Faith and religion are interesting topics. We have faith in a religion, but little to no concrete evidence in the actuality behind it. Yann Martel believes that, “to be too reasonable makes us go crazy”. He says that this “beyond rationality” quality is what helps the reader think more in depth about the novel and about life. Ultimately, I believe that is what Martel is striving to do; helping the reader become more open minded about life in general. Yet, he prefers us to make a final decision of where we stand. It is better to have an opinion than to stumble around in the middle of the fog. Yann Martel sent a book every two weeks to the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper. The first book was The Death of Ivan Ilyich. He was not intending to embarrass or shame Harper, but to better educate him on the importance of the arts and knowledge that is attainable through the median of the arts. “No one could read that book and not be a better person”, is how Martel explained why he sent Harper The Death of Ivan Ilyich. My belief of Yann Martel’s simple intent to better the reader is strengthened in the video I saw of this great teacher and writer.
Shroll 2
“One of the key tools in understanding life is a book. And specifically, a literary book.” This is why Yann Martel sent the prime minister of Canada 100 books. Mr. Martel discussed that reading is a form of dreaming, and stated that one cannot maneuver reality if they do not understand how to dream. Reading also forces the reader to become someone else, to have a different mindset… this ultimately molds the reader into a more tolerant and understanding being. This, according to Mr. Martel, is why politicians must read. Mr. Martel appears to be brilliant—that he can convey such a profound and convincing message in three and a half minutes is evidence to his brilliance. He does not have a proud or in-your-face kind of brilliance; however, he is humble and does not think of himself as brilliant… I believe he would simply describe himself as having perspective because of literature. Clearly, he is knowledgeable—his research of religion, zoology, and oceanic survival skills must have been extensive. I think that through Mr. Martel’s art, he is making a great attempt to improve the world; his literary works make the consumer reconsider their own priorities and the world’s priorities. He does so by tastefully posing awkward situations or scenarios—Pi having three religions is one example. Mr. Martel also made the statement that it is middle-aged men that rule the world, and it is middle-aged men that seem to be particularly lacking in their literary backgrounds. Much focus is spent on reading in high school and college years—it is then that we are molded by literature—and also in retirement years. I will agree that it is indeed middle-aged men who rule the world…. With what Mr. Martel has said, would he think it’d be better if middle-aged women ruled the world? They must be at least slightly more knowledgable in literature than these men. I truly do not think that Mr. Martel would care in the slightest if it was a man or a woman as the prime minister of Canada—so long as they are competent (Mr. Martel would say “literate”) in understanding the dynamics of the individual, society, and the world.
Shroll 2
“One of the key tools in understanding life is a book. And specifically, a literary book.” This is why Yann Martel sent the prime minister of Canada 100 books. Mr. Martel discussed that reading is a form of dreaming, and stated that one cannot maneuver reality if they do not understand how to dream. Reading also forces the reader to become someone else, to have a different mindset… this ultimately molds the reader into a more tolerant and understanding being. This, according to Mr. Martel, is why politicians must read. Mr. Martel appears to be brilliant—that he can convey such a profound and convincing message in three and a half minutes is evidence to his brilliance. He does not have a proud or in-your-face kind of brilliance; however, he is humble and does not think of himself as brilliant… I believe he would simply describe himself as having perspective because of literature. Clearly, he is knowledgeable—his research of religion, zoology, and oceanic survival skills must have been extensive. I think that through Mr. Martel’s art, he is making a great attempt to improve the world; his literary works make the consumer reconsider their own priorities and the world’s priorities. He does so by tastefully posing awkward situations or scenarios—Pi having three religions is one example. Mr. Martel also made the statement that it is middle-aged men that rule the world, and it is middle-aged men that seem to be particularly lacking in their literary backgrounds. Much focus is spent on reading in high school and college years—it is then that we are molded by literature—and also in retirement years. I will agree that it is indeed middle-aged men who rule the world…. With what Mr. Martel has said, would he think it’d be better if middle-aged women ruled the world? They must be at least slightly more knowledgable in literature than these men. I truly do not think that Mr. Martel would care in the slightest if it was a man or a woman as the prime minister of Canada—so long as they are competent (Mr. Martel would say “literate”) in understanding the dynamics of the individual, society, and the world.
Van Ede, 5
In public appearance and conversation, Mr. Martel projects fluency and compelling ideas equal to his level of writing. On a brief excerpt on creativity and success, Mr. Martel casts away the humble demeanor of many other successful writers and explains how success is much preferred to failure, however potent the love of writing may be. In many ways, this statement by Mr. Martel startled me. As with many others, I view his success in very materialistic terms: how many copies his books have sold, the amount of his financial earnings, the notoriety he received with public adoration; it all seemed so shallow, like professional athletes playing for money opposed to love of the game. Fortunately, Mr. Martel possesses a far deeper, more wholesome view of success. "The horrible, wonderful thing about an artist is that you invest everything into...what you are creating." Thus, I believe how much his work impacts people defines his success; if great sums of money come along with, well, that is okay too. Perhaps the most unexpected and thus most memorable thought Mr. Martel gave was, "the world does not need another novel...you have to impose it on the world." Again, I questioned what exactly Mr. Martel meant by this statement. One could say that for many novels the lesson learned remains the same. 1984 and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, both display prominent themes of dehumanizing control and society encaging the free spirit. Why write another novel proclaiming the message? To spark public interest, a new idea must be printed, a new criticism unveiled. Another way to view Mr. Martel's statement is to again impose his philosophy of investing everything into an artistic work. Essentially saying the world can tell the difference between a halfhearted, greedy attempt at artistic fame, and truly invested masterpiece of hard work and deep thought. I believe one of Martel's fiercest goals is to be successful, but in his own way and using his own method.
Larson pd 5
In the interesting interview I have found of Yann Martel, one of the main concepts Martel gave off is the fact that the book is famous—not him. He continues to say that people do not rush up to him and realize he is famous right off the bat. Hearing him speak on this topic, I became more intrigued by Martel. He is a truly modest and honest human being. Another life-changing topic Martel touches on is leaving his mark. He states when a person leaves this world, all of their life possessions usually scatter out and nothing remains of them. He even asks the question to the view if they know what their great-great-great-great grandfather’s name was. This instantly made me realize that even though we possess a great life—in time, names and faces may be forgotten. Martel’s theory to fix this devastation realization is to leave some kind of mark for the future generation. He hopes someone finds his book on a dusty bookshelf someday and starts to read and decipher it—in a sense, he will never be forgotten by the world. My impression of Martel is a good one. Even though the interview does not say who gave it—they did an immaculate job of portraying and setting up Martel with the perfect questions. Martel talked very fast and accurate, demonstrating his vast knowledge and people skills. You are not supposed to judge a book (or video) by its cover—but watching this six minute video on Yann Martel definitely made me realize the insightful and thoughtful person he truly portrays. Not only did he pass my inspection with his literature work, but as a person as well.
Bender 7
One of the more interesting things to me was how he talked about his books fame. He made sure to note that he was not famous although his book had so much acclaim. It is interesting to think about although we may recognize a famous writer’s name that I know of, no famous writer gets shadowed by paparazzi or mobbed whenever they go out in public. The next interesting point made was on fiction. While originally shocking me he called fiction the last true democracy. He said this in reference to every individual reader’s ability to bring any interpretation they want to the novel. The next topic in the video was entitled “Stories and Gods”. This has always been one of the points I strongly disagree with the lessons being taught in the novel. I don’t believe stories, or fiction as he was implying, should ever be compared to and put on the same level as religion. Not only do I believe it is incredibly theologically wrong, I find it a slight jab at the intelligence of all firmly believing religious people. Why do we need our pretend Gods if we have the all powerful fiction we easily have access to? I believe Mr. Martel is clearly a very intelligent, talented, and sincere novelist. The short interview was hardly enough time to tell to much about his character. From what I could tell and prior knowledge he seems incredibly worldly and focused towards the betterment of all societies. Like I previously mentioned however I think he is thoroughly confused if he believes or points to what his novel shows. If he is in fact a Christian, as research would show, he is so only in the relativistic sense. I believe that his art is intended to push us in this direction also. The idea that anything you believe in is true and conversion is unimportant is clearly nothing taught to us in the bible. Over all I found him to be an incredibly interesting person who unfortunately may have succumbed to an enticingly false worldview.
Tew 2
I watched an interview with Mr. Martel and he talks about his work, how he came to be a writer, and why art is important.
In the beginning he is asked why he became a writer, he said that everything else just faded away, like anthropology and zoology. I find this interesting because he hadn’t even had Life of Pi in his head yet when he first started writing and he already knew so much about animals. He even admits that he wasn’t very good at first. He had to keep writing to get better at it (a common theme in school). He said that he enjoys writing because putting a story together piece by piece makes him feel like a small god. Authors, like himself, create new worlds for their stories to take place in, becoming a god in their own way shape and form just as he said. He also states that when he wrote it he didn’t plan as he went. It just flowed. He just wrote it. To me this means that this story truly clicked with him. He loved the story before he wrote it, and just went after it. He believes that Life of Pi is not a reasonable story. He didn’t like reasonable because that’s what he had been taught and it didn’t get him anywhere. He wrote this book to be unreasonable and in its very essence it is. Pi is not reasonable when picking a religion. The crew of the Tsimtsum is not reasonable when they let the animals out of their cages. The Japanese insurance people were not reasonable when they asked for a different story. Basically the only reasonable one was Pi’s mother. She was the only one who did not deny religion, or science. She didn’t make him watch a tiger eat a goat. She didn’t tell him religion is darkness. The only character that is reasonable is a female. Now what does that say about us?
Pham 7
Yann Martel speaks convincely and concisely, using words to manipulate his points. In his interview with Big Think, he is asked why he writes allegories. Martel directs us to an important and famous allegory--Animal Farm by George Orwell. Allegories like Orwell’s novel tackle hard topics and historical events, without the hard facts. We may capture the essence of what Stalin did to the Russians without brutally experiencing and visualizing it. Concerning items such as the Holocaust, we as Westerners see it as a European problem, much farther east. However, allegories may bring these concepts and problems to life by utilizing familiar figures and ideas. Martel is very well-spoken as well as charming in his words. He is able to convey his motives and reasons clearly.
Mr. Martel uses his art forms to teach the world populace and helping them understand each other. Writing novels such as Life of Pi utilizes his abilities. He attempts to solve the controversy over religion, bullying, and science through very effective means. Utilizing a nonexistent character to embody these factors, he is able to test the populace’s views on these certain archetypes without harm. After all, the characters in fictional novels are not real. Martel’s allegorical writings act as a barrier to society—a mirror that reflects what society accepts and does not accept. In addition, they help citizens of society understand each other. Composing from several viewpoints and cultures gives the reader not only entertainment but outlook into the lives of others. Being a world traveler, Martel is able to do this. Fiction is meant to be bold. Fiction is meant to express views. Fiction is meant to mirror reality. As an art form, fiction may be used to show humans moral flaws that we possess—flaws that we otherwise may not see. Through fiction, namely allegorical fiction, we are able to understand one another, and thus, create peace.
Gallo 2
Interview by The Standard TV (Part 3)
Randall Mark, Vancouver, CA
According to Martel, giving up on any religion due to the fallacies of its followers would be like saying, “democracy gave us George Bush; therefore, I give up on democracy.” It was at this point that I knew this extended television special/ interview was for me. The interviewer, Randall Mark of The Standard TV in Vancouver, Canada, was asking Martel about his personal faith, a topic touched on quite frequently and openly in the novel. Martel—as of 2008—was attending an Anglican church but noted that he found Islam to be the most uplifting in practice due to its social unification. He discusses why the Muslim faith is so feared in the West, noting the Sharia law and explaining that it is not as rigid and outdated as we perceive when practiced correctly. When asked about the books he had been sending to Stephen Harper, a visible smile crosses his face as he notes that reading is a way to truly ponder life and gain experience and wisdom. Martel clearly thinks Westerners are too busy. Too bad we cannot all make millions of dollars and then travel the world signing our name on our renowned book as Martel has.
I find Martel’s personal religious beliefs and their reflection his novel fascinating. He seems to act like Pi in many ways, though he asserts that he is a Christian. His knowledge and perspective on Islam is nothing short of thought-altering. As someone raised in a very Christian environment, one where we are sometimes taught Jesus is the only road to salvation and whatnot, Martel’s comparisons between the religions and his admiration of the sincerity of Islam are eye-opening. That seems to be one of the main goals of his literature—to change perspectives. He certainly hopes to accomplish just that with Mr. Harper. He strikes me as a very intelligent man, one who is not afraid to arouse people’s emotions. Indeed, he even seems like a bit of a smart-alec when he speaks of sending books to the Prime Minister. Regardless, he is a brilliant man and skillful author, and I very much enjoyed listening and watching him.
Koehn pd. 7
Allan Gregg of TVo led the discussion questions in an interview with Yann Martel about his novel Beatrice and Virgil. Having made a famous reputation of himself, Martel’s interview takes place about nine years after writing Life of Pi. Martel actually started writing Beatrice and Virgil before he wrote Life of Pi. During the nine year break period he did book tours and wrote other fiction stories as well. Beatrice and Virgil also has animals in the story—a donkey and a monkey. In his latest book, set place in northern Portugal, three chimpanzees are the main characters in the novel. During the interview, Yann Martel expounded on his reasoning for using animals in his stories. He explains that yes, the three books are linked slightly, but that is not his main intention. Martel believes stories about humans become cynical. His belief stands that humans know too much about our own kind and the obsession does not allow readers to feel the emotions of the characters properly. The readers become cynical (which Martel thinks is the worst thing that can happen to a book). Animals on the other hand provide a moral innocence and the trials they go through cause the reader to feel empathetic. Readers also know less about animals in general; so Martel has free license to say what he wants and the reader believes him. On the topic of negative reviews of his book, Martel is very indifferent. Positive reviews are always welcome, but the negative reviews do not phase the author or cause him to change his writings. Martel rejoices in the fact that at least the readers are reacting to what he writes, meaning they are questioning and thinking critically. Before watching some YouTube on Yann Martel, my little knowledge of his writing gave me the impression that he is a very analytical man who sat at his desk and calculated his stories to perfectly weave literary devices into a flawless novel. Afterwards, I notice a very artistic, humane, and thoughtful author. Completely impressed by his outlooks on life, I sat completely transfixed on his interviews. Martel respects art and wants people to at least be exposed to the life lessons literature shares. I have found a much deeper appreciation for Life of Pi and for Yann Martel after watching these interviews!
Arrowsmith 5
Right from the beginning of the interview it is obvious that Mr. Martel is incredibly knowledgeable and he has no doubt about who he is or what he believes. In the youtube video I viewed, Martel is being interviewed by an Indian looking woman named Lela for a website called mojo.com. It is a short video, but there is much to learn from it. While reading Life of Pi I always ask myself how is Martel able to create this story within a story and have everything make sense and have a hidden meaning at the same time? This interview answered my question in that Martel is able to do this and keep everything straight in his own mind because he loves to do it, and it is what he enjoys to do and is clearly an expert at it. Martel explains, “there is something incredibly joyful about imagining a story with a setting, with characters, with an alternate meaning, and trying to bring it together in little sentences lined up. It was just something really pleasurable about that, sort of like being a small god.” I also found it interesting when Martel said he was “fed up with being reasonable” and that being reasonable was getting him nowhere, so he ended up in India and that is where Life of Pi was born, a book about the stopping of being reasonable. Martel goes on to say that art is not just the good, but the good, the bad, and everything in between. That also describes Life of Pi perfectly in that it is not just a story about the good or the bad, but both of them and everything in the middle. It is a story about all of life, not just the black and white outer covering that most people see. I also admire the humility that Martel has as he says he was not very good when he first started out but he slowly progressed. One of his statements I found to be the strongest was that he did not choose writing, but writing chose him.
Courtney Herrick
I watched an interview of Yann Martel explaining the importance of reading. This interview was done by a Canadian Reporter, Rebecca Braten. He tells that if you read, you will become more tolerant. An example is, if you read a book on the Nazi concentration camps, then you may feel more sympathy for the Jews. You may become more accepting of others if you read. He also said that you can tell what kind of person they are if you know what they are reading. If they said, Hitler’s book is my favorite book of all time, you may turn your head and start to wonder. He believes the best ages for people to read are the high school agers and retired people. If a high school person does not read, they become an adult that does not read, and reading creates dreams and visions. Retired men are the ones who run this country, he stated. Without dreams and visions, it is much harder to change reality. I actually agree with what he says. I believe that you should read to gain perspective and knowledge. Without reading, how can people move forward? We read One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and without reading that, I would have never known how bad conditions in an insane asylum were. Books point out so many different ideas. Books help kept the past alive. If no one were to have written about the poor food sanitation in the 1890’s, we might as well keep eating diseased and rotten meat. Reading can teach us a lesson on a grand scale. You can read about history or mythology and I guarantee you will gain some knowledge from it. Reading is important because it helps us learn from our past, and can help of correct the mistakes we have made.
Volk 5
I watched a video in which Yann Martel talks about his success of Life of Pi. Allan Gregg interviews him in 2010 and asks him about his success. He asks questions about what he has done since and the pressure involved with this best-seller. Yann tells Allan that about his other books he has written since, such as Beatrice and Virgil and his stories that he gives to the Canadian Prime Minister. He states that he does not feel much pressure because every book is different. He also started Beatrice and Virgil before Life of Pi became so popular around the world. Martel has traveled the world to the success of his novel and has had many great experiences since. He tells about how he started a family and how that has taken up much of his time and taken a lot of the pressure off of him. I can tell from this video that Martel is a great family man. He discusses his child and how much time he has spent making a family. He is also determined to bring literature to others. He has been continuously writing to the Prime Minister of Canada that has taken up a lot of time and how important it is to him to spread literature around the world. He is not as fixed upon writing huge selling books, but in educating and influencing more people. That appears to be a major goal for him. He is also thrilled that he had so much success with Life of Pi and got the chance to travel because of it. Since writing is such an isolated thing, he was excited to see how it was influencing the world around him, near and far. Yann Martel is not worried about other people’s opinions as long as the book worked in his mind. He did not think it was any of his business which is a great way to relieve pressure.
Hallstrom 1
As I was watching the interview of Yann Martel, I was intrigued at how into the interview he appeared. Mr. Martel enjoyed talking about novels, feelings of creativity, reality and religion. One of the first things he expressed was how his book was famous and he was living an ordinary life. Yann appears to be very grateful for his creativity. Stated in the interview, Yann says that any act of creativity is life affirming or worth doing. To me, this is his way of encouraging his “fans” to go for it. Although life’s going to throw some curve balls – like not being a suitable enough composer at first – you just have to keep going. He’s grateful that his writing connects with so many people. The way I see it, he’s not arrogant in any way. At one point in the interview, he briefly mentioned faith. He said one cannot simply operate without acts of faith. “Without stories or Gods, you have nothing.” This statement shows how important his faith is to him. He acknowledges his talent, but isn’t conceited enough to say it’s all talent. Martel believes composing novels takes luck, too. Another thing I catch Mr. Martel discussing is reality, stating that nothing beats great representation of reality than a novel. By him saying this, he isn’t bashing any other media. In my opinion, he’s simply saying that you get a better account of reality through written word where it’s fully explained rather than an image that you’re supposed to figure for yourself. All in all, Yann Martel is not only an outstanding author, but his personality and views make him much more likable. Although I’m unsure of the real interviewer, after viewing this video put up by Author Magazine, it gives me a better account of the man behind the novel. He appears very genuine and grateful for everything that’s come with writing a famous novel.
Tripp 7
In the interview that I viewed, Yann Martel talked about democracy, stories and Gods, and leaving your mark. In the first section of the interview, he talked about how being a writer is different sort of art than being an actor or musician. When someone is an actor or musician, they are their own product on stage performing what they know or made. On the other hand, in Yann Martel’s case, being a writer you are not able to showcase your ability or product by showing it off in some sort of act. Your book is your product instead of you being your own product. Another point that he brought up was how some of the best experience he has had since Life of Pi were touring to different areas and talking with people who have read the book. He discussed how he enjoyed listening to their interpretation of his book. Like he later talked about, fiction is best when it is very open. Writing and reading a book that is more open leaves it up to the reader’s imagination more which Yann Martel enjoys because he is then able to hear different people’s interpretations of his book. Mr. Martel had one comment in his interview that really struck me. He said, “There is no greater form of representation of reality than a great novel.” He backed this by giving an example of saying that a novel would capture nineteenth century Australia more so than a movie or picture because so many elements can be built into a book in a way that the facts are all there but also the flavor in a way. Novels to Yann Martel give a better representation of our reality. He adds too that fiction is last truly great form of democracy. Everyone is able to have their vote and make their ideas heard. Yann Martel seems like the kind of man that does what he does to give his audience a truly thrilling experience. Throughout this entire interview with authormagazine.org, he made it clear that he wants to be able to give people something to look forward to in a book and something to discuss with friends and family. He ultimately wants his readers to be taken to a different world.
Cain 2
I watched a video called “One Take with Yann Martel” and it was filmed by CBC. This video is just a little over six minutes long and Yann Martell seems to be answering questions that someone is asking him but neither the person asking the question nor the actual question is in the video itself. He seems to be a “normal” man. He’s not boastful or conceited. I perceive him to be an intelligent and humbled man. He talked about his new book “Beatrice and Virgil” and how it’s about the Jewish Holocaust, and even though he doesn’t have any relations or ties to the event, he finds it fascinating and wrote a book about it. Martel also spoke about the English language. He said that he speaks English, French, and Spanish but he loves how one get lost in the English vocabulary. I instantly fell in love with that idea. He continued on saying “Art is what life is, not what it should be”. Ahh! This video was not nearly long enough to quench my thirst for his thoughts and wisdom. As the video neared the end, Martel must have been asked to talk about his flaws, downfalls or something of the sort because he had a brief list of things like not liking to cook, lack of empathy, lack of curiosity and a few other things. At the very end of that list was “judging a book by its cover”. That statement seems to be a terrible cliché and thus lost any true meaning but Martel follows up with “Judging is a way of defending yourself. You judge therefore you push away…” How true! In addition to learning a bit about what makes Yann Martel a personable writer, he’s put some of my own thoughts into comprehensive words for me. He seems to write and create to enlighten others, as an effort to share knowledge and provoke his readers to think on a deeper level. I feel as though that’s what many people are missing in their lives.
Breitzman 1
From the video that I viewed, I concluded that Yann Martel is a very brilliant and intellectual man. The video was a general interview with him on his thought processes and feelings about Life of Pi from authormagazine.com, but throughout it he made some very profound statements. One that I really found interesting was something he said within the first thirty seconds of the video. Martel discussed how he thinks connecting with people through literature is more difficult than through music or acting. His reasoning is this: When you are an actor, dancer, or musician, you are your own product. You brand yourself to be a certain way and create the image that you want to project to others. Lady Gaga is a perfect example. She has conjured up the “Mother Monster” image, the image of a woman who dresses outlandishly and sings unique songs all while promoting nonconformity, acceptance, and self-love. This persona is what makes her so endearing to her fans, as they connect with the message that she puts out. Lady Gaga is famous for her own being. Writers, however, are a different case. Yann Martel says that it is harder to be a writer who connects with people because your novel is your product. If your novel is well-accepted and loved, that is excellent… for the novel. For your own personal name, however, it is not always great because people do not associate brilliant literature with just one author. One novel of yours could be stellar and the next, a total dud. Another statement Martel made that I found particularly intriguing is that he believes that art and religion are the same. They are two completely different entities in terms of what they actually are, but he feels they are similar because they both deal with the “big picture.” Yann Martel thinks this because both art and religion pose questions. Religion poses questions about if there really is a greater being and if there really is a God. Religion makes us wonder if there really is a reliable faith system in our universe. Art makes us wonder why things exist the way they exist or what that painting/book/movie/song is trying to convey. Martel also says that politics cannot be considered to be similar because it deals with solutions, not questions. I agree with this statement of Yann Martel’s and found it to be very thought-provoking. A final statement Martel made that I enjoyed was that success (whether it is in writing, filmmaking, music, etc.) is not solely about talent. It is also about luck. He himself even stated that the reason Life of Pi was so successful was because it came out at the right time. It struck a chord with readers because it was relevant to the time period. He truly believes that had it been published ten years earlier or later, it would have fallen flat. I think there is some truth to this statement. Personally, I believe that part of the reason Life of Pi found success in 2001 is because of the attacks on September 11th of that year. While I am not trying to make a political statement when saying this, I think people were looking for a story about hope rising from the trenches and a story that made people reaffirm their belief (or begin their belief in the first place) in God. I think readers liked seeing a character like Pi persevere through his horrendous struggle and hoped that the nation of America could do the same. Overall, I found the interview with Yann Martel to be fascinating. He strikes me as a man who is very intelligent, eloquent, and in-tune with his surroundings and I hope that I have conveyed his statements in an understandable way. His keen ability to express so poignantly how he feels about life (both in his novels and in the world) is something few people are gifted with. I think it would benefit everybody to listen to Yann Martel and the words he speaks and apply that talent to their own lives.
Steffen 5
I watched this interview with Yann Martel that talks about religion. Bigthink.com asked him what role religion plays in his life. Yann believes that faith is not just believing in something, it is just an openness TO believe in something. He chooses to believe that life makes sense. I think that’s true for any religion. No matter what you believe in, to you, it makes sense. It is a choice to believe that life is not horizontal, but rather vertical. It is just like falling in love with someone. You have no idea what the future holds for you; or in the political view, running for office. Yann was asked another question about how he came to religion. He talks about how his background was completely secular. He lived in Quebec, Canada and studied philosophy (“more for reasonable people” he says). Life of Pi brought him to religion and before that he was brought to India. Yann says, “India is a very real yet imaginable place. There are more religions per square inch than anywhere else in the world.” That is why he selected a character, like Pi, who had many faiths. Maybe he chose a very religious character to compensate for his otherwise secular background? Martel did comment that after spending time in India and writing the novel Life of Pi, he felt himself become more and more like the narrator. He posed a very philosophical question; why not? Why not live your life that way? What is to be gained? Being religious myself, I cannot imagine not believing in something. So then he made me think, what is the point of being reasonable? If anything, why not believe that someone transcendentally loves you? More or less, Martel answered my question with a question. “Still use reason to improve your life, but once reason fails you, why not believe this great cosmic plan is this massive act of love.” It is no wonder that Life of Pi is filled with a make-it-your-own-story type of religion. He just wants us to believe in something.
Boerhave 7
Yann Martel is a wonderful speaker; he has so much to share with the world. No wonder he is a writer. Throughout the interviews that I viewed, Mr. Martel showed extraordinary intelligence. Mr. Martel discussed how nothing beats representation of reality than in a novel. How the facts and the history are all there and how in a novel it gives of the flavor of interest and curiosity as well as a story. I found this interesting to me and it made me think back to all the novels I myself have read; Mr. Martel’s statement was impressively true. Another statement that caught my interest was, “If you have neither stories nor gods, you have nothing”. This statement struck me as the prime reason to write novels; to share your faith with others or tell a story or your hardships. Yann Martel continues to amaze me as he speaks. Towards the middle of this interview, Martel mentions that Life of Pi came out at just the right time; it struck a chord. If it would have come out sooner or later, it would not have had the same effect as it did. I believe what Martel is saying is that Life of Pi came out during a time where people needed to read about hope and faith. People needed to confirm their faith or find God and trust that there is hope, even in the most devastating and hard times. Mr. Martel discussed how writings and art pieces last forever and leave their mark. They do not lose their inspiration or meaning. He says how Archeologists trace elements left behind by people who wanted to leave their mark. “Any act of creativity is life affirming and worth doing”. This is so entirely true. I am astonished by how much one may learn from such a brilliant man such as Yann Martel.
Lenz 7
While searching YouTube for a video on an interview of Yann Martel, my first observation was that there were many. I was searching for a video on his reaction to the new movie, but was unsuccessful in my search. I did watch a video that was more of a trailer for the movie, but it had a slight interview with Yann and by the short sentence he was allotted, I feel as if he is happy with the film and how this motion picture was produced. The interview that I did end up watching was from “The Standard.” During this interview, Yann Martel speaks of the religion behind his novel. When his book was first released, this brilliant writer was under the assumption that nobody would buy his novel due to the openness of religion within it. However, the book release happened to be on a life changing day. Life of Pi was released on September 11, 2001—the day the towers fell. In this interview, Yann Martel said that the outlook of individuals regarding religion changed the day the twin towers were hit. Martel reported that after the 9/11 tragedy, Americans were more open to discussing and hearing about religious views. Also, the interviewer asked Martel why he did add Judaism as one of the religions that Pi believed in. Martel had an instant answer to this question. This talented man had an immediate answer. He said that Judaism and Catholicism would not combine. Catholicism believes that the Messiah has come, whereas the Jews are still waiting for the Messiah. Yann Martel seems to be a profoundly intelligent man who has a great talent for writing. What I gathered from the interview is that he not only wants to gain profit from his books, but he strives to open the eyes of his readers. This brilliant man would not only like to entertain, but would also prefer readers learn from his book and they open the intellectuals’ minds.
Lippert 7
One of the reasons Yann Martel chose the person who illustrated his novel was the fact that the illustrator never drew Pi. This fact was revealed to us in the interview I watched concerning the release of Martel’s illustrated novel. He also touched upon his perceived reason for his novel’s success, his reason for the heavy religion he used, and his reasons for sending Canada’s Prime Minister books. The illustrations do not give us a picture of what Pi looks like, and Martel likes this. Martel never establishes what pi looks like and he doesn’t want his readers to be given an image of Pi. Interesting. Martel seems to want the audience to become Pi, he wants the audience to see the ocean below them and feel the fear brought about by Richard Parkers awesome presents. He wants the audience to have an experience they will not soon forget. I think it is interesting that Life of Pi was released on September 11, 2001, in Canada. Martel believes that the positive tone of his book and his use of religion contributed to his novels success. Martel wanted to look at faith in general with his novel and so he chose religious faith since—and these are his own words—it is the most unreasonable. Martel observed the amount of faith most Indians have and this really fascinated him. He wanted to know what it meant to believe beyond rationality. I was very intrigued when Martel admitted that he went from someone who believed that religions was for children and uneducated people and now believes it is one of the most fascinating things to grapnel with. Martel wants his readers to examine their faith in everyday life, what drives them, what directs them, what strengthens them, and—sometimes—what hinders them. The fact that Yann Martel sends a book every two weeks to Steven Harper, Canada’s prime minister, is almost comical but he has a purpose with his gifts. Martel noticed that the Prime Minister seemed indifferent to the Canada Council for the Arts. This disturbed Martel, he asserts that the Arts council is crucial to Canada’s culture. To show the Prime Minister the importance of literature, Martel started sending the novels. A noble cause Martel’s is, yet he has received only one simply brief reply from one of the Prime Minister assistants. Yann Martel is an intelligent, passionate, concerned man who wants to convince others to step back and just examine their world. Realize the importance of faith in their life and see how important literature is to our culture. He simply wants us to understand the lives we live every day.
Olesen 1
I watched an interview of Yann Martel from bigthink.com where he discussed multiple topics on questions they asked him. One questioned they asked was what role does religion play in your life? Martel describes faith as openness to believing in something and to have trust in that thing. He believes that life has a meaning and is not just chemistry. Believing in transcendentalism, he is critical of the organization of churches. Yann Martel grew up secular living in Quebec with his parents who grew up in the Quiet Revolution. He talked about how Life of Pi brought him to religion, and how India brought him to Life of Pi. He describes India as a country extremely open to many religions, and how religion is a main part of life. I would love to visit India at some point to be able to experience the many different religions and to see those who are totally trusting in their religions and so devoted. Yann Martel talks about how we are pushed to be rational, and that is why so many people go to India to experience that faith and to not be reasonable. Martel is obviously a highly intelligent man who knows what he believes in. He also does an immense amount of research on the different topics, settings, religions, animals etc. for his books. He talks about volunteering in palliative care (care for the dying) which makes him seem benevolent in that way. I found it funny how Martel sent 79 books with 79 letters to the Canadian prime minister and got absolutely no reply back. I also find it interesting how Martel says that to be a great leader one must need to read to fiction in order to know how it feels to be another and to know the world.
Redford 7
The video I watched was about why Yann Martel believes that politicians should read. He makes a lot of very valid points about the benefits of reading. It helps create tolerance. Tolerance is something that I feel is lacking in a lot of aspects of today’s society. Many people are unwilling to see things from other people’s perspective. While one reads a book, they are transported into another person’s shoes. They are forced to look through someone else’s eyes in a manner that doesn’t seem forced at all. When this happens continuously, the reader slowly begins to gain the ability to see things from other people’s point of view. This is especially important for politicians to do because they run countries and have to make decisions for people that are in certain situations. From this video, it is obvious that Martel believes in the importance of reading. He must have had experiences while reading certain novels that have changed his outlook on life. He has strong opinions and beliefs that he isn’t afraid to share. He sent the prime minister of Canada a book every two weeks for two and a half years. Not only did he do that, but he also sent letters that explained about the authors as well as what he took away from each of the novels he sent. This truly shows a confidence that he has in himself as well as a passion that he has for reading. I think the goal of his art has to do with his passion for getting people to look at things in a new light. He wants people to be inspired in some way by his work. He is clearly an intelligent man that has a lot to offer to people. It seems as though the main thing that matters to him is to get people interested in reading and thus get interested in things that the reader never thought possible.
Berndt 1
Layla from mojo.com interviewed Yann Martel on February 28, 2008. When I saw this video I related to Martel, because I am too interested in zoology. He says that zoology fell through for him, that he never expected to be a writer. His words made me think about my future. Yann Martel started writing at the age of 27. Martel says that he never expected to become a writer, only when his pursuit for anthropology and zoology fell through. Martel didn’t choose writing; he believes writing choose him. When he started writing he didn’t know what he was doing. He tried to focus on relating topics to other topics until it came organically to him, he just starting writing like he had been doing so for years. Martel says he enjoys writing to build a story, with a certain setting, with particular characters that will have an ultimate meaning. This was so joyful to Martel because he felt like a small god. Martel was taught in the West to be reasonable, that reasonability will gain one money and power through their lifetime. Martel thanks god that he was in India during this time because India was where Life of Pi was born. Life of Pi was a perfect way for Yann to stop making sense and looking at life through a different lens. Martel refrains from conformity in views of life by looking at life vertically rather than horizontally. He believes that life isn’t about the process but the knowledge gained through and of it. In the west, art is irrelevant and the viewer, or in this case the reader, makes their own story and believes their own story of what the artists portrays life. Martel explains that both art and religion has stories, and what stories are told, are the stories believed.
Dawn 2
While looking through the many interviews with Yann Martel I found one in particular that was informative and concise. Martel’s interview with Watchmojo.com was very interesting and contained a variety of statements dealing with his writing. The interview covered topics ranging from how he felt about writing, to how he wrote. Right from the beginning it is clear that Yann Martel is a highly intelligent and humble individual. He answers each question clearly and his speech contains many philosophical aspects.
Yann Martel began writing full time at twenty seven years old. When asked how that came about, he responded with, “It sort of came about organically, I didn’t really choose writing, writing chose me.” He stated that everything else fell away and writing was what he was left with. He openly admits to not being a very good writer at the beginning but he says that bit by bit he got better. Yann Martel says he did not think about what he did at the beginning, he just wrote. He says he was fed up with being “reasonable” and he ended up in India where he began Life of Pi, “which in a sense is a book that says stop making sense, have a vertical view of life, rather than a horizontal one.” He then goes on to say that he is better for it and most people are better off being less reasonable. When asked about the balance of the composition of the story, and the story itself he said, “Well you have to do the writing, and then tinkering. I love tinkering…” when he writes literary stuff he says there is no compromises due to the fact that in our society art is irrelevant. “Art is witness. The genuine artist just says ‘this is life’…” He believes a true artist shows us life in its unfiltered, unedited form. Martel also states that humans are story animals. “The work of a lifetime is to figure out what your story is.”
Everything Yann Martel said in this interview made sense to me. It was all true information that he presented philosophically. Watching this video helped me make sense to the thought process behind Life of Pi, and also made me look at life in a different way.
N. Peterson 7
The thing that stuck out to me the most in one of Yann Martel’s interviews was that he said his book is what is famous, not him, even though his book has so much to acclaim. The type of fame Martel has is nothing like the fame of an actor or musician— the book is the product instead of you being your own product. He mentions that he still lives an ordinary life, which I found interesting. I think this shows a lot about his character; he is truly humble person and a very compassionate writer. Another concept Martel spoke about was leaving your mark. He said that when most people die they leave nothing, their belongings are scattered, their bodies are lost, and their names are forgotten. Most people completely disappear. Before watching this interview I never really thought about what would happen after I died—would I be remembered? Martel’s fix to this quandary situation is to do or make something that leaves your mark in the world. Even if that something is found in an attic a hundred and fifty years later, someone is still thinking about you, you are not completely forgotten. Martel is an incredible speaker and astonishingly knowledgeable. He has no doubts in his beliefs or anything he portrays. The interview I watched from authormagazine.org was only six minutes long, but in that short amount of time Martel proves to really enjoy the work he does and makes it clear that he wants to be able to provide people with a novel to look into, something without a definite ending or meaning. He wants his readers to be taken away from reality. Ultimately, he wants us to truly believe in something and to find the deeper meanings in things we take for granted in our lives.
Backer 2
I found Yann Martel to be highly intellectual in his interview concerning literature and his success with Life of Pi. At the beginning of the Interview, Martel explains that unlike other artists, such as actors and musicians, he is not his own product. Instead, his book is what becomes famous. I never really thought about the concept in this way before so I found the statement to be quite interesting. Unless you create a world famous series of books such as J.K. Rowling, you are unlikely to obtain much name recognition as an author. Knowing this, I would have to assume that many authors, like Martel, write for the sake of sharing a message. They have a passion for what they do and write because they feel inspired. Martel also remarks that the best fiction is often the kind widely open for interpretation. I feel that this statement proves to be very true. During this course and previous English courses, there have been several occasions where classmates have disagreed on a book’s deeper meaning. One is neither right nor wrong however, both interpretations could be considered correct due to the book’s context. In fact, if a book was not open to various interpretations there really would not be a need to analyze it. Towards the end of the interview, Martel discusses how important the arts are. He brings up the fact that most people leave nothing behind when they die. Sure, our family members will remember us, but how many of us honestly even know the first name of our great-great-grandfather? Many leave the earth without a single form of recognition that they even existed. Martel shares that with the arts, it is different. Even if he was unsuccessful, he would still have something that showed he was here. I think the underlying message that Martel tries to get across with these statements is that it is important not just to live but to EXIST. He does not mean we all have to be bestselling authors; we can make our mark by simply doing what we love.
Nifong period 1
Yann Martel is being interviewed by Craig Rintoul. Rintoul asks Martel to set up the scene for him. He wants to know how Pi ends up on a lifeboat with a tiger. Martel tells him a brief history of India in the mid-1970s. He speaks of the boat they are traveling on and the boat that is eventually wrecked. Then Rintoul asks about the two stories that Pi tells. He asks what the reader is supposed to draw from this. I love Martel’s first answer—“Well, what I wanted to do in the first story—nothing impossible happens. It’s implausible, unlikely but not impossible.” I love that quote. He also speaks of the island that Pi comes to. He does this to “push to the limit” the beliefs of the reader. I like that he is sort of testing the reader, seeing what he can get by with. More authors should write like this! He goes on to say that most readers think the novel is an allegory. Martel says “The quote on quote true story is the human story.” This quote confused me. The book is fiction. There is no truth to it…is there? The interviewer comments that he finds the animal story more believable. Martel is fascinated by this because he says that the animal story makes less sense and is less plausible for the human mind. Martel begins to enter into a speech about religion. He starts touching on the unique events religious people believe in. He speaks of when Jesus walked on water. He says that chemistry says this is not possible, yet people believe it. He ties this in with his story. His point that he is trying to make is that, just because something seems near to impossible, people still find truth. Martel bashes the Japanese men at the end of the interview. He says that there is all sorts of things that don’t make sense but people still believe them.
Hanzel 7
Yann Martel, interviewed by Sharad Khare on Today’s Lunchbox, discussed his novel, Life of Pi, and his other feats. At the time of the interview, Martel was writing another novel “using animals to speak about a human reality”. Martel finds animals useful to explore the condition of humans. I would be interested in reading another of his novels to compare the uses of animals throughout his novels. Martel’s novels are open to interpretation- “life is not about the facts, it is about how we interpret those facts”. Martel’s works leave the reader to believe what they prefer- attracting more readers. Yann Martel’s goals of being an author include opening the minds of others and exploring a set of doubts. Martel speaks about religion and zoos in his novel, Life of Pi- both extremely controversial topics. Life of Pi includes a “set of facts on top of two stories”- the animal and the human version. After four and a half years of consistent hard work, Yann Martel spoke about how he was sad to see the novel finished but thrilled to see the completion of the movie. Yann Martel has strong and unique personality. He possesses the ability to live in the moment and be unconcerned about the legacy that he leaves behind. Martel appears to be a leader who will speak his mind and always tell the truth, even if it is not what you may want to hear. Martel has a strong future ahead of him because of all the followers he has gained through the publication of his novels.
Rollag 5
The video I found is of Yann Martel talking of the differences between writing his book Life of Pi and the movie production. He tells of how he spent his time quietly writing his book in his room keystroke by keystroke crafting the novel. He then compared it to the momentous undertaking that resulted in the film adaptation of his novel and how they spend weeks in India and in Thailand filming. He joked about how funny he thought it was that his writing resulted in millions of dollars being spent to make a seven story CGI blue screen around a huge pool with a boat in it all for his story. It appeared he was being interviewed by a large crowed in an auditorium. The next part of the interview Yann Martel discusses various letters he has received most notably from President Obama. Then goes on to complain that after all the letters to his own prime minister he has yet to receive a reply. The next letter he talks about reveals some insight into why one aspect of the book is that way. The Kumars he says were given the same name because he wanted the science and religion to go together. He was trying to say that science and religion can coexist and work as one to help understand the world. From this interview I would guess that Yann Martel is a nice guy with an average sense of humor and is not absorbed in his own fame and stardom. I think he wrote the book to make people take a look at what it is they have faith in and begin to respect the fact that their beliefs do on coincide with those of all the people of the world. He wanted to teach us to look closer and see the similarities in an entertaining way that people would enjoy.
Scholten 2
I watched a video of an interview with Yann Martel while he discussed his books Beatrice and Virgil and Life of Pi. The interview was done by BNStudio. Yann Martel started out with explaining his reason for writing Beatrice and Virgil. He had always been interested in the Holocaust and wanted to stimulate people into looking at it in a different way, rather than just as facts and places. During the interview, Martel commented that he wasn’t of any descent of Eastern Europe so he considered himself an outside on the subject even though he read countless books and watched numerous movies about the Holocaust. He proposed the question, “how can I comment on the holocaust, on this event that is so strongly identified with a particular group, if I’m not a member of that group?” At that point, I realized Yann Martel was truly gifted at approaching subjects from different angles to extend our learning and understanding of that particular subject. Martel decided to use animals to tell his story in Beatrice and Virgil, just like in Life of Pi. He goes on to say that animals in fiction are extremely effective in telling a story and that is why he chooses to incorporate them into his novels. He feels that people are more cynical about each other but less so than wild animals. With animal stories, readers “suspend their disbelief and open themselves up.” I feel that this statement fits perfectly with Life of Pi. People would probably be more turned off from Life of Pi if we knew that there were humans killing other humans. But with animals, we often think that it is just a part of their nature. We are more accepting to horrible acts committed by animals than by humans. The next part of the interview, Yann Martel talks about why he writes novels. He explained that his novels are really an answer to a question he was interested in. The books would cause him to do considerable amount of research on a certain topic which would help him shape and mold his novels. In Life of Pi, Martel was interested in looking at faith and science, faith and actuality, faith and factuality—the human story or the animal story. In Beatrice and Virgil, Martel was interested in looking at how art can deal with mass murder and horrendous events such as the Holocaust. At the conclusion of the interview, Martel explains his goals for each book he writes. He wants to move people. He wants to stimulate people intellectually so that they look at topics and ideas in new and different way. He wants people to understand art through the understanding of imagination. After watching this video, I have learned that Martel’s novels are great for provoking you to think about things in a new way. Martel takes considerable amounts of time, research, and determination to write such intricate and symbolic novels for all to enjoy. After this video, I have concluded that Martel might not be one of the most famous or popular authors but he is definitely one that will produce a book in which you can read and reread over and over again and cease to get bored. You will notice and realize new and different aspects and symbols each time you pick up his novels.
Petersen 7
I watched an interview taken by authormagazine.org of Yann Martel. At the beginning of the interview he talks about how he is different than musicians and actors. Celebrities are their own product and therefore are famous as their product. He says that his book is his product and is famous. People may of heard of his name but he is not famous compared to his book. Martel truly talks humbly about all of this. He does not come off as an over prideful person because of his success. He also talked about art. Art is all about asking questions; books are pieces of art. He says the best fiction is widely open to interpretation. I noticed that this retains to one of our post reading questions: Books are made worse when obvious symbols are introduced. When I thought further into this I realized it is true. I do not want to be given everything when reading a book. I want to be able to imagine my own version of the story and interpret it towards my own life. Martel wanted people to question his works and have people interoperations in their own words. He also talks about religion and how art and religion are key drivers in stories. Martel believes he had luck with Life of Pi. He said it came out at the right time. If it would of came earlier or later it probably would not been a success. I agree with him. I believe that people are more open to the themes Life of Pi expresses. If this book was out earlier it would of been most likely banned due to the religious references and the human story. People are a lot more open to change present day than they were in the past. Martel is also a very good speaker. He answers the questions with confidence and that also shows through his writings.
Rist 2
In the video I watched, a lady from mojo.com is interviewing Yann Martel. Martel discusses the importance of reading a book. He encourages everyone to read a literature book, a fictional book. While listening to Martel speak, I noticed he is very passionate about what he is saying. Extremely knowledgeable, Martel explains himself thoroughly. Martel suspects the Prime Minister of Canada does not read books because of the way he acts on things. By reading books, you are able to think and dream in ways you cannot do without reading. In the video, Martel mentions that all politicians should read. By reading, politicians can become great leaders with big ideas. Martel believes that people think what others are reading is a personal matter when in reality, it does not matter what someone else is reading. He just believes everyone should read. The prime age to reading a book is in high school and college or retirement age. Also books people read in high school are books we normally would not pick up. If middle-aged men read then we would have a better society. Martel does not know where men of this age get their ideas because they are not reading. The type of book people are reading reflects their interests and the type of mind a person has. Books give us dreams. If we do not have dreams then we do not have reality. “We live in a literary society. We live in a complicated society.” This statement from Martel made me think about our society. Everything around us revolves around literature and reading. If you were not able to read then how would you buy groceries? Or walk down the street and read signs? Words and symbols are a part of our everyday life without us even realizing it. Reading and literature open up our perspective on life by allowing us to use our imagination. Martel is a very sophisticated man and he encouraged me to read more books by simply watching an interview of him.
Bakke 7
The Yann Martel interview I chose to listen to was a BBC Radio Book Club interview, with no specified names other than Yann Martel, about religion and Martel’s feelings on the subject. The interview was technically a Life of Pi interview, but was focused on religion. Throughout the interview I gleaned that Martel was a very religious person himself who grew up in a home much like the one of Pi Patel’s childhood—with no religion. In Canada, there was a “Quiet Revolution” that largely made art more important than religion during Martel’s childhood. Martel was fine with this, to a certain extent, but thought art was too limited and wanted to seek something to expand himself, henceforth religion entered his life. Martel was also asked if he was religious before writing Life of Pi, or if the book changed his beliefs, and he said that he is secular, nondenominational, but was religious before the book was written. As a person, Yann Martel appears to be particularly open about the facets of his life, especially one as close to many people’s hearts as religion that seems to be covered or not a public subject of discussion. He is obviously religious, and says that no matter what he thinks spiritualism is important, no matter a person’s religious affiliation, even none at all. Martel sounds as if he is an accepting man from the way he speaks about other religions (Islam and Hindu) in a respectful, even admiring tone, though he still does not understand agnostics. Martel likes to express religion, spirituality, or something similar in his work as religion plays a very strong role in his life. Martel is a very articulate, brilliant man who was able to speak and write about one of the most controversial subjects in human history beautifully and unabashedly. He feels open about religion, so he feels open to talk about religion.
Andersen
Period 2
Yann Martel is a very interesting and inspiring man. In the interview I watched, he was telling about his beliefs and thoughts on different subjects. His first subject was about being an author and how great it is to connect to so many different readers. And yet he still lives the normal life of everyone, it’s the book that is truly famous, not him. His next subject was democracy. He says that no other form of art can reach someone like a great novel. Other forms cannot express the same sense of depth as a novel can in such details. Stories and God were the next topic. Art should answer larger questions and in the process, you begin to answer those questions. Reading can be open to the reader and the reader’s interpretation. The more open the book is, the longer it can stay popular because it can continue to be more relatable for longer period of time. He states that stories and gods give you a purpose. Without them, you are just kind of there. His last topic in the interview was about leaving your mark. People put out their works because they have to. Whether it strikes big or not is unknown, they still have to put it out. It’s a way of being remembered. When people die, they eventually are forgotten about, it is important, in Martel’s eyes, to leave your mark in any type of art. It doesn’t need to be somewhere famous, but having your name on it from 100 years ago can mean something versus not having anything left behind. I think Martel is a very passionate man and truly means what he says about leaving his mark in history. Leaving his mark is kind of his goal. His goal is not there to become rich and famous by name, it is there to connect with readers and leave something meaningful behind.
VandeBerg 5
Yann Martel begins this interview by talking about the difference between an author, like himself, vs a music artist or performer. He states that performers are their own product, therefore they are famous and known by who they are. Yann talks about how he is an author, therefore not famous. He states his book is famous, yet he is not. He goes through the struggles of everyday life, just as everyone else. He claims that most people would recognize the book far before they would recognize him. I completely agree. Authors are known for their works, not for themselves. I would find it very hard (without you showing us multipile pictures of the authors) to be able to pick them out on the street. They aren't thrust in the spotlight, their works are. He talks about how awesome it is to be creative, and how gratifying it is, that his creativity was able to touch the lives of so many people. I concur that having creativity that is so well-loved and is so respected throughout the world would be very gratifying. He brings up an interesting point where fiction is the last true form of democracy; he says that every reader has their vote in how they interpret the reading, and how they add to the story. I can agree with this statement. I can believe whatever story I choose in the Life Of Pi because I am my own self and I can make the final decision by myself. Others can have their own ideas and thoughts as well. A fiction novel is not a concrete book, but a book that can be manipulated and bent in any way a reader desires.
Ullom 7
While watching Layla (spelling?) interview Yann Martel on WatchMojo.com, I was truly shocked with how Mr. Martel talked about his novel and even life itself. In his manner of speaking, Mr. Martel appears to be a humble, modest person who really loves writing. I enjoyed when Mr. Martel said, “I didn’t really choose writing; I think writing chose me…. When I started I wasn’t very good, but bit by bit I got better.” I remember speaking about this in class one day. We discussed how writing does not always come naturally. It takes dedication and hard work in order to create an outstanding piece. Mr. Martel is a true example of this. He mentions having to “tinker” with his work and even admits to loving it. If he did not have the passion to take time and tinker with the novel, it would be not be the masterpiece we all know it is.
“… Don’t worry if it’s not true, you don’t have to be certain about anything in life. Life is the process, not the knowledge. Just entertain transcendence and you would be better for it.” Martel states that it is better to be unreasonable. This intrigued me. Normally, we are taught to be reasonable. Mr. Martel’s viewpoints caused me to think. He is exactly right! People in the west are known for being reasonable. Through life we strive to use reason to get the best possible income we can and to obtain as much power as possible. But why be reasonable? This is what Mr. Martel is getting at with Life of Pi. He says, “…which in a sense is a book that says stop making sense. Have a vertical view of life rather than a horizontal one.” Mr. Martel is truly and inspiration and a great man. After watching the interview, I look forward to finishing his novel and discovering what else lies within its pages.
Johnke, Pd. 5
For this weeks blog task assignment I watched a YouTube video titled, “Yann Martel: Why Politicians Should Read”. There is a woman named Rebecca Britzman (I don't know the exact spelling). The topic of his interview is why everyone should read fiction regularly, specifically the minister of Canada. In his opinion without reading fiction, a person will be shut off from the world. He specifically targets the prime minister of Canada, Steven Harper. It sounds to me that Martel is not exactly satisfied with Harper's policies and such, so he assumes that Harper does not read books in his free time. In my opinion, Martel comes off as a very intelligent man with very definitive views. If I was ever in a debate I would sincerely hope that he was on my side of the argument, because his cleverness and wit would be a force to be reckoned with! His overall goals seem to increase literary worldwide, because he believes that reading books open your mind to the world, and without them you become very sensitized to potential harmful situations. Since he is an author this is not that surprising considering that the more people that can read means more chances of his book being read/bought. I agree with Martel on most of these subjects, but I don't know if I agree with his pestering of Steven Harper. It seems to me that sending so many books is a lost cause, even if it sending a small message. Although it is obvious that he pays atttention to politics if he is going to go through such efforts, I don't agree with the sending of the books just because he doesn't agree with certain policies. However,this does not affect my opinion of his overall personality and it is fairly amusing.
Wilde 7
After observing an interview conducted by CBC I have acquired an even greater appreciation for Yann Martel. The interview dove into Martel’s personal life as well as his take on the brilliant novel he created. The second thing Martel mentions in the video (following his lack of desire to cook) is the common misconception that he is this extraordinary animal-lover. I really find it intriguing how we readers make Martel out to be this angelic figure. In actuality, he seems to be an ordinary man with an extraordinary appreciation and talent for English and literature. Martel also admits to writing what he titled a “bad play” during his second year in college. I would really enjoy reading what Martel considers a “bad play.” I find it extremely ironic how Matel expresses his greatest failure as his tendency to judge books by their covers. Martel’s Life of Pi serves as a novel that surely works to either fascinate or sicken the reader based on any brief synopsis of its content. However, I believe that Life of Pi is open to so many varying interpretations that anybody, regardless of religious opinion, can truly enjoy the novel. Martel overtly says how, prior to writing the novel, he deemed people of religious faith as lacking intelligence and essentially ignorant. He said “religion is for children.” Most people would be surprised by these words. How does a novel that contains such rich religious symbols stem from an atheistic author? Also fascinating is Martel’s explanation of how art is not immoral, buy “amoral.” “Art is about what life is, not what life should be.” Martel essentially refers to himself as a partially bad individual, for “art does not come from good people.” I have always been fascinated by the author’s background stories after publishing such phenomenal novels. From where did such inspiration emerge? The lives famous authors led—Martel, Kesey, Golding, etc.—can reveal significant insight into the artwork produced. I feel that just as Martel is able to immerse himself in another world through his literature his purpose for the readers is to step out of the daily realm of reality and experience new cultures and perspectives. Life of Pi succeeds in all aspects of this notion.
Callahan 7
My first thought upon pushing play on the interview I chose was that Yann Martel's voice was not how I expected. I actually wondered if the voice I was hearing was the interviewer (a name was not given) instead of Mr. Martel. The voice I heard seemed softer, higher, meeker, and almost weaker than I expected. I think I assumed him to posses a more of a worldly voice, the strong voice of a leader or person of authority. In truth, I really don't know what exactly I expected his voice to be. In any case, I was surprised. What I was not caught off-guard by were the passionate, knowledgeable tones belonging to this soft, mild voice. The first minute or so of the interview was spent summarizing the plot of the novel and the intent behind it. What struck me the most was his explanation of the main intent—religion. When asked about the portion where the Japanese investigators must choose the better story, Yann said "And to my sense of things... religion— once again, defining it in the broadest way possible— is the better story". He then stated, "Nothing impossible happens in the story. It's not impossible to end up in a life boat with a tiger. It's implausible, it's not likely, but it is not impossible". Continuing on the instances that are implausible but not impossible, Martel mentions how highly unlikely it is to bump into another life boat with another blind man on it and how highly unlikely the algae island is—but how nothing in the book is impossible. Yann Martel wanted to "push the beliefs" of people by seeing just how much people are willing to accept as the truth, to push it to the limits—like one of our Term Tuesdays (asymptotes). He says "I suspect most people will read this book and say, 'Oh, this is an allegory; the animals represent something else. In fact, the "true" story, is the one with the human beings'... because that's what we expect. They will not choose the better story". As I have made obvious, I myself believe in the animal story. But, I believe Yann Martel believes both. Both stories are possible; one is just more likely than the other. The last quote I mentioned makes me sad, because I believe that most of my classmates fall into Martel's suspicion. They believe the human story without even considering the animal story because the latter is more likely. I love how Martel then mentioned all of the miracles presented in each religion Pi follows, miracles like Jesus walking on water and rising from the dead, miracles that I believe it is safe to say most of my fellow classmates believe—then ends the interview with this:
"Life to a scientist is hard to believe, there's all these unlikely-hoods to which we believe, so what's your problem with just this little tiger in a life boat?"
Waldera 5
Mr. Martel, shown clearly even from the beginning of the interview, is obviously very passionate about writing and story telling. He is also a very scholarly man who gives meaningful answers and also talks intelligently. I watched the YouTube video entitled
“Interview with Author Yann Martel”. Mr. Martel was interviewed by an Indian woman named Lela. Overall the interview was surprisingly short; however, Mr. Martel uses the words he speaks in such a way that is extremely useful. In better words: he is a very good speaker. At the beginning of the interview he comments on how “reasonable people” gain more money and power than unreasonable people. He then stated that he was sick of being reasonable. I laughed when he said that because when thinking about the book Life of Pi; it is not a very reasonable book at all! It is about an Indian boy who believes in three different religions and who survives on a life raft with an adult Bengal tiger! There is not very much that is more unreasonable then that. Mr. Martel later in the interview that art is simply not just what people want to see or what some people find relevant. He says art must be everything: “the good, the bad, and the ugly”. I think what he is trying to say is that you can’t just shelter part of the truth because it might offend or possibly be irrelevant to some; you must show the whole truth and then you have art. He concluded the interview stating that in life you must find your own story you are going to tell. He mentions that it could be about your family, hometown, country, or anything. I completely agree with him on all his points over the interview. I find him to be very intellectual and fascinating to listen to. I actually watch a couple of the interviews but found this particular one the easiest to write about.
Svartoien 7
I found this blog task assignment to be surprisingly entertaining and engaging. The wisdom that came from Yann Martel was mind boggling. In an 8 minute interview, Martel covered good vs. evil, art, technology, religion, victims, racism, homophobia and people of deep faith. The video started off with Martel saying how art can be powerful, but when it comes to evil, all it can do is describe. The only "human endeavor" capable of encompassing evil is religion. When asked if Martel viewed people as primarily good or evil, he responded with "We are attracted to good." I found it interesting that Yann Martel and Bill Gates (both wealthy, wise men) said "When we do good, we feel good." There has to be something profound behind that. Yann Martel also stated that no one is truly evil and completely happy. In a simple question regarding Pi and Richard Parker, Yann Martel compared Richard Parker to God. God has power over us but we are afraid of him (likewise with Richard Parker and Pi) We as human being must pacify God with prayers and repentance. For Pi, he had to pacify the tiger with food. On a more psychological level, he can be compared to Christ. Christ turned defeat into victory. His death was the world's salvation. Pi was victimized by the tiger but uses it for good; he uses caring for Richard Parker as a purpose to live, survive and thrive. I found this interesting because in class we mainly associate their relationship as reflective. So far my all time favorite part of the book is when Martel says Christians love their capital letters. I love that. In this interview, Martel pointed out how Christianity is personalized with "God the Father and God the Son." I thought that was interesting as well.
Kirkus 2
In the interview on Craig Rintoul’s YouTube channel, Martel starts by giving a brief overview of the novel, then proceeds to introduce the two separate stories that Pi tells: the human story and the animal story. When faced with the decision of which is the “better story,” Martel says that “religion…is the better story.” The interviewer says that he thinks the human story is less believable, even though there are some crazy and strange things that happen in the animal story. Martel responds to this by saying that everything that happens in the animal story is possible—though implausible and unlikely. Another interesting thing about this particular interview is that Martel states which story is actually true. “In fact, the true story…is the one with the human beings, with the French cook and the Taiwanese sailor….” He then relates the unbelievability of these stories to religion, in the sense that they all have very unbelievable elements that people still widely believe.
Up to this point, I believed in the animal story. A lot of detailed descriptions just wouldn’t make sense in the human story, such as Pi urinating on the tarp, rocking the boat, blowing the whistle, etc. But now that I’ve heard Martel say which story is literally true, I obviously believe the human story. These descriptions that fit only into the animal story could just be creations of Pi’s imagination to convince himself of the animal story and separate himself from the horrors of the human story. When people lie, sometimes they go into too much detail, which could account for some of the details that don’t match up with the human story. I think it is possible that Pi has so thoroughly perfected the animal story that he is unsure which is true anymore. Both stories are in his mind—one fabricated, one real—and so he tells them both, not knowing the truth. Possibly the reason the animal story is much more vividly described is because it was more recently created. At the time he’s telling these stories, it has been a very long time since his ordeal, and the real story would likely be less detailed due to the passage of time. So if he created the animal story more recently, he would be able to recall details much more accurately. One plausible reason why Pi does not know which story is real, if that statement is true, is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD can cause people’s minds to do some crazy things, and one possible effect it could have on Pi is that he can’t tell the difference between what actually happened and what he created to save himself from it. Being the religious boy that he is, I’m sure Pi was appalled at some of his actions, thus prompting him to create some sort of escape from a haunting experience.
Poppenga 1
Randall Mark from The Standard in Vancouver begins the interview with Yann Martel by pointing out that his book Life of Pi was released on September 11, 2001, the day the twin towers were hit. He states that that was the day that people began talking openly religion. Yann Martel replies by basically saying that he was interested not so much in religion, the practice of faith, but actual faith, believing something beyond the material. While watching this interview, I noticed how passionate Martel is about what he is talking about. It seems like he is really trying to connect with the reader on more than just an author-to-reader type of relationship. I also feel like he is very knowledgeable in everything he is saying back to Randall Mark, the result of studying for four years. In the video, Yann asks himself, “What does it mean to have faith?” As a person, Yann Martel seems to be particularly open about the aspects of his existence, especially one so personal as religion that seems to be not a public subject of argument. I am almost intrigued by Martel—he is very modest about his publicity and earnings from the book and I think this quality is rare to find in an author/athlete/actor. Mark asks Martell,”You have a background in philosophy, and it seems you’re creating a whole new philosophy of storytelling—of blurring the lines between story and storyteller, narrator and author, even fiction and truth. Is this something you set out to do?” Martel replies by saying, “No, because that would imply an act of self-consciousness, which I didn’t and still don’t have. You know, when you start creating—unlike cooking, for example, where you take set ingredients, and usually you follow age-old traditions—when you create in the arts, there are fewer conventions. You have to find your own approach. And that you just do spontaneously—you start writing and things come out a certain way.” I feel like this proves that Martell is humble about his arts and wants the reader to learn more about him and be more intrigued by him.
Heisel 2
During the video I watched (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-czVyIAk0Mg), I came across Martel’s view of how humans capture evil. This was the second part of a three-part interview, but I found this part to relate to my questions the most effectively. Martel is being interviewed by a news cooperation called The Standard. Martel is asked questions concerning the evil side of humanity.
Martel goes on to say how religion is one of the most effective ways humans have tried to capture the essence of evil. It is difficult normally for humans to put a tragic or evil event into art. Art is wonderful, but it can only describe something horrible, not portray it (according to Martel). When asked if humans are inherently evil, Yann Martel said he doesn’t believe anyone is evil and truly happy. He claims that being happy makes people happy, which leads towards humans being naturally good. Generally people are good, but there are exceptions and outbreaks of evil.
When prompted to speak about Richard Parker’s metaphorical role, Martel explains how the tiger could actually be God. He is powerful and we fear him, but we need him. In Christianity, defeat becomes victory with Jesus on the cross. Similarly, when the tiger looks like Pi’s downfall, he turns out to be a savior. He goes on to say how it confuses him that all the religions of the world seem to be against one another. He believes people with a deep faith are essentially all the same. He says all religions have flaws, and none are completely correct. When Martel enters a church of a certain god, he will pray to that god, but only observe the parts of it he agrees with/understands.
Religion seems to be the central theme in most, if not all, of the interviews I watched. This agrees with my hypothesis that the book was based almost completely on religion. To our class this may seem obvious, but I’m always skeptical when interpreting novels. (i.e. Yellow Wallpaper). I am happy to hear from the author that our studies are not complete bunk!
Larson 1
The video I watched of Yann Martel is titled On the Fly: Yann Martel. In this interview Martel answers a variety of questions while visiting the Iowa City Public Library. This particular library is the seat of the “premier writing program in North America.” In a humorous clip before the serious questions start Martel proclaims that the city “doesn’t even have a damn airport!” He has arrived at the library to do a public reading of his novels, and appears to be interviewed by one of the staff members there. The questions varied, but I found his most interesting answers to be in response to the question “What word or phrase do you always cut from drafts?” Martel’s answer to this question was simple: that. He went on to describe words as really just refined grunts, with the meaning behind them being the most important facet. Novels called ‘bad’ by literary critics are often the novels that have only what is on the page contained in them. The novels that go no further in depth than the very words typed on the page are the novels that have failed these highfalutin critics’ eyes. Martel asserts that these same books are very engaging, because the authors have served their main purpose in capturing the readers’ attention. Martel also warns that authors sometimes get too caught up in being “spare” and “careful” in their word choice, where sometimes you should just get the words on the paper. I found all of this extremely interesting. That words are just refined grunts is a perspective I have never taken on literature before, but I think it’s very accurate. What’s in a word, really? Only the meaning behind it makes any difference to us internally. Without a meaning, the word would be just a noise. I think this makes sense when reading one of the aforementioned ‘bad’ books. They are very noisy during, but when the book ends so does any thought about the novel. The words only serve the purpose of capturing and keeping a readers’ attention, rather than provoking any deeper thought processes. Finally I enjoyed Martel’s description of the balancing act between careful and spontaneous writing. I personally connected with it because when I write it usually ends up vomiting out of me onto the page, but requiring plenty of tweaking and touching up later on. All around I found Martel to be a very engaging speaker, who has a wonderful way of making a viewer feel exceedingly comfortable.
Rasmussen pd5
For this task, I watched a video on Yann Martel’s opinion on why politicians should read. He says that Fiction is the most important form of writing. He says that it prepares leaders to look outside of the narrow life that they have and look from other perspectives. When you are in a book, you are in a sense becoming another character while you are reading. He continues to say that fiction will increase the tolerance of the reader if his or her will is willing to change. People have come up to him and asked about his sending of books to the Prime Minister of Canada and said that sending books and asking what he was reading was a personal question and was therefore irrelevant. He strongly disagrees. Martel gives the example; If a Politian’s favorite book were Mein Kampf, would we not be concerned? I found that this theory of his to be quite interesting. Yann Martel believes that reading books that are out of your comfort level or way of life are the most beneficial to you. He gave the example of a liberal reading a conservative book and vice versa. This would expand the views of the reader instead of the reader being ignorant of other viewpoints. Another video that I watched was dealing with Martel’s viewpoint on religion. I found It interesting that in the video, he never seems to claim a religion, he just says he is very secular. He says that when he was born, it was the era in the history of Canada called the silent revolution. Before this revolution, Quebec was sin ridden province that was far from being holy but then it went on to be the most secular of all of the provinces. Martel also says that there are two ways of thinking, the non-spiritual and the spiritual. He takes the spiritual side because he thinks it makes life better. He is fascinated with religion. He marvels and the religion of Islam. He calls it beautiful in the way thousands of people can come together and agree on one thing. I believe that he is right in thinking that the spiritual way of thinking is more interesting and makes life a better thing to endure. I also believe that the reason we have religion isn’t to just help us explain things we could never know after death or before us, I believe we use it as not only a belief but also a thought process. Thinking spiritually is more intriguing than realistically.
Beckman 1
The interview I chose to watch on Youtube focused on the religious aspects from Life of Pi. In this particular clip Yann Martel is being interviewed by Randall Mark on The Standard. Yann Martel speaks of how he did not grow up very religiously as a child because his parents were from the time period that rebelled against their parents and their religion in Quebec. At first I was stunned by that fact, given all of the religious aspects and different levels of religion in the novel I figured Martel had to have come from a family with a very strong background in faith but as the interview progressed I realized that it made more sense for Martel not to have come from a very religious family—he would then be very partial to certain religions than others in his novel. Yann Martel also mentions that when he was first writing Life of Pi he thought “no one would read this because it’s so unfashionable” he felt out of place because he was an author who was deeply studying religion to use it, not to dismiss it. He also briefly touched on the idea of people being very materialistic in the interview, admitting to having been so himself before his venture to India. After having watched this interview the first time I got a sense that Yann Martel was maybe not your typical author, he spent many years researching before he even began writing; I also felt like Yann Martel was a very humble man, he is not out to just sell a book and make money. In fact at one point Martel tells Randall Mark that when he was in India he explored further than just the faith and culture of the people by exploring “what does it mean to have faith”, he was focused more on the faith than the material items. I believe his goal was to do what he loved which is write, and create a very moving story that would touch the lives of many; I do not think he wrote a book just to try and make money.
Forster 2
For the current blog task, I selected a video produced by CBC Television entitled One Take: Yann Martel. In this interview Martel begins by mentioning some of his likes and dislikes, how he learned to love writing and the English language, and goes more in depth about his novel, Beatrice and Virgil. I believe the context of this interview was simply a relaxed, intimate interview in which Mr. Martel could freely discuss his works and other topics that came with his flow of consciousness. The interview was likely conducted by an employee of CBC Television. At about the midpoint of the video, Yann discusses his greatest failures. Among these, he ranks the act of judging. He says that judging is, at times, necessary—though that neither excuses nor justifies the act. He mentions the novel we are currently studying, Life of Pi, and says that when he wrote this novel he was “scathing about religion”. I found this statement to be perplexing, yet not surprising. It explains Martel’s excessive religious themes and Pi Patel’s melting pot of faith, though it does not give us an insight into why Martel was struggling with religion at that point in his life. When we discuss and brainstorm what question we should ask Mr. Martel through the email competition between classes, I will likely suggest something with religious undertones, as this is clearly something he is passionate about and has struggled with. When discussing his book about the Holocaust, Yann Martel is very up-front and respectful regarding his status. He does not claim to be linked with the Jewish religion, and states that this book is not necessarily written for survivors. He simply had an interest in the event and decided to write about it. I respect that he, as an author and an artist, does not make false claims or try to outright comfort or console the victims through his literature—he merely portrays events in a beautiful way. I would call Yann Martel an honest man. The author is well-spoken, respectful, and bold. His views are solid, backed up by experience and a way with words. His goal seems to be simple literary pleasure—“The pleasure of language is what keeps me writing.”
Rogen5
The video that I discovered on YouTube was an interview with Yann Martel concerning his illustrated version of Life of Pi. Martel responded to a question inquiring why Pi’s face is never pictured by stating that it is better for the reader to not see Pi’s face, and by not seeing Pi in third person, it preserves the first person element of the narration. This way, the reader’s imagination is not limited, and the reader cannot disapprove of how Pi looks. Mr. Martell thinks the book became popular because the novel is not cynical in tone, and it has subject matter that people are interested in—like religion. Martel also continues to say that it may also be due to the fact that the novel is different but not “weird.” He also talked on the issues faced with a movie like the loss of imagination. He said that the audiences’ imagination is replaced with the movie and the viewer is given the option to like or not like parts of the story. This is the beauty of narrative literature. The reader can like every aspect of the plot for they have designed the settings and characters to their liking. It is for this reason that Martel likes how the illustrated version is put together. It gives the reader a starting point, but does not limit the reader’s imagination. He also speaks of the meaning of his work. He states how careful he writes. Martel talks of how some writers can write a paragraph at a time. Yann Martel on the other hand writes one word at a time to make sure his work portrays the message he is trying to get to the reader. With this being said, the listener cannot think that any idea in Martel’s work can be an accident. Everything happens for a reason in his writing, and he allows the reader room to think for herself. Yann Martel gives an honest vibe to the listener. He seems like a guy you could sit down and have some coffee with while discussing the worlds problems.
Clemenson 2
I listened to a video of BBC Radio Book Club interviewing Yann Martel about his views on religion. The interviewer asked him if the book had opened up his religious views because he had mentioned that he had a secular background. He mentioned that he grew up in Quebec and his parents grew up in a time period when Quebec went from being religious province to a secular province during the Silent Revolution. So his family did not focus on God while he was growing up. God was replaced by art in Quebec. Yann Martel likes art but he feels that it is too contained within the walls of existence. He likes that religion can make bold claims about things that are difficult to believe. He believes that religion is the most interesting way to view life. He also thinks that Islam is a beautiful religion because thousands of people drop everything to all pray facing the same direction every day. I admire Islamic people for faithfully praying every day. I now understand why Yann Martel is so open to all different religions. He was able to discover his own religion when he older instead of following the same religion as his parents like many people do today. I believe that Yann Martel’s goal is to open up people’s eyes about religion. Many people only believe what they have grown up with or refuse to believe at all. Yann Martel grew up being skeptical about God but he eventually became a Christian. At the same time, he respects other religions. I believe that Yann Martel makes Pi believe three different religions because he wants the readers to see the connections between each religion and allow readers to become less narrow minded. Yann Martel also mentions that it is funny that agnostics spend half their time going to church and half of their time not. Yann Martel chooses religion over not believing.
Coyle 2
In an interview by Sharad Khare, Yann Martel really opens up about what writing is for him. He talks in a very laid back way about how his novels have impacted his life and how he feels about everything surrounding the novels. Mr. Martel talks about how while writing Life of Pi, he spent nearly four and a half-years working on it, two years for research, and two for writing it. During this time he lived on basically no money, living with room-mates, not driving a car, not smoking, and not drinking. He said he basically living like a prince. Martel stated, “Every morning I would wake up and my only concern were these characters, principally this boy and this tiger…and to live that kind of imaginative life was a thrill”. The preceding quote clearly shows how invested he became in his novel, spending every waking moment trying to perfect his creation, not having to worry about earthly cares such as money. He also mentions that he believed his novel was doomed from the start because he was tackling two very serious subjects, religion and zoos, and presenting them in a serious way. Yann Martel thought that most of his readers would be “secular zoo-haters”. The success of the novel was fairly slow in Canada, but once in was released in the US and the UK, it quickly took off. Later in the interview, Martel discusses how lucky he is to live in such a diverse country as Canada saying “When I’m traveling abroad, I tend to recognize Canada because so many nations live in Canada, and when I’m in Canada I recognize the world”. Martel attributes this diversity to the ability for many voices to be heard, saying that there is more of a willingness to hear someone’s story in Canada. Martel then goes on to talk about his novel and how it is one set of facts interpreted in two ways, one with animals and one without. He says that that is how life is too; it’s not about the facts, it’s the way that we interpret them. Using animals is a preferred method of Yann Martel when it comes to telling stories exploring the human condition. He says that when he’s writing a new story, he forgets about his past novels and focuses entirely on the novel at hand, stating that the novel “tells you what it needs”. Martel then goes on to talk about his hopes for what his legacy is. He says that he hopes his greatest legacy is how he raises his children, however he also states that he hopes Life of Pi’s greatest legacy will be to establish an openness and tolerance with things such as religion.
Rusten 5
In this interview about Life of Pi, Yann Martel discuses the leap of faith it took to publish a book about religion (pun intended) J. He mentions how at first, he didn’t believe that anyone would read his book because it is so deeply religious he believed it to be so “unfashionable“. Which intrigued me, why spend so much time researching and writing a book when you believe no on will read it? Then he explained himself, he wrote the book to dig into the meaning of faith and not religion. Religion is the practice of faith to Martel and he was intrigued by the act of faith in India. In India they so easily believe with no material proof. Where most of the rest of the world is materialistic, needing proof of a higher being. Martel’s goal was to make readers see from a different perspective about religion, to be willing to see past what they know into the unknown. The interviewer Randall Mark asked if the publish date in Canada affected the selling of his books and Yann believes that it did help because that was the day people started to talk about religion openly. He mentions how the two religions clash that day and that brings out the discussions between religions, not just discussions to dismiss religions. Martel seems to be very modest in his work and an extremely honest person. He is obsessed with learning and finding meanings with himself to grow and move forward in his life. Which is an extraordinarily impressive goal. It is insane to me how in such a short video clip, 7 minutes, Yann Martel discuses his book and religion in such a deep way that makes you wonder, how? It is so painfully obvious that Martel is such an intelligent man.
Voigt 7
To complete this blog assignment, I viewed an interview of Yann Martel on YouTube done by an interviewer from TVO. It was really quite intriguing to actually in some sense “meet” the author of a novel our class has been earnestly studying for the past several weeks. I appreciated Martel’s attitude as an author and he presented himself well throughout the interview bringing about a good aura.
This interview was done shortly after Life of Pi was transformed into a new illustrated version. Martel speaks of the search for the perfect illustrator and I found it fascinating that the artist chosen provided details in his work that made him the perfect fit to design such a task. Namely, this particular illustrator correctly portrayed the 1st person narrative that Martel sets throughout the novel by always drawing from Pi’s point-of-view. Pi is not physically visible in any of the pieces of art, because we are looking through his eyes. Similarly, Martel never describes Pi’s physical appearance in the novel, because that is irrelevant information to the reader because the story is rather focused on Pi’s viewpoint, not appearance.
It was not until much farther into the interview that I realized Yann Martel was discussing many of the same facts and details that Mr. C has shared with us in class. Most prominently, Martel discusses his sending of books to the Prime Minister hoping to engage the man in the fantastic literature that exists in the world. I soon remembered that this was probably what Mr. C had mentioned earlier that we will be using as an example to write our own letters encouraging literature to those we know that are less than thrilled by this particular art. When Martel was explaining this process, I became excited to do the same. This excitement comes from the passion with which someone like Martel possesses when talking about the great art of literature. It encourages me to spread the word of the impressive literature I have consumed to others.
Miller 5
In the interview that I found Yann Martel talked about starting as a writer and his reasoning for that. He makes the comment that being able to form a story with characters and an ultimate meaning feels somewhat like being a small god. The interviewer is Layla from WatchMojo.com. She starts off asking Martel whether full-time writing was a decision or just happened. What struck me was his answer: “I didn’t really choose writing. I think writing chose me. Everything else just fell away…” He reflected about reason and how he decided that he was fed up with being reasonable. His explanation of what Life of Pi is intrigued me as well. Martel said that the book challenged society. It said things like: “stop making sense”, “you don’t have to be certain”, and “have a vertical view of life not a horizontal one”. Yet another thing that Martel said which caught my ear was that he was and society would be all the better for not being reasonable. In addition to this Martel makes the reference that art and religion are stories at the core, and the main goal to life is to write your story.
After watching the video several times I believe that not only is Martel a brilliant writer, but he is also an incredibly deep thinker. I admire the way in which he expresses himself and shows life and reality. Saying “Don’t worry if it’s not true.” would not be looked upon with admiration by most, but to me it is a statement to take to heart. He does not mean lie and make up stories, but more so, I think he means explore all possibilities and explanations. If they turn out false then so be it. All in all, I think that Yann Martel is a great author and an honest person, who can make sense of even the most complex of ideas.
Guthmiller 2
Unsurprisingly, Yann Martel is just as gifted linguistically as he is in writing. This was made evident in the interview I watched by the channel WilliamKenower. In the interview Yann explains his love of fiction as a way of art. He urges that fiction is the best way to represent reality. “It can offer both the facts, and also the flavor. To me fiction is the last truly great form of democracy…” I absolutely agree one million times over with his last thought. Writing, unlike many other forms of entertainment like music or film which need money and more expertise, can be produced by anyone with a thought. Especially in our age, where all you need is a computer and you can reach an audience that far outweighs the audience that reads novels. Writing now, and not just fiction, has the ability to spread ideas faster and more efficient than ever before.
Later in the interview Yann tells us that the best fiction is the fiction that is wide open to interpretation. _The Life of Pi_ fits this description expertly. Hearing this directly from Yann gives me insight on just exactly how he made his novel. He left it open on purpose. He wants the reader to get out of it what the reader wants to get out of it. It is a brilliant way of writing, writing for the readers needs. Too many authors try to shove morals and ideas down your throat; Yann has crafted a novel that lets you choose the story and the ideas that should come from it—to a point but it’s still more than most. It’s extremely easy to see that Yann is a man of high intelligence and a man that encourages a deeper sense of learning and understanding. He wants to understand the world, the myths, and most importantly the human spirit.
Etrheim 5
After writing the masterpiece Life of Pi, one would have high expectations for Yann Martel’s next novel. In the interview that I viewed Martel was asked if he felt a pressure for his next novel. He responded by saying that there is no pressure. His new book, Beatrice & Virgil, allows for readers to have different experiences and will not be related to Life of Pi. Beatrice & Virgil took Martel nine years to perfect—a long enough time for him to be satisfied with his work of art. During this time, Mr. Martel became a father. On top of being a famous author, he finds time to be a great father figure. During the interview, one can tell how educated Martel is. He is obviously very literate and has a sense of modesty even after writing one of the best books of this time period. By being so modest after writing one of the most successful books of the century, one can speculate how nice of a person Yann Martel really is. I appreciate the fact that Martel is not letting the success of one novel affect the way he feels about his other work. He will not and does not want to compare Beatrice & Virgil to Life of Pi. The topic of why Martel uses animals in his novel was another topic discussed in the interview. In Life of Pi, there is a tiger, a hyena, a zebra, and an orangutan on a lifeboat with Pi. In Beatrice & Virgil, the main characters are a donkey and a monkey. Martel says that he uses animals to make his work seem more fiction. He does not want his work to be taken too literally and to be made to sound like everything is factual and nonfiction. People are often confused and wonder if Pi really did survive 227 days in the Pacific Ocean. I was intrigued by this explanation, but also understood exactly where Mr. Martel was coming from.
Bauer 2
The video I watched of Martel is an interview about the illustrated version of his award wining novel Life of Pi. He briefly summarizes the tragic story Pi goes through and the events that occur on the raft and he explains how all the picture in the illustrated version are depicted from Pi’s first person point of view. I think this is done to make you, the reader, come up with your own image of Pi’s face. Martel also discusses Pi’s faith and his own fascination with religion and faith. “To doubt rationality, I think, makes us less crazy.” This is my favorite quote by Martel in the entire interview. I believe that by this quote he is saying doubt is a good thing, and that questioning a religion is natural and can help make your own faith grow stronger. Mr. Martel repetitively emphasizes the point that if one keeps their heart and their mind open to the metaphors and the meanings of religion that it will only make one a better, more open minded person. I agree with Mr. Martel in him saying that religion and being open to religion makes one a better person. I also agree with Martel when he discusses even an open community makes society full of better people. He talks about how Canada is an open community and that it makes people more honest and more open people. Martel thinks in a deep and symbolic way all the time. He sees everything for more than what it actually is and it absolutely astonishes me. He explains that the goal of the illustrated version of Life of Pi is to let the reader into the eyes of Pi, to let the reader see what he sees and help them to experience Pi’s hardships and challenges.
Stephens 1
I watched the video, “Sharad Khare interviews the author of Life of PI, Yann Martel” where Martel spoke mainly about Life of Pi and the movie, but also commented on his other books and spoke about his life. He was very excited about the Life of Pi movie because it wasn’t his project and all his work was done. He talked about the novel and the separate interpretations. He also spoke about his legacy.
Many things stuck out as interesting to me. One of his quotes was, “each of my books has been a way to understand something that interests me.” I was intrigued by this, wondering if that is the mindset of every author. Something intrigues them and they orchestrate it into a masterpiece. Incredible. He also talked about Life of Pi taking four and a half years to write and he lived off of nothing and how amazing it was to just constantly live in his imagination and be in the world of Pi Patel. He didn’t think the story would be a hit because of all the controversial ideas, and it didn’t really catch on in Canada, but once the book hit the US and UK it soared. Another interesting thing that he said, “Well it is a book about interpretation. You know the book is one set of facts on top of which are two stories, one with animals and one without. And the reader’s invited to decide what actually takes place. So it is a novel about an act of faith, you know life isn’t just about the facts it’s about how we interpret those facts and there is liberty in interpreting those.” I wondered if I ever asked Martel if he intended the story to be about animals or humans, but now I believe that he specifically crafted the novel so no one would know for sure and things would contradict both stories to keep us in the dark. It is truly genius.
Collin Livingston Pd.5
A YouTube video I selected was of a man by the name of Sharad Khare interviewing Yann Martel and gaining his perspective and outlook on literature and cinema. In discussing literature Yann Martel opens up to the listener about his tremendous novel Life of Pi. Martel begins by showing his gratitude for the recently released film based upon his novel and how he really has a passion for cinema. He says that cinema has its own beautiful language, one that is very carefully translated from pen and paper to graphics and sounds. Yann then tells us how for four-and-a-half years he lived with many different roommates researching and writing this novel despite not even having a consistent income. Martel went on to say he was fully contempt with the way he lived for the four-and-a-half years it took to write his book, saying he loved waking up every day with the only task at hand was deciding the fate of a little boy and a tiger. He goes on to say that the book was based upon facts and two different stories: one with animals and one with humans. Yann seems interested in achieving an art that is up for the reader to create a reality from many perspectives. Martel says the true story is for the readers to decide and that life is an act of faith; it’s all based upon the perception of the facts and that’s what is truly enjoyable. After the closure on Life of Pi, Martel goes on to say he is writing another book based upon animals, three chimpanzees and a rhinocerous used to create a human reality. Despite the success of Life of Pi, Martel tells his audience it won’t have a factor on his new novel, and that he,”…shuts the door on the past, and let the novel tell me what it needs rather than feeding it leftovers of another success.” Overall Yann Martel is a remarkably humble human being and an outstanding role model for anyone who gets the chance to listen to him speak. He says that despite the success of his novels that the greatest thing he can do is raise his children right, as that will have a greater impact on the world than anything he may ever compose. What even fascinated me more so was, in the end, how he said he wasn’t the slightest bit worried about his legacy as living in the moment was the only thing that mattered to him: that’s character.
Peltier 5
After watching an eight minute video of Yann Martel being interviewed by a TV show called “The Standard” I have begun to realize what kind of man Martell is and how he views art. In the beginning of the interview Martel says one bold statement, “In the face of evil all art can do is be descriptive.” I think Martel did an outstanding job or using his version of art to describe the evil around Pi. Martel goes on to say that religion like “no other human endeavor manages to put evil into perspective.” I agree with Martel, thinking in terms of Christianity when Jesus died on the cross, there was evil around and people who wanted him murdered. These people who wanted Jesus murdered would not be considered bad people according to Martel from what I gathered. He believes everyone is attracted to good therefore everyone has a natural desire to do good. When somebody does evil they do not believe what they did was good, because in reality, we all strive to do good.
Later in the interview, Martel explains how Richard Parker is similar to God, having power over Pi. I would agree with this because Pi fears Richard Parker. Similarly, we are told in the Bible to fear God. And daily, Pi serves Richard Parker and prays. I had not thought about Richard Parker symbolizing God before.
Lastly, I noticed Yann Martel never said what his religion is. As I listened to his interview, I pictured him on the outside of all religions looking in. He finds it puzzling how all religions think poorly of each other when they all have a similarity—faith. Martel goes into great detail about his knowledge of several religions, but never seems to have more belief in any certain religion. I found that very interesting on him and wonder whether he has a distinct religion or if he is just like Pi.
Johnson 7
I found a video of Yann Martel being interviewed by "Big Think" which is almost a Ted Talk type of video webinar done online. The video initially goes about Martel's heavy usage in using allegories. Martel explains how allegories are powerful, but not blatant in its cause allowing it to be much more accepted and effective at the same time. The video also goes into the holocaust allegories and claims how since the event was so awful, the best way to interpret it is via allegories. He also goes into how the fine arts have interpreted the holocaust [which is ironic because Rush has a song titled "Red Sector A" which is about the holocaust as well]. The interview is well after the book Life of Pi and he is explaining the literary devices he used in a recent book. Next he goes into how religious he is, but interestingly, Martel says he's against highly organized religion because he feels as though it becomes corrupt. He also goes into his past life where he found religion. He was originally secular and studied philosophy which he claimed made him feel atheist/agnostic. Martel says that a trip to India made him find religion while he was researching for Life of Pi. As he continues to explain about Beatrice and Virgil (which is the book he is talking about in the interview) he explains why he uses animals and shows how the characteristics of animals represent people's stereotypical characteristics. Next the interview goes into asking about how autobiographical his work is. He claims Pi's openness to religion is very similar to himself. Next Martel explains how he writes to solve problems and questions. He goes into how his writing is heavily researched even though facts may or may not come up in his novels, but he uses the background information to set up his allegorical figures in his novels. In essence Martel does his homework and does it well. He is somewhat of a quazi-abstract novelist with his animal works, but he, like George Orwell who he references in the interview on his book Animal Farm, has deeper meanings to his books of seemingly zoology. He is an open minded person; race, religion, and capital do not affect his opinion on the result which is something I commend. His goals for his art seem to be to force others to think harder about important issues such as religion and the holocaust, but he also gives multiple views in his story which is an indication that he wants readers to be open to tabooed and atypical things in their society.
However, there were many people who claimed that Martel essentially stole the tiger and boat and man from the book Max and the Cats which is interesting.
Albertson 5
The video “Yann Martel-Life of Pi-author interview” on YouTube is a five and a half minute interview between an unnamed interviewer and Yann Martel. There is no video provided of the interview, only pictures of the book cover and of Martel. I assume from the absence of video, the way the interviewer announces the book title, and the web address “bookbits.org” that is given in the video that the interview was done over the radio to promote the sale of Life of Pi. The interviewer asks Martel about how Pi came to be in his situation and Martel quickly summarizes the major events and motivations of the novel. Martel says that the book as a whole is essentially two stories of how a young boy survived on the Pacific Ocean for 227 days. Going on, he describes how he created competition between the stories hoping that readers would choose “the better story”, which to Martel is religion. He gives an example of how much easier it is to accept that somebody would jump out of the World Trade Center when one puts the situation in a larger context. Otherwise, the situation is bleak hard to explain. I think one of Martel’s goals in writing life of Pi is to allow readers to make their own choice on religion, but he expects them to reach the same conclusion as him. To push the boundaries of the readers’ beliefs, Martel says that every situation is implausible, but not impossible. He says that many already believe implausible things: for Christians that Christ walked on water, and for scientists that life came from nothing. Interestingly, both the interviewer and Martel agree that the human story, which is more likely and tempting to accept as the real story, is in fact the less believable tale. Martel made the two stories so that they both accomplished the same things, so whichever a reader chooses is right.
Andrews 1
The interview I watched was "Interview with Author Yann Martel" by WatchMojo.com. The interview is just above three minutes which is rather remarkable considering the various topic Martel covered in the interview. Watching the interview helped contribute to my ever growing respect for the extremely intelligent Martel. Writing for Martel came organically and everything just fell away for him. At first he didn't know what he was doing, but with a little tinkering he got better. One of the ways of thinking that made Martel better was losing the concept of being reasonable. Martel says we are taught to be reasonable, because these types of people have a lot of money and power. This isn't always true. A prime example of not being reasonable is Martel himself. He was just fed up with it, because it was bringing him nowhere. Even his novel, Life of Pi, is very unreasonable. With it's alternate meanings and it's vertical viewpoint instead of horizontal, it is nowhere near a traditional novel. Martel also brings up the interesting point that in our Western dominated world, Art is irrelevant. This is true, but I wish it wasn't. Art is necessary and true, because as Martel says, "Art is a witness of life. Not just the bad parts. Not just the good parts. Just Life." A Writer is a free element in this world and they are not responsible to anyone. Irrelevance is not something Art should ever be, because at its core it is a story. Religion is also a story and this is why we are so heavily drawn to both of these. Art and religion help us figure out our story which is the work of a lifetime. In our lives we need to be unreasonable and find our story, because another interesting quote from Martel was, "Don't worry if it's not true. You don't have to be certain in life. Life is the process. It's not the knowledge."
Pederson 7
In the video I watched, Yann Martel spoke of how writing has let him communicate with the world. He thinks people are “too reasonable” in the United States, and he decided to write a book to change the way we think. While in India, he began writing a novel that “didn’t make sense.” He urges that we don’t need to be certain about anything in life, and that life is about the process and not the knowledge. The person interviewing Yann Martel is Lela from Watchmojo.com. During the interview, she asked many insightful questions that I found interesting to listen to, and I was able to learn about Martel’s history in writing, as well as his goal with writing. When he spoke of how he acted like a small god while writing his stories, I began to correlate this with his focus on religion in Life of Pi . Also, in the video, I learned Yann Martel has extensive knowledge in zoology. This is why his story contains such descriptive information of the animals. He shows us not only an animal’s actions, but why they act a certain way. Martel focuses on creating meaning within his stories in every sentence he writes. He’s a man that takes a risk, and wants to give us a different viewpoint on our lives. Currently, art is not prevalent in our “reasonable” culture. However, this novel demands to be read. Yann Martel creates life with his stories—showing every element of our existence. While he writes, he constantly tinkers with the sentences, weaving them together to better communicate with the reader. He also greatly reveres writing, having the mindset that writing chose him, not that he chose it. His dedication to writing let him quickly improve in the skill, and other career choices faded away. To learn how to write, one must immerse themselves into their story. Yann Martel’s famous story has taught me that not everything has to make sense, and nothing is ever certain. It’s clear that Yann Martel has found his own life-story to follow, and the world greatly benefits from it.
Robertson 2
The video I watched was a short interview with Yann Martel regarding his literary-ness.
Martel discussed in great detail his awe at the literature center in Iowa. To be honest, I think we should all be a bit surprised, as Martel was, that anything besides corn can thrive in Iowa. Really.
In his interview by the City of Literature organization, Martel covers the topic of questions he is often asked. Not surprisingly, inquiries about the novel and his writing process are the most common. When asked what his favorite "quiet place" is, he responds by stating that he can find quietness almost anywhere. (In this respect, we should all envy Yann Martel.) However, to create an environment separate from his young son and soon-to-be-born infant daughter, he constructed a studio in his backyard (8'x10' because he likes cozy spaces [not unlike a lifeboat]). Later in the video, Martel touches on the topic of writing style. He observes that, at some point, it is possible for writing to become so technically correct that the work loses the ability to communicate an idea. I feel that this is true. Books written to describe lose touch with readers; people need something more than terms and conditions and guidelines. It is immeasurably important to maintain human communication, lest we become solitary savages like Pi on the raft.
Martel is a deeply thoughtful and truly literary author. I look forward to reading more of his work in "Self" and "Beatrice and Vergil."
Weidenbach 1
Mr. Martel discussed how there is no greater form of representation of reality than a novel. Martel mentioned an interesting philosophy of if one has neither stories nor gods, you have nothing. He also talks about leaving a mark in this world which can be done through art. The video I selected did not specifically say who exactly was interviewing Martel, but it did mention The Pacific Northwest Writers Association, Third Place Books, and a website entitled authormagazine.org. The context of the video ranges from a wide variety of topics; one of the more interesting topics I thought was when he says, “If one has neither stories nor gods, you have nothing.” I feel he is right. Having gods gives purpose and having stories gives life. I would also have to agree that novels are the best way to represent reality as long as it is not to fictional in my opinion. Martel says the best way to leave one’s mark on this world is through art. I had to think very critically about this, but finally came to the realization he is right. Art and stories keep actions and deeds alive. In my opinion actions and deeds show who a person really is; especially if that person doesn’t care if those deeds go unnoticed by those around. Memory will fade, art may not. Martel is a very intelligent man who is not afraid to tell it the way it is. Even in the video he says, “You still do it because you need to do it and let go of expectations.” I couldn’t agree more with that statement. Martel’s goals for his art seem to be to try and get as many different kinds of readers as possible involved with the work. He feels there is nothing more fulfilling than being creative and have that one act of creativity connect with so many people. Martel is certainly leaving his mark on this world.
K Peterson 7
I found an interview on Youtube called Book to Film Life of Pi – Yann Martel. During this interview PressPlus1 interviews Yann through Skype. She wonders if Yann thought his book would someday become a movie and how he feels about the film. Mr. Martel explains that he fell deep into the life of Pi during the writing process. From the beginning the movie companies were interested in the book. But there are many challenges in movie making that Yann did not have to deal with in writing the book. For example, animals fill Life of Pi but are not like human actors and take much more training and work. Throughout the whole interview I can feel Yann’s passion in writing and his artistic abilities. Life of Pi is filled with beautiful descriptions and I can see that through Yann’s speaking in the interview. The context of this video is how Yann feels about creating his story into a visual movie. The director wanted to meet with Yann a couple times when before he had not met with the author. He also got to read the screen plays. Mr. Martel distinctly explains that the film and book are two different Life of Pi’s. The directions is the visual one and his was the imaginary version. It was very surprising to find out Yann and his parents even got to be an extra actor in the film. He came off as very relaxed and trustworthy of the director. I feel that if someone was remaking my book into a movie, I would already have a set idea and would want it my way, but not Yann Martel Although he is very rich and famous, Yann Martel still seems down to earth and normal to me. His presence in this video does not come off as “too good” for the normal crowd. I now understand why you want to see him Mr. C. He is a very down to earth and inspiration man. I hope that you get to see him someday and fulfill that dream.
Tibke 1
The video that i chose to watch on Yann Martel was one where he pressed the importance of reading and how it efected everyday politics. In this interview Mr. Martel went started talking about how books can be a key part to understanding life. He belives that every man or women should read some sort of litterart book, whether it be fiction or a noel, in thier life. This is to help them grasp a beter understading of imagination. The book should not have to be just what you want read, this is why he believes schooling plays a big role in future adults reading. Schools will give you opprotunities to read books you would never have believed to read. I think that this shows a lot about Yann Martel. It makes him out to be a man of persistence, but not in a forceful way. Yann Matel is just an advid aouthor who believes others should have the opprotunity to enjoy the wonders reading a good book. When he is sending books to the Prime Minester of Canada he is not forceing him to read them. He is mearly asking him to use some of his free time to explore these novels. His compassion for literacy is perplexing. With the way he talked about how it is the middleaged mans fault for the lack of literary knowledege i questioned his statement. Would it not be the fault of parents for not pressing the importance of reading on to thier kids? Overall I believe that Yann Martel is trying to create a world in which people will read and entertaining book, but be able to see past the original story into the deeper messege hidden in the pages, much like Mr. C is doing with us during our forums.
Woodward 5
The video I watched was an interview conducted by a Youtube channel called WatchMojo, in which in young woman interviewed Mr. Martel in his home. The topics discussed were mainly about his view on art and storytelling and his progression as a writer. After watching the video, my impression of Martel was that of a passionate, intelligent, and polite man that seemed to be content with his life as an author. The way he speaks and his word choice seem to emphasize his intelligence and artistic passion—“…writing chose me.” One subject that Martel spends a particularly long time discussing is that of reasonability. I agree with him when he points out that the West focuses more on money making than on art, but I do not think that people need to be less reasonable. Although I believe art should hold more value in our capitalistic culture, reason is the foundation of civilization and order. Looking at some things through an unreasonable viewpoint can be beneficial, but looking that way at all things, such as running a country, is not. I think that it is great that Martel is striving to make art a larger part of Western lives. Sometimes our capitalistic nature controls us, coercing us to make decisions based on money not morals and ethics. Also, through art, one can focus on the similarities rather than the differences between cultures. I am amazed that Martel did not start writing until he was twenty-seven, and with little or no knowledge about how to be an author; he admits that he had no idea what he was doing. Starting a profession that late in life and then composing Life of Pi is a feat that I aspire to rival in magnitude.
Hensley 5
Yann Martel is a brilliant man whom has many great ideas and ways of thinking. In an interview I watched of Mr. Martel, he describes how he believes that a good novel is the best way to convey an idea over to an audience. I agree with this ideology, for one specific reason alone: the power of persuasion. Unlike many other forms of art (music, painting, cinema, and etc.), novels typically do not force an idea into an audience’s head. When it comes to any other form of art, the room for self-interpretation is significantly less due to the actual portrayal of characters and ideas. In a novel, an audience must use their imagination to come to the conclusion on their own, further on the point; an audience may come to another interpretation due to the openness of a novel compared to any other form of art. Instead of receiving an author’s direct interpretation of their work, a novel allows a reader to come to their own interpretation to the work of art. Yann Martel made a statement in the interview that is one hundred percent true: “an author writing a novel is only fifty percent of the story, a reader brings the other fifty percent in their interpretation.” My analysis of Yann Martel is that he is a highly intelligent man, who unlike other authors, does not care about his pocket book and making a profit, rather he cares about the ideas he tries to get across to his audience and how they touch those who read his novels. I believe that his one true goal for his novels is not to write a story to sell books to millions of people, but instead write a story to change millions of lives. Yann Martel is a man to learn from and to follow his example.
Minihan 7
While searching on the infinite website, YouTube, for a video interviewing Yann Martel, one in particular struck me and I became curious. The headline of the video was “Yann Martel: Writing a Religious Novel”. Having my faith be a huge part of my life, I was interested to see what yann Martel had to say about incorporating religion in with his hit of a book. During the interviewing process, Yann explained how he grew up without parents who practiced in any church. He said that his come was very secular, and neutral towards religion. He also told the interviewer that growing up in the west, he (like all boys) was taught reason. Yann believes he was good at it, as well and he also explained how reason brought good things. Yann enlightens the listener about his first two novels, and how they did not catch the eyes of many. Before writing his next novel, Yann thought about what exactly he might have been missing; something that would draw others to read his piece of work. In his thirties, Yann decided that religion had been missing in his life, and in his work. After listening and viewing this informative video, I received the feeling that Yann only added the religious factor to gain a wide variety of readers; he did not find religion for the right reason. Yann Martel’s interview was held at the Prague Writer’s Festival, located in Prague, Czech Republic. Yann is a very relaxed, go-with-the-flow type of guy. During the video he seemed very confident, but not very proud or self-conceded. I collected that Yann is true to himself and others. Although Yann might not have been interested in the religion for himself, he wanted to add that touch for the interest of his authors. By this, you can observe Yann Martel’s care for his readers.
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