i believe in richard parker.

book: beatrice and virgil
author: yann martel
method: borrowed (mum)
completion date: 14/05/10

it only took one book to convince me that yann martel was my favourite author. life of pi was so beautiful and i loved it so deeply i have trouble talking about it objectively. i believed in richard parker and i believe in yann martel. when i learned that his new novel took place in a taxidermy shop i knew that i would love it. (i have spent the past year and a bit exploring taxidermy in my personal life and in my art)
what i really loved about this book was that there were portions of it that were autobiographical and parts of it that were fantastical (unless you believe that everything we do is a self portrait in which case its all autobiographical). Henry and yann's lives were intertwined- both are writers, suffering from rejection-induced writers block, both have written a successful novel about animals, both are canadian, both attempted to write a 'flip book'. however i found that henry was not yann. yann used his own history as a jumping off point, but created a new path for his novel self (pocket universe?).
one of yann's great literary strengths are his characters. he tends (based on his 2 novels, its a small sample i know but lets just run with it) to focus on only a few characters who are so fleshed out they are capable of existing in our universe in this case henry, the author struggling with writers block, and henry, the taxidermist having written a play he wants henry to help him with. i believe that by fleshing out only these few major characters he strengthens them and strengthens his story. his play within a story format is beautifully executed.
my mother tells me that if i had read or seen waiting for godot i would not have loved the segments of the taxidermist's play as much as i did becuase they are not original- they are practically exerpts from waiting for godot. however there is this moment right at the beginning of the play that took my breath. the taxidermist has written a play about a howler monkey (virgil) and a donkey (beatrice). both of these animals are taxidermied in his shop. in this moment virgil is describing a pear to beatrice who has never seen or eaten one. describing colours and tastes is so difficult i find, but martel does it in such a way that you can taste and feel a pear on your tongue and virgil speaks. the play segments i loved so much i plan to make a graphic novel of them (previews soon to come).
i felt the first time through i didn't understand the ending or why both characters were named henry. i found on the previous easier to understand the second time through, but i still don't fully understand the latter. i believe that it has something to do with duality but i don't know. i just found i was believing even more in yann martel by then end of it.
xo ellebee