I Wrote ‘The Life of Pi’.docVIP

I Wrote ‘The Life of Pi’ 　　《少年 Pi 的奇幻漂流》是一部奇幻冒险小说，扬?马特尔凭借它成为2002年布克奖获奖作品。以下是马特尔获奖之后与 PBS NewsHour 主持人 SUAREZ 的访谈对话，谈故事，谈人物，谈创作经历…… 　　CONVERSATION： LIFE OF PI 　　November 11， 2002 　　Ray Suarez speaks with Yann Martel， author of the Booker Award-winning novel，“Life of Pi.” 　　RAY SUAREZ： This year’s Booker Prize， the British equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize for Literature， went to Canadian writer Yann Martel for his book， “Life of Pi.” It’s a tale of adventure and survival. A 16-year-old boy is shipwrecked with a tiger and other animals. The book is Martel’s second novel. He’s also the author of a collection of short stories. He lives in Montreal. Welcome to the program. 　　YANN MARTEL， Author， “Life of Pi：”Thank you. 　　RAY SUAREZ： Tell us about Pi Patel. 　　YANN MARTEL： He is the son of zookeepers in India， and it’s mid-70s. And business isn’t good because of politics， so they decide to emigrate to Canada. And since most of their animals are going to zoos in the United States， they decide to travel on the same ship. Alas， the ship sinks， and Pi ends up in a life boat with a tiger， an orangutan， a zebra， and a hyena. 　　RAY SUAREZ： And lives to tell the tale？ 　　YANN MARTEL： And lives the tell the tale. That’s the beginning of a 227-day odyssey. Quickly， there’s only Pi and the tiger left， and so the central part of the novel is how Pi gets along with the tiger. 　　RAY SUAREZ： That idea of someone shipwrecked with an animal， how did that come to you？ 　　YANN MARTEL： Several ways. The premise came to me from reading a review of a Brazilian novel by a man named Moacyr Scliar， which I read about 12 years ago. And it struck me that that’s a good premise， I could do something with that. Then I forgot about it. And then， about seven years later， I was in India， and India is a country with a lot of animals and a lot of religion. And I was a bit lost there， too. I was sort of wondering， “What am I doing in life？ I’ve written two books， but they haven’t really done well.”