Yann martel interview life of pi

Mr. Martel, would you call yourself an unreliable narrator?

I hadn’t thought of that, actually.

In my writing, I always try to leave space for interpretation.

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So it’s not that I’m unreliable as much as it is that I’m open. After all, fiction is a choice. Art is inherently a choice. You have to be able to interpret it the way you want, because otherwise there’s no reason to involve yourself.

In my first novel, Life of Pi, the narrator, Pi, tells two stories. That’s a device that I chose because I wanted the reader to be confronted with a choice.

Yann martel interview life of pi

I’m just aware of that, the need for freedom of interpretation.

Of Life of Pi you’ve said, “Of course it’s a true story. All good art is true.” Is that what you meant by that — that the truth is open to interpretation?

What I meant was a “truth” as beyond just mere factuality.

In our age of rationality, we tend to place enormous im