Yann Martel

The Life of Martel

Though French is his mother tongue, Canadian scribe Yann Martel has found his greatest resonance with books written in English -- the language in which he was educated.

The Booker Prize Committee clearly thought Yann Martel had picked "the better story" and told it splendidly when they awarded him the 2002 Man Booker Prize for Fiction for The Life of Pi.

Martel fell into fame and into controversy almost at the same moment. His extraordinary tale of a boy, a Bengal tiger and a lifeboat set hearts racing around the world. It also set some teeth on edge, most notably those of the Brazilian writer, Moacyr Scliar, whose Max and the Cats had not enjoyed critical success in English. Scliar's book also involved a man and a big cat in a lifeboat, but so too, points out Martel, did an Edgar Rice Burroughs novel and a Fellini film. Still, some accused Martel of having committed literature's worst crime: plagiarism.

In his introduction to The Life of Pi, Martel thanks Scliar for the "life spark" that his constellation of characters had provided to his own imaginative creation. The Brazilian writer thought his influence had gone well beyond the acceptable level and he sued. Scliar’s suit against Martel raises intriguing questions about the nature of intellectual property, universal themes, the influence of one artist on another and plagiarism in the arts. It is not yet settled, but for Martel the suit has clearly been a painful and unexpected side effect of his new renown. "For a writer to be accused of plagiarism is like a man being accused of sexual harassment," he says "The more you try to defend yourself, the more people will wonder."

His dismay goes to the heart of who he understands himself to be -- a man who, using fiction as a vehicle, carefully examines the nature of being human. His life has afforded him many opportunities to see the human face in a variety of guises.

Born to a Canadian diplomat’s family in Spain nearly 40 years ago, Martel’s childhood spanned a huge geographical range -- from Alaska at one end of North America to Mexico at the other end, down into the other American continent (Costa Rica), over to the Old World (France and Spain) and back again to his home country in the New World where he spent time in both British Columbia and his official home, Montreal.

French was his mother tongue, but as there was no French school in Costa Rica. When the time came for him to begin his education, his parents sent him to the English school and that, he says, “is why I write in English because all my education has been in English. It is just the language I am most comfortable writing.” Martel studied philosophy at Trent University and then went traveling, spending long periods in India, Iran and Turkey. “Having traveled a lot has formed my personality -- made me more open,” he acknowledges and it is this openness to other ideas, peoples and species that informs his writing and gives him such a unique voice.

He appeared early on the literary stage. By 27 he was making his living writing. His 1993 collection of short stories, The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamaticos, was published to international acclaim and won the Journey Prize. His 1996 first novel, Self, was shortlisted for Canada’s First Novel Award and for the 2001 Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction. Equally to the point it attracted commentary on his “psychologically acute observation on love, attraction and belonging” (Montreal Gazette), his “original, playful mind” (Quill & Quire) and his "knack for aphorism and a rich cultural and literary foundation" (Globe and Mail). His journey writing The Life of Pi confirms all these earlier comments and reveals an extraordinary life view behind this enchanting, exotic adventure.

It was four long interesting years in the writing. “Much of that time was spent doing research. “I read the foundational texts of Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. I read books on zoo biology and animal psychology (and) I read Castaway and other disaster stories.” He also spent 6 months traveling around India. “I tried to immerse myself as much as possible in the Indian-ness of my main character.”

He acknowledges taking his time, enjoying both the research and the process of thinking through what he wanted his story to mean. It is, he says “two stories in one.” Whether the animals are allegorical figures standing in for humans or the other way around is an open question. "I'm only the writer; the reader brings 50 percent to the book." Whatever they mean to his readers, animals play a very significant role for Martel, not only in his writings, but also in life itself. "I wonder at them -- it's more than love" he says “They achieve naturally what Buddhist monks try to do for a lifetime - Be in the moment, always in the moment, fully present, fully conscious”

The Life of Pi is, then, far more than simply "an engaging ... boys' adventure for grown-ups” (Margaret Atwood in the Sunday Times). It's a book about the human soul and about “religion as a way for dealing with fear and evil” -- not the usual stuff from which good yarns are woven, but Martel pulls it off. He avoids an overly weighty tone, sectarianism and fundamentalism by giving his protagonist the inclusive religious spirit of the mystics who, he says “all speak the same language – their relationship with God is personal and it is one of love”. Pi is a practicing Hindu, Muslim and Christian – and he needs all his faiths to do battle with the very real fears he confronts adrift with only a Bengal tiger for company. Three faiths in one – isn’t that going a bit over the top? Martel doesn’t think so. “We tend to forget the complexity of people – forget that every person wears many hats.” An unusual premise perhaps, but the three religious hats sit comfortably on Pi’s head, seemingly without getting in each other’s way.

For Yann Martel writing is one of the pillars holding up his life. Yoga and volunteering at a palliative care unit nourish his spirit and sustain him as he mixes the same three elements - “influence, inspiration and hard work” over and over – each time coming up with a new literary brew that is uniquely his. He writes, he says “always, always with deep, gratifying pleasure, with a knowledge that no matter how the novel (fares)..I (will) be happy with it. It (will) help me understand my world a little better.”

Breandáin O'Shea