内容简介
MORETHANSEVENMILLIONCOPIESSOLDNewYorkTimesBestseller•LosAngelesTimesBestseller•WashingtonPostBestseller•SanFranciscoChronicleBestseller•ChicagoTribuneBestseller"Astorytomakeyoubelieveinthesoul-sustainingpoweroffic
作者简介
YannMartelwasborninSpainin1963ofCanadianparents.LifeofPiwonthe2002ManBookerPrizeandhasbeentranslatedintomorethanfortylanguages.A#1NewYorkTimesbestseller,itspenteighty-sevenweeksonthelistandwasadaptedtothescreenbyAngLee.HeisalsotheauthorofthenovelsBeatriceandVirgilandSelf,thecollectionofstoriesTheFactsBehindtheHelsinkiRoccamatios,andacollectionofletterstotheprimeministerofCanada,101LetterstoaPrimeMinister.HelivesinSaskatchewan,Canada.BiographySometimeintheearly1990s,YannMartelstumbledacrossacritiqueinTheNewYorkTimesReviewofBooksbyJohnUpdikethatcapturedhiscuriosity.AlthoughUpdike'sresponsetoMoacyrScliar'sMaxandtheCatswasfairlyicyandindifferent,thepremiseimmediatelyintriguedMartel.AccordingtoMartel,MaxandtheCatswas,"asfarasIcanremember...aboutazooinBerlinrunbyaJewishfamily.Theyearis1933and,notsurprisingly,businessisbad.ThefamilydecidestoemigratetoBrazil.Alas,theshipsinksandoneloneJewendsupinalifeboatwithablackpanther."WhetherornotthestorywasasuninspiringasUpdikehadindicatedinhisreview,Martelwasbothfascinatedbythispremiseandfrustratedthathehadnotcomeupwithithimself.Ironically,Martel'saccountoftheplotofMaxandtheCatswasn'tcompletelyaccurate.Infact,inScliar'snovel,MaxSchmidtdidnotbelongtoafamilyofzookeepers--hewasthesonoffurrier.Furthermore,hedidnotemigratefromBerlintoBrazilwithhisfamilyastheresultofafailingzoo,butwasforcedtofleeHamburgafterhislover'shusbandsellshimouttotheNazisecretpolice.So,thisplotthatsoenthralledMartel--whichhedidnotpursueforseveralyearsbecauseheassumedMoacyrScliarhadalreadytackledit--wasmorehisownthanhehadthought.Meanwhile,Martelmanagedtowriteandpublishtwobooks:acollectionofshortstoriestitledTheFactsBehindtheHelsinkiRoccamatiosin1993andanovelaboutgenderconfusioncalledSelfin1996.Bothbookssoldonlymoderatelywell,furtherfrustratingthewriter.Inanefforttocollecthisthoughtsandrefreshhiscreativity,hetookatriptoIndia,firstspendingtimeinbustlingBombay.However,theovercrowdedcityonlyfurtheredMartel'sfeelingsofalienationanddissolution.HethendecidedtomoveontoMatheran,asectionnearBombaybutwithoutthatcity'sdensepopulation.Inthispeacefulhillstationoverlookingthecity,Martelbeganrevisitinganideahehadnotconsideredinsometime,thepremisehehadunwittinglycreatedwhenreadingUpdike'sreviewinTheNewYorkTimesReviewofBooks.HedevelopedtheideaevenfurtherawayfromMaxandtheCats.WhileScliar'snovelwasanextendedholocaustallegory,Martelenvisionedhisstoryasawitty,whimsical,andmysteriousmeditationonzoologyandtheology.UnlikeMaxSchmidt,PiPatelwould,indeed,bethesonofazookeeper.Martelwould,however,retaintheshipwrecked-with-beaststhemefromMaxandtheCats.DuringanoceanexodusfromIndiatoCanada,theshipsinksandPifindshimselfstrandedonalifeboatwithsuchunlikelyshipmatesasazebra,ahyena,andaBengaltigernamedRichardParker.Theresultingnovel,LifeofPi,becamethesmash-hitforwhichMartelhadbeenlonging.SellingwelloveramillioncopiesandreceivingtheaccoladesofBookMagazine,Publisher'sWeekly,LibraryJournal,and,yes,TheNewYorkTimesReviewofBooks,LifeofPihasbeenpublishedinover40countriesandterritories,inover30languages.ItiscurrentlyinproductionbyFoxStudioswithascriptbymaster-of-whimsyJean-PierreJeunet(CityofLostChildren;Amélie)anddirectorialdutiestobehandledbyAlfonsoCuarón(Ytumamátambién;HarryPotterandthePrisonerofAzkaban).Martelisnowworkingonhisthirdnovel,abizarrelyallegoricaladventureaboutadonkeyandamonkeythattravelthroughafantasticalworld...onashirt.Well,atleastnoonewilleveraccusehimofborrowingthatpremisefromanyotherwriter.
