Life of Pi

[HRSegovia]

I'm not sure if this has already been covered, but I feel it is a terrible oversight by everyone involved in the making of the film (and those who defend it). Coming from someone who owns the book, it can sometimes set the hairs on the back of my neck on end when I see something so well produced (almost officiated) missing a very important aspect of the story. It's time to set something straight.


The movie preview and every part of the internet (even reliable ones) are hell-bent on finding every excuse to insist that "The Life of Pi" is, in fact, pronounced pie. They have every reason in the world to rationalize that they are correct and there is no inside information leading to any other pronunciation of Pi (short for the character's name Piscine - never mind any pronunciations of the french swimming pool for which he is named). Well here you go! This is directly from the book, The Life of Pi. It is a passage from the chapter entitled "How Pi Got His Name."

It was as if their tongues were charioteers driving wild horses. They could manage well the first syllable, the Pea, but eventually the heat was too much and they lost control of their frothy-mouthed steeds and could no longer reign them in for the climb to the second syllable, the seen. Instead they plunged hell-bent into sing, and next time round, all was lost. My hand would be up to give an answer, and I would be acknowledged with a, "yes, pissing." Often the teacher wouldn't realize what he just called me.

 

[jonesy]

Except that you are wrong. Pi is pronounced like the number. Piscine is indeed pronounced pea-seen, but the shortened form is said like pie. You don't have to take my word for it, as here is the author talking about it:

http://textualities.net/jennie-renton/yann-martel-interview/

‘Pi’ is something of a mystery in itself in that it represents the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter - 3.1415926…

 

[delericho]

I'm not sure if this has already been covered, but I feel it is a terrible oversight by everyone involved in the making of the film (and those who defend it). Coming from someone who owns the book, it can sometimes set the hairs on the back of my neck on end when I see something so well produced (almost officiated) missing a very important aspect of the story. It's time to set something straight.

The movie preview and every part of the internet (even reliable ones) are hell-bent on finding every excuse to insist that "The Life of Pi" is, in fact, pronounced pie. They have every reason in the world to rationalize that they are correct and there is no inside information leading to any other pronunciation of Pi (short for the character's name Piscine - never mind any pronunciations of the french swimming pool for which he is named). Well here you go! This is directly from the book, The Life of Pi. It is a passage from the chapter entitled "How Pi Got His Name."

And that quote rather neatly shows why the filmmakers went for "Pie" rather than "Pea" - using the latter means that instead of being called "taking a leak", he is instead called "urine".

 

[HRSegovia]

It is, however, an integral part of who he is and how he learned humility. I understand the process of adaptation and how a film adaptation is never like the book (even certain liberties are taken), but changing the pronunciation has a certain sense of "wrongness," almost blatant defiance. What harm would it have done to pronounce it correctly and keep that element of the character? I'm not implying they should have stuck with calling him pissing, but Pea rather than Pie.

It seems petty - I know - but simple things like the pronunciation of the protagonist's name are what make the books personal. What good is a book if you can't identify with, and sympathize with, the characters? So, of course, maintaining the pronunciation of the name is an important part of the story.

 

[HRSegovia]

As for Jonsey, certainly he is referring to the spelling and not the pronunciation. After all, the quote is from his book on how it is pronounced.

 

[jonesy]

As for Jonsey, certainly he is referring to the spelling and not the pronunciation. After all, the quote is from his book on how it is pronounced.

Nope. Like I said, the quote is about how his name is spelled. Not how Pi, his nickname, is spelled. Here's audio from the author:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJYS9SQn1LA
He says 'pie'.

 

[jonesy]

Do you remember what his brother says to him when he learns of the nickname?

 

[Aeolius]

I concur. If the author says the nickname is pronounced "Pie" instead of "Pea", let's go with that. There's always room for pie.

Now, back to the pronunciation of octopodes...

 

[Crothian]

Eh, it wasn't that great of a book anyway.

 

[HRSegovia]

Nope. Like I said, the quote is about how his name is spelled. Not how Pi, his nickname, is spelled. Here's audio from the author:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJYS9SQn1LA
He says 'pie'.

Hrm... I certainly cannot argue with this. But the statement concerning pea does present some confusion when reading. Once you read this you spend the rest of the novel reading pea in your head. Thank you to all who responded and kept it civil (relatively).