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Eccentric tale of an Indian boy

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON OCT 23. An eccentric tale about an Indian boy who survives the close attentions of a hungry Bengal Tiger for 227days after a shipwreck has won its author Yann Martel this year's Booker prize, announced at a glitzy function here on Tuesday night.

His novel, "Life of Pi", was hailed by the judges as an "audacious" effort but Martel himself modestly said it was an "easy book to write".

The 27-year-old writer from Montreal whose first novel, "Self", sank without trace beat off a strong challenge from two fellow Canadians, Rohinton Mistry and Carol Shield, to win the £50,000 award now known as the "Booker Man prize" following a change of sponsors.

This was the third time that Mistry was shortlisted but failed to win though critics and judges praised his novel "Family Matters" for its theme, and sense of place. Co-losers included William Trevor, Tim Winton and Sarah Waters.

But, as always with the Booker, the event was marked by controversy. One full week before the final selection, Martel was declared the winner on Booker's official website which caused much tongue-wagging though organisers were at pains to dismiss it as a mistake. Also, the final choice, after a heated debate, was not unanimous with one of the four judges giving a dissenting vote. He was reported to have been in favour of Mistry, but Lisa Jardine, who chaired the jury, played down the dissension.

Critics suggested the choice of a "quirky" and "populist" novel seemed deliberate and designed to change the perception that the Booker only favours ''dull'' and ''weighty tomes''. Some judges, including Ms Jardine, had lamented the lack of humour in the books generally submitted for Booker and called for more popular entries.

Ms. Jardine defended the choice saying: "We have chosen an audacious book in which inventiveness explores belief. It is, as the author says, a novel which will make you believe in God or ask yourself why you don't.''

Martel, wearing a red "black tie", jumped with joy as his name was announced and in a brief speech, apparently made on the hoof, he said: "When this started tonight, it was like being in a plane and it's about to crash, and the engines have fallen. But now I feel I am in the arms of a beautiful woman."

He said he would put the prize money in a "green investment". "I'm a poor guy. I don't drink. I don't smoke, I've shared with other people most of my life so I'm in no hurry to buy a house." He said his novel was based on the story he had heard about a shipwrecked boy in south India, and its main theme was the power of faith which could be religion. "We all know what's wrong with religion, most people know just about enough about it to dismiss it, but we forget what is right about it — it wouldn't have lasted this long otherwise."

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