When Life of Pi was first published in Canada in 2001, it earned the author rave reviews and a Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction. However, it was only after the book received the prestigious 2002 Man Booker Prize that international success ensued.

In a review for the Nation, Charlotte Innes wrote, "If this century produces a classic work of survival literature, Martel's novel is surely a contender." Innes also noted that, although Martel follows a well-established literary structure, he both "infuses the genre with brilliant new life" and "restores one's faith in literature." Gerald T. Cobb, in a review for America, expressed a similar sentiment, calling it "a book that reinvents the lost-at-sea novel in quite striking terms." Cobb also described the work as "gripping and unforgettable." Roberta Rubenstein, writing for the World and I, called the book "a wonderful adventure tale whose originality, imaginative detail, suspense, and...