There are animals in this story, as there were in Life of Pi. But it’s a very different story this time. In Life of Pi, you looked out at the animals and perhaps you forgot about yourself. In Beatrice and Virgil, I hope it’s the opposite: I hope your encounter with a donkey and a monkey named Beatrice and Virgil, besides other animals, will bring you closer to your humanity.
Yours truly,
Yann Martel
Earlier Comments 
Rachel Grey said: February 5 2012 at 21:09
I have just closed this book after finishing stand as someone earlier states, I already miss Beatrice and Virgil. I am a history teacher and in my job it is very easy to become almost desensitised to 'the horrors'. This book has reawakened me to those horrors and refreshed my own desire to teach the Holocaust in a much more personal way and to ensure children understand that there continues to be horrors in our own time. I loved Life of Pi, so much so we used it as a table name for our wedding (theme was our favourite books) but I think this one has surpassed it. Thankyou for a devastating yet beautiful read.
Xelca Grace said: January 20 2012 at 09:09
I have just finished reading the book. At first I couldn't understand what the theme was about, but when I got near to the end, to Henry's realization as to what kind of man the taxidermist was, it all dawned on me. I was especially baffled by the story of Julian the Hospitator and the play on about Beatrice and Virgil but slowly I am able to piece them all together now. Though I was rather surprised at how different it was from the Life of Pi, I enjoyed reading the book tremendously, trying to understand what the author was trying to say. It was a good read, and made me think a lot about how they relate to the real life.
Jo Harding said: November 3 2011 at 18:06
This novel is exquisite. I have just finished reading it and have tears streaming down my face. Like Henry, I already miss and long for Beatrice and Virgil. I am in turn angry, humbled, despairing; the Holocaust is, as you have said, unmentionable, yet people and animals continue to be tortured and killed daily in ways that are as cruel and casual as those portrayed in Beatrice and Virgil. That you have conveyed such varied experiences and perceptions so keenly in such a short book is nothing short of genius. The conversation about the pear must be one of the most delicious dialogues that I have read in a very long time. I like to think of them that way, donkey and monkey. You have created a beautiful and devastating work of art. Thank you.
Andrea Vaughan said: October 25 2011 at 17:05
I listened to this book as an audiobook. I think I would have found it a difficult rad but the theatrical nature of the writing was very well suited to the spoken word. I thought the opening section where his book is rejected a little bit tedious and if I had been reading I might have given up at that point. Where audiobook really came into its own was the dialogue between Beatrice and Virgil. When it began with the description of a pear it brought a delighted smile to my face. I don't think I will ever forget this piece of writing. I thought it was very skilful how the author created a slow realisation of the threat and menace underlying the stories and the personality of the taxidermist himself. Again in audiobook the lists seem less contrived and probably less dull (What could be more dull than a list?) Games for Gustav is unforgetable in its horror and its direct confronting of the reader. Overall, thought-provoking but patchy but worth it for a few sublime pieces of writing.
Alexander Saronov said: October 12 2011 at 13:01
Mr Martel, excuse me, I'v forgotten to write down my e-mai: alexsafr@mail.ru A.S.