The Limits of the Story: Reading the Castaway Narrative in A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder and Life of Pi

Both Life of Pi and A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder juxtapose the narrative of a castaway’s experiences with the later telling of the tale. Exploring the limits of “story,” they present fantastic narratives that trespass upon credulity and that require—but do not always receive—a leap of narrative faith.