Your interview with Yann Martel prompted me to buy Beatrice and Virgil and read it before listening to the re-broadcast on Saturday. I enjoyed the discussion both pre- and post-read.
For many years I was not a fan of fiction, preferring non-fiction to explore the world and poetry to explore language. When a friend loaned me Life of Pi a few years ago, I discovered the ability of fiction to do both. The novel implicitly and explicitly described the importance of stories to the human experience. Since then I have read many novels (several from the What is Stephen Harper Reading list!) and I have gained a much deeper appreciation for both literature and theatre.
As for Beatrice and Virgil, I found it as intellectually and emotionally challenging {sic} (not 'sic' as in a dog attack, or 'challenging' as in a dog attack...!) as any of his novels, short stories and essays - all of which are fascinating reads. There is nothing predictable, trivial or boring, either in his stories or the style in which they are presented. If there is any slightly negative point I can make about Beatrice and Virgil, it's that Mr. Martel does quite a bit more 'spoon feeding' than in his other works. Maybe in the end we readers will take these pointers and become more perceptive in our appreciation of literature.
If Life of Pi was about storytelling, Beatrice and Virgil is about listening; bearing witness to the stories of our neighbours - the flip!