Yann Martel's High Mountains of Portugal: Literary highs and lowly beasts

Some people put animals on a pedestal, but Life of Pi authorYann Martel goes one step further:ranking them just shy of divine.

"Certain religious figures like Jesus Christ or Buddha, they give off a strong sense of presence ...You always get the sense that they were strongly in the moment,so that when they addressed people, they were fully there for those people,"MarteltoldWendyMesleyonCBC'sThe National.

"Animals are the same thing," he continued. "Your dog, your pet cat, they are right here, right now."

No wonder then, that Martel has woven yet anotheranimal a chimpanzee into his latest novel The High Mountains of Portugal.His earlier, acclaimed Life of Pi centred onateenaged boy lost at sea with a tiger, whilehis follow-up novel Beatrice and Virgilwas an allegory of the Holocaust that featured a donkey and a monkey.

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As much as heloves to ruminate on such heftytopics as religion, faith and love, Martel isalso happy to tackle more terrestrialsubjects, like the ups and downs of his career. Heshrugsoff, for instance, the largely negative reception that met Beatrice and Virgil.

"Art is a gift. You give it to the world. What someone does with your giftis their business not yours," Martel noted.

"Hopefully they'll like this one more. If they don't like this one, hopefully they'll like the next one," he said, adding that it's "better being a one-hit wonder than a no hit."

The author alsodoesn't shy away from Canadian politics. Hefamously sent Stephen Harper dozens of books and letters over several years, trying to goadthe former prime ministerto read and respond (which he never did).

However,Martelisn't planning to do the same for Justin Trudeau, sayinghe suspects that the former drama teacherhas readsome plays and "already has an openness."

"If someone else wants to send him books, they're welcome to," he added.

"I have four children.I'm too busy with my own life. Someone else can send him books. Someone from Alberta."