What a ride! What a book! When I started reading, ‘The Life of Pi’, I only knew a few things. It was about a boy from India & a tiger, both stuck on a life boat. My first thought was, ‘how boring. I’m not going to relate to this boy, and the tiger must be a tamed over grown kitty cat that will keep him alive catching fish with its monster size paws’. How wrong was I!

I don’t think you can discuss this book without giving some of it away. I’ll try to be as vague as I can.

Pi loves God. Not only is he a Hindu, he is also a Christian and a Moslem. While he practices all three religions he helps out on his family’s zoo. The day comes when Pi’s father decides to sell the zoo and move his family to Canada. On the ship they take across the ocean, Pi’s family also tends to some of the zoo animals that have been sold to North American zoos.

During a storm the ship sinks. Pi is the only human survivor, but not the lone survivor. Soon the life boat Pi is on begins to save not only him but a few zoo animals too. One by one the animals die until there is only Pi & the tiger left. For 227 days they survive together. Pi is in constant fear for his life and must dominate the boat or be eaten by the tiger.

In the end you are knocked for a loop and you question the entire experience. I must read for those who don’t have light hearts and who can take endings that keep you questioning about what really happened.