"Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

Life of Pi by Yann Martel is a strange but entertaining book.

I liked the story once I got passed the first 100 pages which went into great detail about different religions and animals. The boy's father was a zookeeper in India. When the family decided to move to Canada, their boat sank and the boy, Pi, was the lone survivor in a lifeboat with several of the animals (zebra, hyena, orangutan and a tiger) that were being taking to different zoos. Of the animals, only the tiger had a name, Richard Parker. Sometimes the writing was hard to follow.

This book is baffling, at least it was to me. As I was reading, I was pretty bored with the first 100 pages where Pi tells about the zoo animals and his search for God through different religions but once Pi got shipwrecked and found himself on a lifeboat with a tiger and some other wild animals, my interest picked up. It's quite an adventure story and I enjoyed Pi's fight for survival, even though parts were very gross and at some points it didn't make sense (I wasn't sure if he was hallucinating or if it was just turning into a fantasy book).

Then, as I finished the book, I realized it is a metaphor and there was so much to look back at and try to figure out what the author's message really is. It's quite a book, a challenging read. I recommend it to anyone who likes a thought-provoking book and strange endings. It has suspense, adventure, humor and philosophy all mixed into it.
(Karen's review 4/08)

I finally got around to watching the movie on DVD and loved it!  See my review of it here.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?