Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Life of Pi by Yann Martel is probably one of the best books I have ever read.  Readers be warned that it may be slow in the beginning and doesn't get exciting until past 1/3 of the book when Pi gets lost in the ocean, but it is well worth the wait. So if you are planning to read this, don't give up just yet until you get to that part, please.

Yann Martel, holding a copy of Life of Pi,
winner of the Man Booker Prize in 2002

This Man Booker Prize winning book is about the remarkable story of a young boy, Piscine Molitor Patel, who calls himself Pi to escape the jests of his classmates calling him "pissing."  Pi's family live in India where has father is the zookeeper of Pondicherry, a very small area in the south of the country.  Growing up in the zoo, Pi knows all about animals.  He learns how to keep the animals, from monkeys to tigers, happy and controlled.  One day when Pi was 16 his family decides to move to Canada. They board a Japanese cargo ship where the animals are contained in cages and Pi's family are given bunk spaces to sleep on.   One night a storm hits the ship and Pi manages to escape onto a lifeboat before the ship sinks.    Then he finds that he is not the only one taking refuge in the lifeboat but also a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan, and a huge Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.  What happens next is Pi's extraordinary story of survival for 227 days adrift in the Pacific ocean.

Because the main drama of Pi getting lost in the ocean doesn't happen until well into the book, Yann Martel had a solution to keep his readers interested.  He begins the book with a note from the author, who is said to have interviewed Pi in old age.  So if Pi was able to reach a ripe old age then that means he survived his ordeal, right? 

The special Illustrated Hardcover Edition,
with its beautiful illustrations by Croatian artist Tomislav Torjanac

The novel doesn't forget to inject light humor in a dire situation.  It is riddled with lots of memorable quotes, charmingly funny phrases, an amusing use of language, and an interesting deep dive into the thinking of animals it makes you think you can jump into a zoo and start conversing with the them.  Its rather reflective insights on life, God and the universe may lift the eyebrows of some readers, yet it is also a light novel that opens your mind into seeing the world a little differently.

The following trailer is fan made but it gives a pretty good feel of what the book is about.  Enjoy!

A film adaptation of Life of Pi directed by Ang Lee is said to be released in December this year, starring Tobey Maguire as Yann Martel.