The story of an Indian boy who — after a shipwreck — survives for seven months in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger from his father’s zoo.Life on a lifeboat isn’t much of a life. It is like an end game in chess, a game with few pieces. The elements couldn’t be more simple, nor the stakes higher.This is one of those books that people I know seem to either really like or really dislike, but I fall solidly on the “like” side. I enjoy reading books where I learn things along the way, and I certainly learned a lot in this one about running a zoo, zoo animals, and how one might survive on a small lifeboat with a Royal Bengal tiger. Not that I’ll ever need that last bit of knowledge, but in that way, it reminded me a lot of Island of the Blue Dolphins, which I remember enjoying as a kid for its very practical, living-off-the-land, surviving-against-the-odds adventures. The philosophical aspect of this book was interesting to me as well, and though I don’t agree with Pi’s unorthodox combination of beliefs, the big truth the novel aimed at about faith (vs. atheism) did really make me think.There were some rather gruesome scenes, and there are some parts (especially before he ends up on the lifeboat) may seem at times like random, unrelated ramblings, but overall, I enjoyed this story of survival, faith, and a tiger.
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