I remember being very impressed by this tale of survival in which a 16 year old boy, Pi, is stranded on a boat in the middle of the Pacific ocean with a tiger on board!The slow first half doles out lesson after lesson on animal psychology. Examples of goats and rhinos living together blissfully and rats and snakes cohabiting form a build up to the eventual calamity when Pi trains a Bengal tiger to be his subordinate on his 227 day long journey.
Reading the book a second time makes me realize there is more to it. A tale of survival, yes, but it is also a tale of faith. The reflections of the author on the subject of religion are thought-provoking. Pi is a Hindu, a Muslim and a Christian, all at the same time. The pandits, imams and priests mock him, his family doesn't understand him but he doesn't give up on any of his faiths. All three beliefs come in handy when fighting for his life in the Pacific. He prays to Allah when it is night, says Amen when he finds food and chants his mantras when scared.
"Hindus, in their capacity for love, are indeed hairless Christians, just as Muslims, in the way they see God in everything, are bearded Hindus, and Christians, in their devotion to God, are hat-wearing Muslims.
An adventurous book, there are parts which are unbelievable, but that again is just a test of faith.
