Perhaps not up to the hype I'd heard about it. This book was an entertaining tale of a 16-year-old boy involved in a boat crash which kills his entire family, the whole crew and a zoo full of animals with the exception of a zebra with a broken leg, a female orang-utan, a hyena and a Bengal tiger.
An author's note at the beginning of this book describes this event as at least based in truth and the book finished with a confusing interview, enlightening the reader that perhaps we will never know. Either way it's a good story.
One of the primary themes in this book is that of religion as a road to comprehending reality. It's explored throughout in a variety of ways as the main character Pi has practiced up to four religions at one time and part of the reason he continues to survive is because of his religious understanding of what is happening around him coupled with the extraordinary situation he finds himself in. The graphic descriptions of the demise of various animals within the book had me cringing and Pi, a vegetarian finds himself grabbing fish and turtles out of the water in order to feed himself and the tiger.
This story was meant to make the reader believe in God, why this is I am still not sure. While Martel makes decent use of a deeply spiritual character in the book, it is not clear how a less spiritual person is meant to gain a belief because a "miracle" has happened.
A decent read that churns your stomach in many parts.
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