This is an adventure, it's brutally honest, sometimes unbelievable, and very well written. I say read it before Ang Lee releases the movie (and I think, because of his amazing cinematography, it'll be beautifully shot.
This is a story of a 16 Indian vegetarian, a son of a zoologist, who becomes a victim of a sunken ship thats going from his home at an Indian zoo to a new home in Canada. He finds himself the lone survivor on a massive and well stocked lifeboat with a full grown Bengal tiger. And the adventure goes from there. Pi is narrating, so his actions, his thoughts, his regrets are completely explained. He talks to the reader frankly..saying things like (and I paraphrase), "Please don't judge me, I was weak, starving, and near death".
this isn't for the faint of heart. What he, Pi, and this Bengal Tiger (who knows nothing of living in a zoo) have to do to survive can make your stomach turn. How a person goes from being a vegetarian to being a full fledged meat eater for the necessity to survive is written with perfect precision. There are no unnecessary chapters, everything happens for a reason. This was one of the most unique castaway stories I've ever read. I saw a comparison to "The Dolphin People", and that's what convinced me to read it..and I'm so glad I did. When you lose everything, and your only family and friend is a Bengal tiger, a different kind of sense of brotherhood/sisterhood is the result.
Not for everyone. Even I, who have developed a steel stomach when it comes to some graphic stuff in books, squirmed a bit.
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