Life of Pi

Instead of giving you guys a new review, I thought I'd cop out a bit by writing one about a previous read. And the lucky book is Life of Pi by Yann Martel.

I must say that when I picked up the book, it was not without trepidation. Not fear of the genre per se, but a distinct foreboding that it'd turn out to be a bad buy and a worse read. You would feel the same way too if you had read the blurb, which was about a boy and a tiger stranded at sea. Or was it a preliminary review or something someone told me. Anyway, I don't think my memory can be counted to serve me in this instance since I read the book many moons ago.

Back to the book. Boy, was I glad I gave it a chance. It had me glued from day one. The writer tells an incredulous and yet believable tale of a boy stranded at sea for 200 over days with a Bengal tiger. Of course, you get the normal spiel about how he, who by the way is Indian, grows up in a zoo because his father owned one. Yep, apparently, owning a zoo is not uncommon in India, not unlike our compatriots who own dogs and other pets.

And the boy's name is Piscine Patel, which sounds like pissing. As is the logical fate of those with funny names, he gets ridiculed in school to no end. And this is why he calls himself Pi. Yes, as in pi of the mathematical ratio 3.1415! And if you wonder what can happen at sea, try reading it and you'd be ushered into a world teeming with various types of fish, birds that fly out to sea for weeks, things you see floating past everyday and even an island that's alive and infested with meerkats.

The question is how he ended up with a tiger in a life boat. It was because the family was sailing to Canada with their animals. And while he was looking forward to a new life, it was not meant to be. The ship sank and Pi is cast adrift in a lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan, and a huge Bengal tiger. The first week is horrific as the animals battle for survival and eventually only he and the tiger are left in the boat. While the boat is well stocked for a human, it had no tiger food per se. Hence, he started supplying the animal with fish, turtles, and fresh water so that it doesn't turn on him. The book is about surviving in the midst of overwhelming odds and how Pi maintains his optimism and sanity, and refuses to give up. I think he was saved eventually although I vaguely recalled that there were 2 endings - hmmmm. This is a fantastic read and I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.