This magical adventure is the story of Pi Patel. In Pondicherry, India, Pi is a zookeeper’s inquisitive son, and seeker after God who gleefully embraces Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. The adventure of his young life begins when Pi’s father decides to move to Canada. Some of the animals, sold to new owners in Canada, travel with the Patels. The ship is sunk in the middle of the Pacific. Pi ends up on a lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan, and Richard Parker -- a 450-pound Bengal tiger who soon eats all but Pi. All his father had taught him about animals, his imagination, and his faith guide Pi and Richard Parker through 227 days adrift. Seamless writing and multilayered storytelling turn what could have been an unbelievable adventure into a complex and uplifting fable about the power of both faith and fiction, for starters.

Reviewed by Mark B., Main Library

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Reader's comments about this book

What a magnificent literary masterpiece! The story is captivating and intriguing with its blend of philosophy and science.
-Vincent Parr, Fertile, MN

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