Life of Pi

When a cargo ship sinks in the Pacific, sixteen-year-old Pi Patel is left in a lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. As the animals are systematically eliminated, Pi must navigate the open ocean, battling storms, thirst, and his own fear to survive. The narrative is framed by Pi's recounting of his ordeal to a Japanese investigator, offering two distinct versions of the same events: one fantastical and one starkly human. This dual structure invites readers to weigh the truth of the story against the power of narrative itself, exploring how we construct meaning from trauma and the role of faith in sustaining hope during impossible circumstances.

Description adapted from Open Library ↗.