Life of Pi

Pi Patel, the son of an Indian zookeeper, is the sole human survivor when his family's ship sinks in the Pacific. His companions in a lifeboat are a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra and Richard Parker, a Bengal tiger.

The survival story is gripping, full of ingenious detail about how a boy and a tiger might share a boat. Behind it is a meditation on faith and storytelling, and the closing chapters ask readers to decide which version of events they prefer.

The opening section on Pi's religious curiosity can feel slow, but it pays off. This is an adventure, a fable and a quiet argument for the power of imagination.