Life of Pi - Yann Martel

Life of Pi won the 2002 Booker Prize. This is a simple book with a very interesting story about Piscine Patel, a.k.a Pi. The book starts of with Pi's childhood in Pondicherry, India. His father is the owner of a zoo and Pi describes the exotic animals. He draws a lot of similarities between animal and human behavior. Pi discusses a lot of philosophical points. For example, he argues that the animals in a zoo are content with their private spaces and regular food as opposes to fending for themselves in the jungle.

The story becomes really interesting when the family decides to emigrate to Canada. Around this time the story takes a turn in such a way that he ends up on a lifeboat with a tiger in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. He manages to survive and live harmoniously with the tiger. Its a story of despair, hope, survival and triumph. In the end we realize that the human mind works in strange ways.