Life of Pi - What is it about?

There is no right answer to the question "What is Life of Pi about?" There is an answer for each person who reads this book. I looked online and found that people are classifying this as a tale of survival, a tall tale, a story about human/animal relations, and a fictional story about India, adolescence, zoology, and the Pacific Ocean, which I guess means that people are desperately trying to define this book. Someone told me that he couldn't label Pi, that it "defies definition". The book is about all of these things -- and about none of these things, really.

Piscine Molitor Patel, our hero, declares that this story will make you believe in God. Life of Pi may or may not make you believe in God, but you will want to believe in Pi.

The book starts in Pondicherry, an area in southern India. We learn about Picine's childhood. His father owns and operates a zoo which becomes Pi's playground. He explores and loves every inch. Pi learns a lot about animals. He teaches us the ways of the animals and how to keep them Happy and under control. He confirms that like our domesticated pets, and farm yard creatures I am familiar with, wild animals are creatures of habit and once all their needs are met, they're content and willing to do the same things day in and day out. Change their routine, even a bit, and you have an unhappy animal on your hands. Pi tells a story of a lion tamer who controls his beasts by being the alpha male of the group, providing for them and caring for them, so the lions stay submissive to him. (It turns out to be a good lesson for Pi to learn because his adventure places him in very close quarters with a tiger.)

As he enters his teen years, Pi goes in search of God. Pi, being from India, is basically a Hindu. He then encounters Christianity, and embraces the message of Jesus' Love. Then he discovers Islam, "a beautiful religion of brotherhood and devotion." Pi becomes a devout member of all three religions, happy with his "discovery" of God. At one funny point in the book, all three of his religions are put head to head, and he is forced to choose one. It was very telling to hear the three men of God fighting and belittling each other's beliefs.

Pi puts them all in their place with the declaration that he was just trying to love God.

The book then leads us to his adventure. The family decides to close the zoo, and move to Canada. The animals are sold, the papers are filed and the family books a passage on a Japanese cargo ship. Life is good. Except, the boat sinks.

Pi is tossed onto a lifeboat with an injured zebra, a hyena, an orangutan, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. His first few days are violent and terrifying, as the animals battle in the boat. Pi watches as a surprising set of events leave just him and the Tiger there for the remainder of his 200+ days on the ocean.

Pi is in emotional and physical distress for the most part, but he still revels in the greatness of God and his creations. There are lots of opportunities for him to give up, and he won't. From the start, you know that Pi survives the voyage at sea, because it is him as an adult retelling his story, but you still have to wonder how he will make it! When the book ends, frankly it is a matter of faith. Do you believe his story, or do you feel like the alternate explanation is the right one?

Life of Pi is a book that challenges you to look at your soul. This book offers no answers to the questions that you have when you finish reading it. My best friend said that reading this book was Zen-like. "The book isn't trying to be anything, it simply is".