This 2002 Booker prize winner is one of the strangest books I have read. The sobriquet Booker prize winner does not always mean it will be a book that I enjoy. Some I haven’t even attempted to complete but this was quite an easy read.
A zookeeper’s son, Pi finds himself adrift in a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean with only a few zoo animals for company, the most significant being a Bengal tiger called Richard Parker.
As the tale moves forward, the reader comes to realise that this narrative is existential, being both philosophically and religiously deep in meaning. As a Hindu teenager, Pi has explored Christianity and Islam and has decided there is worth in all 3 religions, thus he follows them all, to the chagrin of all around him.
We are all dependent on each other the story tells us, and our story is our own and our own choice. That story is better with a spiritual belief to support our journey.
As for why the tiger is called Richard Parker, well you will have to read and decide for yourself.