Life Of Pi by Yann Martel.

"...an astounding story of courage and endurance in the face of extraordinarily difficult and tragic circumstances."

The quite above is a brilliant summary of this book.  In short it is wonderful.  It's a moving and fascinating account of Pi's incredibly journey on the sea.

There were times when reading this book that I nearly put it down and gave up - only because the description of some of the animals behaviour, namely them hunting, was so vivid that it was upsetting to read (I'm one of those people who turn off nature programmes when animals start killing each other).  But I'm glad I persevered.  This is an excellent book, different to others I have read.  It combines zoological facts, spiritual discussions and survival techniques, all of which I found very interesting.

The struggle that Pi went through is unbelievable, and if it weren't for the book introducing the origin of the story it would be easy to believe that it was a work of fiction.

I would recommend this book and would imagine it's appeal to be universal; what with survival, death, nature, endurance, philosophy, humour, imagination, family, friendship, hope and loss I believe anyone could read this book and take something special from it.

Title: Life Of Pi
Author: Yann Martel