Genres

Based on the best-selling novel by Yann Martel, is a magical adventure story centering on Pi Patel, the precocious son of a zoo keeper. Dwellers in Pondicherry, India, the family decides to move to Canada, hitching a ride on a huge freighter. After a shipwreck, Pi finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean on a 26-foot lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, all fighting for survival.

In 1977, Ashima, a young Bengali woman, accepts Ashoke's marriage proposal. He's a student living abroad, so after the marriage she accompanies him to New York, where their temporary residence becomes permanent. We see her navigate and adapt to this alien land. They name their son Nikhil, with the pet name of Gogol, after Ashoke's favorite writer. We watch Gogol grow up American with roots he only begins to appreciate when he visits India in his 20s. A family death hastens his coming to terms with his name (and his roots) and Ashima's determination of where she will live once she has a choice.