The novel also ends with a philisophical bang which did blow me away
What is the most exciting part of the story?
Yann Martel's Life of Pi is a wondrous novel, a marvelous novel--there is much to wonder and marvel at.  The story is simple, yet complex at the same time and can be read on many levels.  On the surface, this is the story of a young man who grows up in India and at sixteen, en route to Canada with his family, finds himself the sole human survivor of a shipwreck, afloat on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger.  The story is divided into two sectins.  The first occurs before he gets on the boat and tells of his life as a young zookeeper's son.  As a boy, he decides to become a practicing Catholic, Muslim and Hindu, all at once. His ruminations on zookeeping and religion lay the groundwork for how he could possibly survive on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger.  Beyond the story, however, is an examination of religion and of writing, of how to write about religion and the religious experience.  It is an examination on the strengths (and weaknesses) of religious belief.  The novel also ends with a philisophical bang, which I won't give away, but which did blow me away.  It wasn't until I got to that point that I became truly impressed with what Martel has done here.  Before that, I thought it was a very well done novel, but with the ending, it becomes much more.  Life of Pi is not a typical novel.  The story, its charming main character and his narrative style are all different than most everything else you can get today.  That uniqueness makes it that much more special.  I highly recommend Life of Pi.  Enjoy. 