'A remarkable story' Sydney Morning Herald Review 'So incredible that sometimes it reads like a work of fiction' Winnipeg Free Press (Canada) Lion is a triumphant true story of survival against all odds and a shining example of the extraordinary feats we can achieve when hope endures. And how, at thirty years old, with some dogged determination, a heap of good luck and the power of Google Earth, he found his way back home. How he then ended up in Tasmania, living the life of an upper-middle-class Aussie. How he ended up on the streets of Calcutta. This is the story of what happened to Saroo in those twenty-five years. until the day he boarded a train alone and got lost. Twenty-five years later, I crossed the world to find my way back home.įive-year-old Saroo lived in a poor village in India, in a one-room hut with his mother and three siblings. This is the heart breaking and original tale of the lost little boy who found his way home twenty-five years later.Īs a five-year old in India, I got lost on a train. Īged just five, Saroo Brierley lost all contact with his family in India, after waiting at a train station for his brother who never returned.ĭiscover the inspiring, true story behind the film, Lion. Click here to purchase from Rakuten Kobo NOMINATED FOR SIX OSCARS, INCLUDING BEST PICTURE, SUPPORTING ACTOR AND SUPPORTING ACTRESS. The huge and positive impact human compassion can have is eye-opening.Also available on eBook for £3.99. It also showed me real and beautiful humans, who have no reason to help someone, but still do. However, if you're a fan of the film, there is still enough to justify reading - we see more of Saroo’s thought process and emotional journey, like when he decided to ride all the trains at Calcutta station, or later when he would try to find his home on Google Earth before giving up and starting over again and again.įor me, it’s just an incredible story in survival and the unstoppable power of family. In contrast to other book to film adaptions I’ve seen, the film, Lion, actually kept in most of the details we read in the book. I enjoyed the book, even though I had seen the film. I cannot remember a thing from when I was five, but Saroo ran over his memories of his time in India again and again, so that when he was older, he was still able to remember them. Lion is a fantastic retelling of the incredible journey of Saroo, who was completely lost from his family when he was five and how he tracked them down 25 years later. A story of survival, chance and unbelievable luck (or fate, whichever you believe in), this is one story that will stay with you for weeks after you turn the last page. If you enjoyed stories like Life of Pi or anything by Khaled Hosseini, you won't regret reading this book. Brierley doesn't beat around the bush - he tells it how it is, how it was and how he remembers. The storytelling was incredibly easy to follow and I often found myself so entranced by the book that I almost missed my stop on my commute to and from work. Saroo’s story is compelling, heartbreaking and wonderful all at once. Still, I’m almost glad I now have the opportunity to see the film after reading the book, as I genuinely had no clue what the story itself was going to be about. But I simply hadn’t had the chance to go and see it and then it never came up again. It’s not that I had anything against it - Dev Patel on the big screen with all that scruff? Yes please - give it to me all the time, for the rest of all time. I was one of the few in the book club who hadn’t seen the film before reading the book. If you're looking to open up your mind a little bit to struggles you've not thought of before, or even if you're a fan of the movie and you want the same story in a different medium - this is the book for you! For example, he explains how it was possible for him to remember life in India when he was only five and how he was able to accept life in Australia. And while the movie was a great adaption, the book allowed me go further into Brierley's mind than the movie was able to take me. I enjoyed it because it gave me a glimpse into a world and a life that I never would have been a part of before. It's for this reason that you'll be able to finish it on an overcrowded train on your morning commute. Brierley doesn't delve into tangents or ask too many "what if?" questions. Lion reads like a recount, telling the reader exactly what happened in the exact same order that it did. It didn't need bells and whistles to keep you entertained. My favourite part about this book was that it was an easy read with a raw story. So, obviously I knew what was going to happen, but don't worry, I won't give away any spoilers. Like everyone else, I went and saw the movie when it first came out - like who would want less of Dev Patel on the big screen? This probably didn't help me when it came to reading the book, because unlike other adaptions, this movie actually stayed pretty close.
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