Review: Lion

 Lion
 Saroo Brierley


I had heard of the movie, but didn't know what it was about. A friend of mine (knowing what a bookworm I am) asked if I had watched/read it about a month ago, and since I hadn't, she explained what it was about.

So the next time I was in the bookstore, I picked it up.
It was read in one sitting.


An interesting and sometimes difficult read, this is the story of a boy who gets lost.

Saroo is 5 when he is separated from his family. An innocent mistake really.
He and his oldest brother go out one evening - scourging the city in hopes of finding food, money, or anything useful they bring home to their other siblings and mother.
His brother sits him down on a train and tells Saroo that he will be right back.

He doesn't return for quite some time, and Saroo falls asleep.
The train moves.

The journey that Saroo then faces being
a) 5 years old.
b) in an unknown city
c) unsure how far he is from home
d) with little-to-no language to explain who he is, and where he is from.

makes for a difficult one.
but the courage of this one little boy is very inspiring.

However, most of this is the memory of a 25 year old man who is recalling back to what happened in those infamous weeks where he was lost.

From his home town, he was carried away to live on the streets, to a home for delinquents, to an orphanage, to Australia where he was adopted.

This is the story of how he becomes lost
and finds his way home.



A beautiful story but heartbreaking. The description of the lifestyle/quality of life that Saroo sees around him in India goes into detail I am just not used to reading about (not that I am unaware of what happens around the world, but not seeing/hearing about it on a daily basis makes for a weak stomach).

This is a true story, and it is out of my comfort zone of YA fantasy but I liked it. it dragged at points, but it is understandable why. Everything that Saroo writes about is necessary for the story. There are also photos from when he finds his family and we see the journey he took as a 5 year old boy.
It is mostly a happy ending, which is a comfort as you read it.

I recommend it. 4 stars


Similar stories that I know of:
- Life of Pi, Yann Martel
- The Face on the Milk Carton, Caronline B Cooney
- The Deep End of the Ocean, Jacquelyn Mitchard
- Dawn, VC Andrews (Cutler series. Kidnapped child vs lost though)


 

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*I'm including the movie-tie in cover just because. Now that I've read it, this is actually one movie that I won't mind watching. Most book-turned-movies I avoid.