Ratings20
Average rating4.6
Aged five, Saroo Brierley was separated from his older brother and ended up alone on the streets of Calcutta. After weeks surviving alone, he was taken into an orphanage and later adopted by an Australian couple.Although happy with his new family, Saroo couldn't help but think about the family he'd lost. Years later, he swapped the map of India on his wall for Google Earth scouring it for landmarks he recognised from his childhood. One day, he saw something he recognised.And he set off on a journey to find his mother, half a world away . . .Saroo Brierley is an India born Australian businessman. He grew up with an adopted family in Tasmania, Australia.
Reviews with the most likes.
More like 3 1/2 stars, but I'm rounding up with this one. Mostly because this story has heart.
It's a an unimaginable, yet remarkable story that a 5 year old could survive all that he did by luck or fate or a combination of the two and then come out on the other side as a well adjusted and positive adult.
It was the actual writing that I had some small issues with. Obviously writing is not the author's career but he did a great job of explaining to the reader his emotions and where his mind was at. That being said, I think the story would have benefited if a collaborative writer had been involved. Someone who has more experience with story and sentence structure and pacing. Someone to explain that pages of talking about using google earth gets boring and repetitious.
I did appreciate the various photos and maps that were included, as they gave me reference points.
So over all an enjoyable memoir, that could have done a few minor improvements.
3.5 stars. Well-written and fast paced, but still a bit fantastical to me. It's easy to see why this was made into a movie, as it doesn't seem like real life.
This is a fantastic story of perseverance. The movie was such a wonderful adaptation that it left the book feeling a little anticlimactic by comparison, but it is the source material and is quite well written and such an amazing journey that it still garnered the 5-star rating.
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