"So incredible that sometimes it reads like a work of fiction."

From the back of the book and a decent description of how I feel about the story. It's a wonderful memoir that I read through in just a couple of days. I loved the balanced, realistic worldview it presented, not sugar-coating things but not making it overtly bleak either. The central theme I got is that there are some absolutely horrible people in the world and there are some selfless, wonderful ones. Which is kind of the feeling I got when I browsed through the reviews for this one. Let's get one thing straight: no, Saroo is not the greatest writer ever. From what I can deduce he never aspired to be one and he probably won't ever write again. He wrote this memoir after all the facts and because of all the media hype and the demand for his story. So honestly who cares if the prose isn't the best ever, that's not why you read this kind of story. Also, it's a true story, so yes, some parts are bit less exciting than others, that's the bloody reality of things. Searching slowly online for months on end isn't a very riveting thing to do, you felt bored reading about it? Imagine how he felt actually doing it?! Honestly you read a book that lifts up your idea of humanity only to come to the review section and lose it all over again, anyway...

Personally I loved the book from start to finish and if you have even an ounce of empathy in you, I can't quite see how you couldn't. From his growing up dirt poor in India, to the traumatic events, his rescue and his long journey home it is an engrossing tale, demonstrating how important individual, sometimes small, acts of kindness can be in what is a very dreary world. Saroo presents interesting, first hand accounts of life in the poorer parts of India, International Adoption, growing up in a foreign country and becoming a person of two cultures. It's a no nonsense tale that shows you the harsh reality of things but leaving you still filled with hope. I highly recommend it.

This is one of the rare occasions where I can actually also recommend the movie version "Lion". (Saroo's actual name is Sheru which means Lion in Hindi). They did a very good job of translating the story to the screen, only the storyline of Saroo's adopted brother Mantosh was poorly handled in my opinion. Still definitely worth a watch!