A Long Way Home in Aussie Readers

Feb 01, 2017 PattyMacDotComma rated it it was amazing

Shelves: nonfiction, bio-memoir, australian-author, chcc-library, politics-culture-social-war

5★
I remember hearing about this story when it ‘broke’ a few years ago, and then it surfaced again when Nicole Kidman starred in the movie LION, and the rest will, no doubt, be history.

First, I have to say that although I already knew the bones of the story, as so many potential readers may, it only made the reading that much more enjoyable. Ghost-writer Larry Buttrose isn’t listed on the cover although he’s credited “with Larry Buttrose” inside.

The Goodreads description is the first four introdu ...more

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Jul 10, 2013 Brenda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own-read, arc, 2013-release, biography, aussie-authors, non-fiction, net-galley, read-on-kindle

When Saroo Brierley was born, he was born into poverty in a small town in India. Of course he wasn’t Saroo Brierley then, and when he became lost he was only five, and could only remember his name was Saroo. His early childhood was happy in his memory. He and his siblings were always hungry, but that was a fact of life. They spent their days begging for food, eating scraps from the ground and doing the best they could. They were the typical impoverished children with big tummys bloated from gas, When Saroo Brierley was born, he was born into poverty in a small town in India. Of course he wasn’t Saroo Brierley then, and when he became lost he was only five, and could only remember his name was Saroo. His early childhood was happy in his memory. He and his siblings were always hungry, but that was a fact of life. They spent their days begging for food, eating scraps from the ground and doing the best they could. They were the typical impoverished children with big tummys bloated from gas, thin and malnourished. The four of them lived with their mother, as their father had deserted them to take a second wife. So their hardship was intense. Saroo’s responsibility was to look after his baby sister while their mother worked. Their two older brothers would try to find food, working for a few rupee in hopes of buying enough for a meal.

The night Saroo’s life began its dramatic and dangerous turn, he had gone with his oldest brother on the pushbike, and was told to wait at the train station for him. After waking from sleep and finding himself alone, he panicked and boarded a train, ultimately finding himself in Calcutta many hours later. The next few weeks were terrifying, lonely and intensely dangerous as he lived on the streets with only his wits to help him, but finally the kindness of a stranger turned his life around.

When he was adopted by a lovely couple by the name of Brierley and taken to his new home in Hobart in Tasmania, his life was new, strange but wonderful as well. His memories of his home in India were kept alive by his adoptive parents, and his transition into an Australian lifestyle was not the trauma that it was for some.

The story of Saroo’s life from his very early days in India, the trauma when he was lost, the transportation to Australia and his new life, then his growing up through school, teenage years and beyond, plus the beginning of his serious search for his home town in India with few details is an awe inspiring and inspirational one. His determination along with the love and support of his parents, and the help of strangers is wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It is beautifully told, with the emotions see-sawing throughout. This is a highly recommendable book by an amazing young man who has been willing to share his experiences and his life with us all.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy to read and review.
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Jul 07, 2013 Sheree rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, memoir-biography, reviews, aussie-author, read-in-2013

3.5 stars

I recently watched Saroo's inspirational story on 60 Minutes and was so emotionally moved that when I saw his book on NetGalley, I knew I had to read it.

In 1986 a 5 year old Indian boy became lost, a train ride and 1800 kilometres separating him from his family and home town. Surviving the streets of Calcutta at such a young age was nothing short of a miracle but Saroo was blessed with more than one miracle. Taken in by Mrs Sood of the Indian Society for Sponsorship and Adoption (ISSA) ...more

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Jan 10, 2017 Janine rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: net-galley, biographies-memoirs

What a wonderful memoir by this lovely young man. Saroo was lost at the railway station when he was 5 years old - he boarded a train so he could sleep on the bench and that was the last time he saw any of his family. He ended up in a large town miles away from home, and survived on the street before being taken in and placed in an orphanage. The authorities tried to find his family but he was very vague with the names of his town and of the railway station where he was. He was put up for adoptio ...more

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Oct 02, 2022 Anne Hamilton rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: australia-nz, names

The title of the book doesn't feel quite right since it doesn't fit in, in anything except the most tangential way, to the story. Without spoiling anything at all, it comes from "Sheru", lion Saroo's original name, except that he consistently mispronounced it at the orphanage where he eventually wound up in Calcutta and they wrote it as "Saru". His adoptive parents, Sue and John Brierley, from Tasmania chose to give it an unusual twist of spelling, "Saroo".

There are other significant words Saroo The title of the book doesn't feel quite right since it doesn't fit in, in anything except the most tangential way, to the story. Without spoiling anything at all, it comes from "Sheru", lion Saroo's original name, except that he consistently mispronounced it at the orphanage where he eventually wound up in Calcutta and they wrote it as "Saru". His adoptive parents, Sue and John Brierley, from Tasmania chose to give it an unusual twist of spelling, "Saroo".

There are other significant words Saroo mispronounces too, words that are particularly connected with his home: his village of Ginestlay (really Ganesh Talai) and the railway station of Berampur (really Burhanpur).

At five years old, Saroo goes out one day with his older brother Guddu on his hunt for food and work. It's the first time Guddu has allowed him to come on the train up the line to a station further up the track. Exhausted, he lies down on a bench and sleeps while Guddu goes off to earn some money. When he wakes up, it's late and no one is around. Uneasy, he gets into the empty carriage of a train - but then he can't get out. The doors are locked. Terrified, panicky, sobbing, he is trapped on the train. He sleeps and wakes and sleeps again. And eventually, when a door finally opens and he bolts out, he's in a strange city. Totally lost. Saroo thought he'd travelled for about 12 hours but it was about 30. He's in Calcutta at Howrah Railway Station and he can't even pronounce his own name correctly, let alone that of his home town.

For weeks he tries sneaking onto trains in the hope they will take him home, but they all bring him back to the same red-brick railway station. He narrowly avoids being taken by several unsavoury groups, instinctively escaping from one who - in retrospect - were probably intending to sex-traffic him; he is twice saved from drowning by a homeless man; and he is finally befriended by a teenager who persuades him to go to the police. Eventually he winds up in an orphanage and, these being the days before bureaucratic red tape got way out of hand, was quickly adopted by a couple in Tasmania.

Swiftly adapting to Australian culture, he grew up wanting to be a rock star. Briefly deciding to go to university (before turning his back on that and joining his adoptive dad in the family business), he meets up with a group of students from India who ignite his curiosity about his original family. The need-to-know lies dormant for a considerable time until it bursts into a full-fledged obsession. With tenacity, logic and the power of Google Earth, Saroo is sure it's just a matter of tracking the myriad railway lines out of Calcutta until he finds the G village and B railway station that no one seems to know but whose landmarks he remembers so well. There's just one mistake he's made: he's limited his search to the distance it's estimated trains can travel in 12 hours. ...more

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Mar 09, 2017 Jenny Delandro rated it really liked it

It is hard to write about this struggle of an Indian man who grew up in Australia, but who tracks down his home town in India using Goggle Earth.
His sense of displacement triggered by uni friends who grew up in India.. Their questions of 'where do you grow up?' his answer, Hobart.. leading into an often manic search for his Indian roots.
His sense of family loyalty is tested when he starts to search along train lines in India trying to find where he came from.
What started as a methodical search ...more

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