BookTrail Oscars Package Deal

By now, we know the winners of the 2017 Oscars. There were two stories I was really rooting for which might not have won a golden statue for best picture although Dev Patel did win best supporting actor for Lion. These two stories should be read in book form as well to really appreciate every single nuance of two remarkable true life tales from history.

Lion

Set in India and Australia

The Inspiration for the film – Guardian

Saroo’s view on the film of his story – People.com

This is a remarkable story of a young Indian boy from a small village who tragically becomes stranded on a train where he is with his brother. Saroo ends up going all the way to Calcutta alone and the rest of the story is his attempts to stay alive and ultimately find his way back home again.

But this is ultimately a story, a remarkble true story of one boy’s unwavering strength to stay strong and fight to survive. When he arrives in Calcutta, the true picture of child exploiration and poverty smacks you in the face. It’s one heck of a shock since it is portrayed in such brutal and visceral terms that I realise how sheltered we are in the West from such scenes. I’ve never been to India but I will never forget how I felt when this book took me there.

Onward with little Saroo’s story though and throughout my heart was in my mouth. Would he escape and how? Knowing the final result (plenty of photographs in the book) this didn’t lessen the effect of the story at all. In fact it strengthened it as I was incredulous as to the turn of events. I admit to shedding more than a tear or two as I read Saroo’s story and saw his world through his eyes. A lost little boy at the mercy of passing strangers, like dust blowing about in the city’s dirty streets.

This deserved to win an oscar in my eyes. Saroo Brierley is one amazing human being. If you don’t cry reading this, you’ve got a heart of stone!

Hidden Figures

Set in Langley, Virginia, Cape Canaveral

The inspiration behind the film – Guardian

There is something extremely remarkable about reading a story that was true, which changed history, but which is largely absent from the history books most of us have read. I for one had never heard of these women who worked for NASA and who did such groundbreaking work that they changed the face of Space exploration. Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, Christine Darden, and Gloria Champine are the women who despite having to fight against the segregation of America, their wish to just live a normal life, did such remarkable work.

I was enthralled at reading about their work and the future of space engineering. I am not a maths whizz by any means but this fascinated me and what role models these women should be for everyone who does love maths! Even for those who don’t such as me, I was more than impressed. Fancy then that despite all their hard work they were brushed aside because of the view that black people weren’t equal and worthy. I remember the feeling I was left with after having read the story of Henrietta Lacks and Alan Turing ( I visited Bletchley Park not long after reading about him) and if I were anywhere near Langley or  Cape Canaveral, I would be there before you could even say ‘ Take off’

So, the BookTrail Oscars go to – Saroo Brierley , Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, Christine Darden, and Gloria Champine in my eyes. Remarkable Oscar winning stories that you need to read and know about.

Susan Booktrailer