Customer Reviews

A Lion Called Christian: The True Story of the Remarkable Bond Between Two Friends and a Lion

5 star:		(70)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

And so it goes that after falling in love with the 2008 video of the lion named Christian, reuniting with the men that saved him from Herrod's dept store, that I FINALLY have A Lion Called Christian, in my hands. The impact of Christian's story on one's heart has been universally quite profound. I was just merrily going along in my life and WOW--I met up with this story on You Tube. I sobbed for months! I really thought I was losing it for a while. My heart had been torn wide open. I read everything (found on wonderful Ebay and still available through Ebay)I could find on Bourke and Rendall, then George and Joy Adamson, then the Born Free series, then every book written by George Adamson, then some on Kenya, joined www.africam.com and spent much time savoring ALL the fabulous information on www.fatheroflions.com. I emailed Mr. Rendall twice, I watched every 2008 TV interview and lastly, I am now a donating member of Born Free USA due solely to Christian's story. Had I the money, I would have boarded a plane for Africa with my entire family to visit Campi Ya Simba in Kenya and Elsa's grave. After all of this, I meet up with the original book, A Lion Called Christian. This book will change your heart, take you away, wake you up, make you sob, make you rejoice, make you grieve for the wild animals in a circus/zoos/hidden in homes, give you heroes, (Bourke, Rendall, Travers, McKenna, GEORGE ADAMSON, JOY ADAMSON and all the people in between, like the gal doing "wheelbarrows" with Christian)propel you, if you have doubted, into seeing only God could create such a fabulous animal and an experience like this for everyone involved. Let the power in this story take you to your own place. Then consider the closing thought of the authors, "If all of us touched by Christian's story came together to address some of the issues faced by the global community, what could we achieve together in the spirit of Christian's love and love of life?" In closing, I dare say--we could do momentous things to help the animal kingdom, momentous things. Please find a way to donate even a consistent dollar to keeping wild animals in the wild.

I'll write this from a slightly different perspective. Everyone who has seen and enjoyed the video (but didn't cry or weep or have some other strange reaction) is probably wondering: ok, but is the book any good?

The answer is yes. It is well organized, fun, interesting and wonderfully written. Rendall and Rourke are also surprisingly self-aware. They admit numerous times that owning a lion was a dangerous, one-in-a-lifetime decision that they were lucky to escape positively.

Their story is one that is so strangely fascinating that it's shocking to think it happened as recently as the 1970s. They were selling lions in department stores back then? It feels like a different world. This is probably why the book is so fun to read - it is a rare mix of exotic animals, nostalgia, British and Hollywood glamour and a love story.

Again, for the skeptical or the curious, this book is worth reading and will be enjoyed. Just keep the anticipation to the minimum as A Lion Called Christian is a short read that you'll burn through quickly.It's better if you can appreciate that moment than be disappointed by its brevity.

I 1st saw this most touching video on UTube.com!
I cried my eyes out!! I had to know how this most unusual love
story came about!! I found this book extremely touching....how
all living things on this planet have a connection!! John & Ace
are true heroes!! Great & Most Touching Read!! Great Pics Too!!

I rarely write reviews. I'm not one that's good with words but this story is so wonderful I just had to give my input.If you've seen the videos on Youtube great, but the story has so much more to tell. A lot of information that has been out there hasn't been accurate. Read the book and get the truth. I have never been so consumed with a story as this. I too as another reviewer already said have searched everything I could find on the web about Christian. The book sums it all up for me. I just wished I could have known him..What an incredible story!!

It is good to have the "expanded" version of the wonderful YouTube video that I first saw last summer. The students all want to read this after seeing the video. It is every person's dream to have a wild animal friend.

I read this book back when it was originally released and reading it this time was even better! This is a fantastic story, especially if you are an animal lover.

The story is about a couple of men who bring home a LION to where they live above a furniture store! I love the image of the lion scrambling all over them in the car as they transported it for the first time, having led it out of Harrod's Zoo in London by a leash. This made me remember the times we have taken our cat to the vet with her yowling and trying to crawl up my shoulder and hide behind my neck as I drove- times 50!

I don't want to give away the rest of the story but it is an absolutely delightful tale with fantastic pictures. You will absolutely fall in love with this lion named Christian who has an amazing personality. You will never quite look at those tawny creatures with the beautiful eyes behind the fence at the zoo quite the same anymore.

Though this story took place in the late 1960's-1970's, it seems like a fairly timeless tale and I learned so many things all over again about lions. Definately worth the read, especially if you have a kindle and can get it at a reduced price.

If you enjoy this, I'd also recommend Joy Adamson's Born Free as later in the book George Adamson become a key character.

The authors encounter some bumps along the way as their 'pet' lion outgrows his surroundings and becomes bored with life in the furniture shop. They finally decide that this intelligent, amazing lion should not be sentenced to a life behind bars but returned to his homeland Africa and integrated into the wild. I hope you will find yourself as drawn to this fabulous creature as I was. I laughed, I cried and then I laughed and cried... yep, it was that good.

This would be a great book to read aloud to the family and I plan to read it to my girls.

"A Lion Called Christian is an absolutely marvelous book which tells the story of Anthony Bourke and John Rendall, and how they came to acquire a lion cub named Christian. While they bought him at Harrods seemingly on an expensive whim, (for two young men, the task of buying and maintaining a lion came at a hefty price tag...) I was very pleased to hear how well they treated him, and how they took measures to help him maintain good health and happiness. There was a definite love between this lion and his owners, and I am sure any person who enjoys a great story and loves animals would like this book. In it, it includes beautiful pictures throughout Christian's life, and also includes very comical stories about how Christian became a star in their neighborhood, and how people reacted to him.

Five stars.

Like many millions of others, I was enchanted by the video of the lion reunion and thrilled to see a book about the events leading up to the film. The book is well-organized and details the events in an honest and interesting way. The photographs were fun, the story quite charming, and the end a triumph. I am so happy to see the authors' care and love for their untraditional pet.

I gave it only 3 stars because it is short, as their time together was. I was surprisingly much more interested in the details of the time in Africa than I was in their time in London. I was surprised by how mis-represented the story has been online. The authors set the record straight. It is a good book, a nice read but not a great one. Nothing wrong with that. The book is exactly what is described, a narrative of the two authors time with a growing lion. I admire them for their decisions when they were young and for their dedication to animals ever since. Nicely done.

This is a really great story that does a great job of bringing human emotion to life. It's a fairly quick read, but nevertheless touching. Honestly, it's not much, so $9.99 is a fairly hefty price to pay for it, but it's worth it anyways.

this is a wonderful story, and the information it tells about George Adamson and the message it sends about conservation should be read by everyone.
i also have the original. i'm glad it was reprinted and updated though.

all the videos are exceptional.