Unbroken: A World War II Book of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand Published by Random House on November 6th 2010
Genres: Non Fiction, Biography
Pages: 497
Format: eBook, Kindle Book
Source: Amazon Kindle
On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.
The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.
Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.
In her long-awaited new book, Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed in Seabiscuit. Telling an unforgettable story of a man’s journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.
Unbroken is for sure about what its title implies. It’s about resilience and redemption. It tells the story of an American Air Force lieutenant – Louis Zamperini – who survived his Air Force bomber crash. It’s the story of his survival not only in the sea but also in the Japanese prisons. A real story of courage and resilience. It can be considered as a biography of lieutenant Louis Zamperini. It starts by Zamperinin’s childhood and growth. It tells the reader about his transformation from a non caring child, to a championship runner and then into an Air Force lieutenant. This is a must read book. It contains a lot of good information about WWII operations in the pacific.
Now to be honest, this was not quite an easy read. Still I am glad I read it. The point is, the author had to go through quite a tedious part telling us about Zamperini’s childhood and growth. Well that was somehow a boring part of the book. It took almost 25% of the book. But if you manage to survive that, you are rewarded by a page turner as the real action starts in the 2nd quarter of the book. I really liked the rest of the book and got a lot of information about WWII, the Japanese way in this war and a lot of other issues. So, I consider this book also about my own resilience. I had to survive the first quarter proudly to reach the good part. And yes I was “unbroken” by the lengthy boring narration and I managed to reach the end.
About Laura Hillenbrand
Born in Fairfax, Virginia, Hillenbrand studied at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, but was forced to leave before graduation when she contracted chronic fatigue syndrome, which she has struggled with ever since. She now lives in Washington, D.C.