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Unbroken
When Alex Ramirez returns home from Afghanistan, his wife is thrilled to have her husband back. But the man that returns isn't the same fresh-faced soldier that boarded the plane so many months ago. He may have left the war in another country but the one that brews inside threatens to steal him away completely. Can Anna find the strength to stand by a man she barely recognizes or will their love be yet another casualty of war?
169 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 15, 2012
58 people are currently reading
2246 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 116 reviews
September 20, 2012
Although there were some editing and spelling mistakes, it was worth putting up with just to read this story. Being an Army Brat I knew that being a soldier serving our country could be hard on the families, but I never under stood the true meaning of what it was to be a soldier. I was honored before to call myself an Army Brat, but I understand more now what an honor it truly is. Thanks Dad and thank you to all those who have served and those that are serving as well as the families who sacrifice so much for our country!
February 23, 2013
This story of written in first person by Annie, the wife of a returning soldier, has the feel of a biography rather than fiction. It shed much needed light and deals realistically with post traumatic syndrome; the effects on family and friends.
June 5, 2014
This is an extraordinary portrait of cruelty, perseverance and hope during WW 2. While the book is technically limited omniscient, the author does a brilliant job of sharing thoughts and feelings of other characters as well. Normally, I wouldn't care to read a violent war book, but this one is well worth it.
July 7, 2014
I didn't think I was going to love this book as much as I did. It reads like a work of fiction and was reminiscent of the Life of Pi. It was surreal to hear of his passing as I was finishing up the last chapter. Such an incredible story.
February 16, 2013
This book was amazing - i was pretty much in tears at some points, Carolynn Amara is unbelievably talented at getting the reader to feel what she wants us to feel. Loved it!
March 12, 2014
Incredible story. I learned a lot about WWII along the way. What an amazing, inspirational guy.
July 20, 2014
simply one of the best biographies I.have ever read, and a book that will stay with me for many years to come. A definite re-read
July 22, 2014
I don't usually read war stories, but I absolutely couldn't put this down! I have loaned it out several times with rave reviews from everyone.
August 21, 2014
Powerful story of how God works through extreme tragedy and suffering, and brings meaning to the seemingly meaningless. Redemptions is not how you start your race, but how you end your race in Jesus.
February 18, 2013
I loved reading this story about a married couple having to deal with PTSD. As a military wife, the situations were very realistic, without being overwhelming. A great read.
January 6, 2015
This was a great book. Lots of history and a story of forgiveness. I have not seen the movie, but would definitely recommend reading this book.
April 8, 2018
Very realistic
June 20, 2019
Outstanding!
March 6, 2017
Although the story line wasn't bad, the writing was amateurish and read more like a biography than a novel. It was at times enjoyable but overall I wouldn't recommend
May 1, 2015
For my January corebook I read Unbroken, by Laura Hilenbrand. This book was about an American born Italian and him growing up in the 1940s. As a child, Louie is very mischievous and always is in trouble with the police, but after his brother trains him to run track, he becomes a superstar. Like his brother, Louie decides to join the army and is sent to fight the Japanese, but while flying his plane crashes and he must survive the Japanese. I feel the concept of the book is that no matter what place in life you are in, your life could change a lot and quickly.
I really liked the theme that your life can change fast in Unbroken. I thought it was amazing how Louie’s older brother Louie from a street bum into a celebrity. With Louie’s hard work he became the fastest miler for highschoolers at the time. The townspeople forget his bad reputation and now cheered him on all the way to the Berlin Olympics. Then after his fame a glory he was shipped off to war. He faced war for the first time when his plane crashed and he had to survive. Louie had known struggle but nothing like “lips were so swollen that they pressed into their nostrils and chins”. I think this moment, when he was stranded in the middle of the ocean on a raft he finally became an adult. I felt the characterization between Louie and his crew was a strong point in the book. Louie and his crew were like family. They all lived in the same plane “The Flying Coffin” and worked as one unit. I thought their humor was funny considering that they still liked to joke around even in war. Whenever a man got hurt they helped one another, and when stranded on a raft Louie and his friends tried to help one another stay positive and hopeful. Their bond was pulled very tight because they knew they needed to survive the war. I thought Louie’s evolution from a thief to a brave soldier was incredible. When Louie was little he would steal food, drink alcohol, smoked, and was the most disobedient child. Louie evolved into a really strong, brave, and honorable person. After being tortured in a POW camp he was brought to the radio station. The Japanese radio station wanted him, because he was a household name in America. They wanted him to say that him and the POWs were being treated well, and other lies in benefit of Japan. In return he could stay out of the camps and be fed well. Despite this temptation of food and “freedom” he declined and was immediately sent back to an even worse camp. This shows he huge growing as a person and it was incredible to see him grow up through this book. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in American WWII history. Also, if you plan to see the movie you must read this book first because it is so much better than the movie. There is so much more emotion and detail that you can’t fit in the movie that is in the book.
I really liked the theme that your life can change fast in Unbroken. I thought it was amazing how Louie’s older brother Louie from a street bum into a celebrity. With Louie’s hard work he became the fastest miler for highschoolers at the time. The townspeople forget his bad reputation and now cheered him on all the way to the Berlin Olympics. Then after his fame a glory he was shipped off to war. He faced war for the first time when his plane crashed and he had to survive. Louie had known struggle but nothing like “lips were so swollen that they pressed into their nostrils and chins”. I think this moment, when he was stranded in the middle of the ocean on a raft he finally became an adult. I felt the characterization between Louie and his crew was a strong point in the book. Louie and his crew were like family. They all lived in the same plane “The Flying Coffin” and worked as one unit. I thought their humor was funny considering that they still liked to joke around even in war. Whenever a man got hurt they helped one another, and when stranded on a raft Louie and his friends tried to help one another stay positive and hopeful. Their bond was pulled very tight because they knew they needed to survive the war. I thought Louie’s evolution from a thief to a brave soldier was incredible. When Louie was little he would steal food, drink alcohol, smoked, and was the most disobedient child. Louie evolved into a really strong, brave, and honorable person. After being tortured in a POW camp he was brought to the radio station. The Japanese radio station wanted him, because he was a household name in America. They wanted him to say that him and the POWs were being treated well, and other lies in benefit of Japan. In return he could stay out of the camps and be fed well. Despite this temptation of food and “freedom” he declined and was immediately sent back to an even worse camp. This shows he huge growing as a person and it was incredible to see him grow up through this book. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in American WWII history. Also, if you plan to see the movie you must read this book first because it is so much better than the movie. There is so much more emotion and detail that you can’t fit in the movie that is in the book.
January 6, 2015
pg. 167 Louie found that the raft offered an unlikely intellectual refuge. He had never recognized how noisy the civilized world was. Here, drifting in almost total silence, with no scents other than the singed odor of the raft, no flavors on his tongue, nothing moving but the slow procession of shark fins, every vista empty save water and sky, his time unvaried and unbroken, his mind was freed of an encumbrance that civilization had imposed on it. In his head, he could roam anywhere, and he found that his mind was quick and clear, his imagination unfettered and supple. He could stay with a thought, for hours, turning it about. He had always enjoyed excellent recall, bout on the raft, his memory became infinitely more nimble, reaching back further, offering detail that had once escaped him.
pg. 183 The guards sought to deprive them of something that had sustained them even as all else had been lost: dignity. this self-respect and sense of self-worth, the innermost armament of the soul, lies at the heart of humanness; to be deprived of it is to be dehumanized, to be cleaved from, and cast below, mankind. Men subjected to dehumanizing treatment experience profound wretchedness and loneliness and find that hope is almost impossible to retain. Without dignity, identity is erased. In its absence, men are defined not by themselves, but by their captors and and the circumstances in which they are forced to live.
pg. 245 when describing the camp intrepeter who helped so many of them a POW who won a Medal of Honor wrote "There was a far braver man than I. His heart was being torn out most of the time, a combination of pity for the ignorance and brutality of some of his own countrymen and a complete understanding of the suffering of the prisoners."
pg. 372 When he went to his first Billy Graham tent revival he preached on John 8.
pg. 376 When Louie thought of his history, what resonated with him now was not all that he had suffered bu the divine love that he believed had intervened to save him. He was not the worthless, broken, forsaken man that the Bird had striven to make of him. In a single, silent moment, his rage, his fear, his humiliation and helplessness, had fallen away. That morning, he believed, he was a new creation. Softly, he wept.
pg. 397 Louie's letter to the Bird
Acknowledgements- pg. 405 Very few human beings have seen humanity's dark side as Hap has, and yet he is ever buoyant, ever forgiving. Hap's resilient heart is my inspiration.
pg. 183 The guards sought to deprive them of something that had sustained them even as all else had been lost: dignity. this self-respect and sense of self-worth, the innermost armament of the soul, lies at the heart of humanness; to be deprived of it is to be dehumanized, to be cleaved from, and cast below, mankind. Men subjected to dehumanizing treatment experience profound wretchedness and loneliness and find that hope is almost impossible to retain. Without dignity, identity is erased. In its absence, men are defined not by themselves, but by their captors and and the circumstances in which they are forced to live.
pg. 245 when describing the camp intrepeter who helped so many of them a POW who won a Medal of Honor wrote "There was a far braver man than I. His heart was being torn out most of the time, a combination of pity for the ignorance and brutality of some of his own countrymen and a complete understanding of the suffering of the prisoners."
pg. 372 When he went to his first Billy Graham tent revival he preached on John 8.
pg. 376 When Louie thought of his history, what resonated with him now was not all that he had suffered bu the divine love that he believed had intervened to save him. He was not the worthless, broken, forsaken man that the Bird had striven to make of him. In a single, silent moment, his rage, his fear, his humiliation and helplessness, had fallen away. That morning, he believed, he was a new creation. Softly, he wept.
pg. 397 Louie's letter to the Bird
Acknowledgements- pg. 405 Very few human beings have seen humanity's dark side as Hap has, and yet he is ever buoyant, ever forgiving. Hap's resilient heart is my inspiration.
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February 19, 2015When I sat Down to read this book I was mostly dreading it because I hear history biography and I just about fall asleep. But after reading unbroken I have to say I am forever changed. Not only was it interesting, but it showed such a real reality of WW2. (This book was nonfiction) One of my favorite parts was the chapters in which he was captured. It disgusted me as I read about the miss treatment of the prisoners, but it also inspired me to hear about the things they did to rebel and to make life harder for their captors. I also liked how it kind of showed his life before the war. How he was not only later an Olympic track star but that he started from the bottom. He broke through his juvenile behavior and actually made something of himself, and that was just before the war! The character development in this book is prominent to say the least. The circumstances obviously count for how drastic it really was. I mean he started as being someone who wasn't really believed to go anywhere. And through his talents with running yes he grew, but it wasn't until the war, that he was turned into a truly intellectually deep person. If I had to choose the best example of character development in a book it would be this one, or east of Eden. I learned about Japanese prisoner camps and how terrible said prisoners were treated. I learned how it's a dog eat dog world out there. Figuratively of course. (Except in some weird places in Africa and probably Alaska because that's where Sarah plain lives and well you know what they say about cult leaders..) men will kill men in the war and they forget that the person they are stabbing has a family and a life and has loved and that they are fighting for the same reasons. I also learned that it isn't fun to be stuck on a raft surrounded by sharks. I would absolutely suggest this book for anyone and everyone. I feel changed a little bit from the book and I'm glad I can add it to the list of things that have made me a better person. (Right next to Netflix documentaries and chai tea)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 16, 2015
I can not give high enough praise for this book. Honestly, this is one of the best books that I have ever read. It details the extremely rough and true life of a downed world war two pilot that is set afloat for more than a month and is only rescued to be captured by the cruel japanese PoW commanders. It also details his life after these hardships. You may be thinking that I just spolied the fact that he lives, but in all honesty, that is not how the story is set up. This is what i loved most about the book. It is not so much of a "will he or will he not make it" type of book, but instead it is a book meant to fill you with hope and inspiration that will leave you feeling optimistic for your own life. The title is Unbroken, and reading the book about how he can stay unbroken, pushes you to feel the same way. There was nothing about this book that I did not like. even if there was i would probably not say it, considering the fact that this is a true story and all. If you need one last argument to seal the deal for you reading this book, I have it. The book has an extreme amount of pretty interesting pictures. Overall, Unbroken is a fantastic book and i reccomend that everybody read it.
January 9, 2015
The thing I liked most about this book was the honesty and reality of it. This book is a memoir about an amazing person, with an amazing story. The author had a very simplistic way of telling his story. She didn't waster her time crafting long eloquent sentences like Fitzgerald, her writing is more comparable to Hemingway. I liked how much information this book had, the author must have done a lot of research because I felt like I was right next to the main character living through all his experiences. The author brought life, passion, fear, and all the right emotions at all the right moments. I was totally attached to this book and was not satisfied, until I got to the end. Another thing I liked about this book, was how much I learned about the world and that time era. I learned about the war and the horrors that people faced. This man's story is absolutely brilliant and his courage and determination throughout his lifetime is truly remarkable.
January 12, 2015
I really liked this book, I rated it 5 stars because it was very detailed all thought the book. It was about a man named Louie who grew being a trouble maker and would have to run away from the cops, one day one of his friends notice how fast he could run then he asked him to join track and the coaches loved him with runing he stayed out of trouble. Louie turned out to be so good he went into the olympics and had a recored. After his years of running he had to go into the navy where his planed crashed, only three of them survived Mac, Louie, Jackson and they had a ralph that the were on for 45 days in the middle of the ocean how they survived was by killing sharks. On the 35 day Mac died and 10 days later Jackson and Louie found themselves on the Chinese military base, and they went into labor camps where they were forced to work no breaks and beaten senseless every day for two years until the war was over. This was based on a true story!
January 1, 2015
Wow, how does one begin to describe this incredible book. First, it's immensely readable which makes me want to tackle Seabiscuit. Second, the story is just legendary and unbelievable but yet a monumental testimony to the wonders of human spirit. Finally, as someone who loves WWII history this is a horrifying and illuminating depiction of some of the ugliest underbellies of war. I am left torn about my feelings reading this book because as much as Louie's story is one that ultimately uplifts and redeems humanity, there are other parts that make me so angry at the cruelty human beings are capable of. I am so glad I read this book and I couldn't put it down - once I started reading it seriously, it was quick work to finish within 2-3 days! What a great book to start of 2015!
January 10, 2015
An outstanding story, of an oustanding man, in an extraordinary situation, in a time of extraordinary situations.
This book captures nearly the entire life story of Louis Zamperini, but really expands on his experiences during World War 2. He becomes a bombardier in the pacific, and has a few close calls before ultimately crashing into the pacific. The vast, empty, unrelenting pacfic, nearly swallowed him and the other survivors. That part of the story, too, is comparitively short. Louis time as a POW is the most humbling part of this book, and tells trials I could not even begin to imagine.
Certainly a great read, as we say goodbye to this generation, it is always good to read more about the great men and women who were part of it.
This book captures nearly the entire life story of Louis Zamperini, but really expands on his experiences during World War 2. He becomes a bombardier in the pacific, and has a few close calls before ultimately crashing into the pacific. The vast, empty, unrelenting pacfic, nearly swallowed him and the other survivors. That part of the story, too, is comparitively short. Louis time as a POW is the most humbling part of this book, and tells trials I could not even begin to imagine.
Certainly a great read, as we say goodbye to this generation, it is always good to read more about the great men and women who were part of it.
August 26, 2015
I started this book knowing that it was going to be a dark subject. It was too dark for me to even make it a quarter of the way through. Right away you are greeted with what it is like to live with someone who is suffering from PTSD and all that that entails. Alex comes home from Afghanistan and he is changed (I mean who wouldn't be?), and trouble is very apparent. The issue that kept me from getting into this story was not knowing what Alex was like before he left. I want him to get better, but I have no idea what I am rooting for. Just knowing how he is behaving now, even though I know the cause, he is just a jerk in my eyes. I just need a glimpse of what he was like so that I can emotionally fight for this character. This is why I would never make a good therapist.
May 14, 2014
I liked the idea of the story....a soldier returns home after serving his country his wife is thrilled for his return because she has waited years for this moment but her elation turns to confusion when the man that has returned to her is not the one she sent off to war.
I liked the book and found it entertaining but couldn't quite believe anyone would be that ignorant of PTSD or treat a soldier that badly. It's not like he is returning home from Vietnam... The book takes place in modern but small town American. Maybe how the characters are portrayed really represents present day small towns but I'd like to believe we've moved past that.
I liked the book and found it entertaining but couldn't quite believe anyone would be that ignorant of PTSD or treat a soldier that badly. It's not like he is returning home from Vietnam... The book takes place in modern but small town American. Maybe how the characters are portrayed really represents present day small towns but I'd like to believe we've moved past that.
March 13, 2015
unbroken is a wonderful story of survival of the body and soul. louie finds himself through running in the first few chapters. It turns his life around and everyone agrees he is heading for greatness. But the war cuts Louie short. His dreams are put on hold while he becomes a bombadear for the air force during world war two. During the next few years his will to survive will be pushed almost to the breaking point. Like many men, the war didn't stop when Japan surrendered. Men were tortured with flash backs, night mares, and memories. Louie must find himself once again or be tortured by his past till the day he dies.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 2, 2014
Wow! This was difficult for me to read, yet I had to finish it to see what happened to Louis Zamperini. I was shocked at how much a person can go through and still survive. He definitely is a human wonder. I seriously thought most of the book would be about him surviving the plane crash and the 41 days on the ocean. I really didn't expect that this would just be the beginning of his story. I was so sick at the abuse and torture that he and the other prisoners endured. I sometimes wondered what kept them going. Great story and a great man!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 5, 2013
I was really sad that I read this after the sequal, but I liked it the same. Alex and Anna have a lot to overcome and everytime they seem to be making progress, they get another obstacle thrown at them. It is touching to see the love these two share. Soldiers have so much to deal with when they come home and we overlook the people around them who also suffer. This is an awakening to just how hard it can be for a family. Book 2 is a must read after this!!
June 12, 2013
This book shows us the devastation that PTSD has on our young men and women returning from war. It also shows us that people in general don't understand the effects that PTSD can have on the returning hero but also on their family and friends. This is a well written book and I would recommend it. Once you start reading you find it difficult to put this book down. There is a sequel to this book-Unspoken, after completing this book I got the sequel and have already started reading it.
September 1, 2014
Louis Zamperini went from being an Olympic athlete to a soldier and then a POW in just a few years.
Down in a plane in the Pacific ocean, he was the sole survivor. He was sent to Japanese POW camp that was notorious for its cruelty and inhumane conditions.
The story continues after his release and here it becomes an inspiration for overcoming whatever difficulties life throws at you.
Unbroken is a sad, disturbing, but also an inspirational book.
Down in a plane in the Pacific ocean, he was the sole survivor. He was sent to Japanese POW camp that was notorious for its cruelty and inhumane conditions.
The story continues after his release and here it becomes an inspiration for overcoming whatever difficulties life throws at you.
Unbroken is a sad, disturbing, but also an inspirational book.
October 9, 2014
Downloaded the wrong "Unbroken" book, and didn't realize it until I had already started reading. My friends had recommended another "Unbroken" which is apparently being made into a movie. That being said, I really enjoyed this book. We tend to forget about the soldiers who just came home and what they go through. I wish we would have found out more about his time in Afghanistan. I felt like the author rushed into a happy ending, enjoyed the first part of the book more.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 116 reviews