Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption in WACKY READING CHALLENGES

Apr 16, 2011 Book Concierge rated it it was amazing

Shelves: concierge, world-war-ii, library, nonfiction, audio, book-club, history, nature, own, survival

5***** and a ❤

WOW!!

Louis Zamperini was a rambunctious kid and headed for trouble when his older brother Pete got him involved in track. Louie excelled at the sport, breaking records and going to the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, where his performance (while not winning a medal) earned him the attention of the world. He went back to USC and continued training as a miler - many believed he would break the 4-minute mile barrier - setting his sights on the 1940 Olympic games. But war cancelled 5***** and a ❤

WOW!!

Louis Zamperini was a rambunctious kid and headed for trouble when his older brother Pete got him involved in track. Louie excelled at the sport, breaking records and going to the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, where his performance (while not winning a medal) earned him the attention of the world. He went back to USC and continued training as a miler - many believed he would break the 4-minute mile barrier - setting his sights on the 1940 Olympic games. But war cancelled those games and Louie wound up as a bombardier in the Army Air Corps.

When a plane went missing, Louie’s crew was ordered to fly an unfamiliar plane on a search and rescue mission. “The Green Hornet” was a notoriously unreliable craft and was usually parked to the side; mechanics sometimes raided it for spare parts to fix other aircraft. When an engine quit, the pilot and co-pilot did everything they could, but to no avail. The plane crashed into the Pacific, killing all but three … Louie, pilot Russell Alan “Phil” Phillips, and tail gunner Francis “Mac” McNamara.

With no food and little water, they did their best to survive, managing an astonishing 47 days at sea in an inflatable raft, only to be captured by the Japanese. Their nightmare was only just beginning.

The POW’s tale is harrowing, horrifying and ultimately inspirational. Hillenbrand is a master at writing nonfiction with a pace and structure that reads like a thriller. The characters are as alive to the reader as if they were sitting across the table telling their stories. Sights, sounds, smells, tastes and textures assault the reader’s senses.

I was transfixed from the beginning. I’m sure if I had been reading the traditional format I would have finished in a couple of days. Listening to the CDs on my daily commute, I found myself “going the long way,” driving around the block, and sitting in the driveway to listen to just one more track. Edward Herrmann is a fine actor and does a great job narrating this story. Unlike many audio books, he makes no effort to change his voice for the various characters; he maintains the “narrator’s” voice throughout and that is fine.

I have convinced at least three of my friends to read this already. Don’t wait any longer …. Read it NOW!
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Feb 06, 2016 Olivermagnus rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: zjuly-2024, 2024, x6, ww2, non-fiction

This book opens with bombardier, Louis Zamperini, lying on a raft in the Pacific on June 23, 1943. He and three other survivors of a plane crash are starving skeletons after 27 days at sea. Sharks are circling their leaking raft. Suddenly, a plane is spotted. They fire off a flare, only to discover the plane is a Japanese bomber, which begins a strafing run. While reading the first two pages it's impossible to believe this is a true story. Leaving us in stunned suspense, the author takes us back This book opens with bombardier, Louis Zamperini, lying on a raft in the Pacific on June 23, 1943. He and three other survivors of a plane crash are starving skeletons after 27 days at sea. Sharks are circling their leaking raft. Suddenly, a plane is spotted. They fire off a flare, only to discover the plane is a Japanese bomber, which begins a strafing run. While reading the first two pages it's impossible to believe this is a true story. Leaving us in stunned suspense, the author takes us back to the beginnings of Louis' life.

When we first meet young Louis he seems to be headed in the wrong direction. He spends his early days burglarizing homes, stealing cars, and jumping onto railroad boxcars. While evading the cops with his incredible speed, his brother tells him he should join the track team, which eventually leads him to the 1936 Berlin Olympics as the man most likely to break the four minute mile. After Pearl Harbor, Louis joins the Army Air Force, trains as an air bombardier, and flies 37 successful combat missions in a B-24 bomber in the Pacific War against Japan. Then he gets unlucky. Shot down by a Japanese Zero, Louis and his two surviving aircrew ditch amid thousands of miles of empty ocean.

Taken to a Japanese POW camp Louis is beaten and humiliated with appalling regularity by one particular guard, Mitsuhiro Watanabe, nicknamed "the Bird" by the prisoners. As sport he was made to race against Japanese runners. If he won, he was bludgeoned into unconsciousness. A constant round of beatings, abuse, starvation and torture reduces Louis and his companions to skeletal zombies. You will shudder as you read the details of the brutality these men endured. Upon release from the prison camp, Louis returns to home a broken man. His marriage falls apart and he becomes an alcoholic. He can't seem to cope with life, and who can blame him. One day he attends a revival conducted by Billy Graham and turns his life around. While the first and last parts were not as riveting as the POW sections, I am still giving this book 5 stars.

"Unbroken" wasn't an easy book to read. The beginning, especially the time stranded at sea, was quite dramatic and fascinating, but once the action switched to the prison camp I had to skim over some of the more sadistic actions of the Japanese guards. But then I though that I owed it to Louis to read the details. All I had to do was read his story, while he had to endure it for over two years. While painful to read in some cases, it's probably one of my very favorite non-fiction books. ...more

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Feb 15, 2018 Jody rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, amazon-100, audiobook, made-me-cry, aty-2018-hard-mode

I'll admit to having no real interest in this book - for some reason, my personal interest in WWII lies with Europe, rather than the US - however as so many in my AtY group have raved about this book, and finding that the audiobook was narrated by the wonderful Edward Hermann, I decided to give it a go.

I'm very glad that I did. For one thing, Laura Hillenbrand can write - absolutely no doubt about that. Her writing is evocative and captivating, and this is a wonderful example of narrative non-f ...more

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Aug 11, 2014 Mary-Megan added it

I picked up this book because it is nominated for the Abraham Lincoln award. The Abraham Lincoln award books are books chosen by teens and for teens, which is why I'm surprised to find Unbroken on the list. While this is by no means a bad book, it does not seem to have any teen appeal.

This biography tells the story of Louis Zamperini. It begins in his childhood and how he was a daring young boy prone to getting in trouble. Most of that changed when he got involved with track. Before long he bega I picked up this book because it is nominated for the Abraham Lincoln award. The Abraham Lincoln award books are books chosen by teens and for teens, which is why I'm surprised to find Unbroken on the list. While this is by no means a bad book, it does not seem to have any teen appeal.

This biography tells the story of Louis Zamperini. It begins in his childhood and how he was a daring young boy prone to getting in trouble. Most of that changed when he got involved with track. Before long he began setting records and was on his way to the Olympics.While he did not medal in the Berlin Olympics, his experience was filled with adventure, including meeting Hitler. His plans for the next Olympics, however, were put on hold as World War II erupted in the United States. He became an airman. Although he survived one experience where his plane ended up with 594 bullet holes, his team eventually succumbed to engine problems and crashed at sea. Only Louie and two others survived the crash. They were lost at sea for over forty days, only to be rescued by the enemy. Louie then faced struggles as a POW, including being targeted by one of the camp officials. He would be a POW until the end of war, but the battle was not over as he struggled to adjust to life with the demons of his past. Come the end, though, Louie was a survivor with an inspiring story to tell.

My own personal reading preference worked against this book from the beginning. I am not a fan of non-fiction or war stories. However, the sign of a good book is the ability to overcome that preference and hook the reader. This book failed to do that. One problem is the length of the book. As one reader who I discussed this book with said, "How many times to we have to hear about the shark attacks?" While the stories were entertaining, you felt as if you were trapped in that raft for the forty-plus days along with them. You knew that he survived - at sea and again through the POW camp experience - that at times you almost wanted to get on with the story. The pacing of the story really worked against it at times because there really were some intriguing moments in this biography, but they got lost in everything else. The author does a great job, though, of bringing his experiences to life and informing the reader about the history of the time.

Since this isn't my ideal type of book to read, I don't feel that I'm fit to really judge it. I simply don't think it fits with what the Abe Lincoln award nominees because it seems to have a limited audience and I don't see many teens picking up books like this. It is a great survivor's story and if war biographies are your thing, it might be worth giving this one a shot. ...more

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May 07, 2017 Kathryn rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobooks, read-in-2017, library, biography-memoir, overdrive-libby, wwii

I listened to this book on audio. Very riveting. It totally kept my attention and books on war are not my favorites, especially not non0fiction. But this was so interesting; how he endured those 3 or 3 years as a POW is nothing more than amazing. The last part of the book was less interesting, but as a whole it was a very compelling book.

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