Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption in Crazy Challenge Connection

Jan 20, 2017 Darlene rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: biography, read-in-2017, for-review, audiobook, non-fiction, young-adult, audio-1000

Both heartbreaking and inspiring, Unbroken will most definitely move you!

Louis Zamperini, son of Italian immigrants, grew up in Torrance, California. He was a very mischievous boy, smoking at the age of 5 and drinking by age 8 with a penchant for stealing. In an effort to keep him out of trouble and give him something to focus on, his older brother, Pete, whom he idolized, started to train him. He discovered that he enjoyed running, and his dream was to run in the Berlin Olympics in 1936. He was Both heartbreaking and inspiring, Unbroken will most definitely move you!

Louis Zamperini, son of Italian immigrants, grew up in Torrance, California. He was a very mischievous boy, smoking at the age of 5 and drinking by age 8 with a penchant for stealing. In an effort to keep him out of trouble and give him something to focus on, his older brother, Pete, whom he idolized, started to train him. He discovered that he enjoyed running, and his dream was to run in the Berlin Olympics in 1936. He was the youngest distance runner to ever make the team, and he was 19 years old when he went to Berlin. He finished in eighth place, but it was his sprint at the end of the race that captured everyone’s attention.

Following his return to the United States, Louis enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps and graduated from flight school as a second lieutenant in 1942. He was sent to war in Oahu. While on a search and rescue mission in May 1943, his B-24 crashed into the ocean. Only three men survived the crash: Louis, his best friend Russell Allen “Phil” Phillips, and Francis “Mac” McNamara. They were presumed dead, but they were adrift at sea in two rafts that they tethered together. They battled the elements, with little food (which should have been rationed but, instead, was eaten by Mac in a state of panic), and water. They survived on rain water and the fish that they could catch, but the sharks circled them constantly and even rammed the boats. At one point, they thought a rescue plane had finally found them but it was a Japanese bomber that fired at them, shooting holes in their rafts but miraculously missing the men. Louis prayed that if God would allow him to survive that he would spend the rest of his life serving Him. By the time that the raft reached land after drifting more than 2,000 miles, they were captured by the Japanese and there were only two left; Mac had died at sea.

As a Prisoner of War, Louis was subjected the unimaginable horrors. He was tortured, beaten, starved, and humiliated. He lost more than half his body weight, and he remained a POW for two years.

After his return to the United States, he was hailed a hero. Phil survived as well, and they both got married. However, Louis was plagued with flashbacks and suffered severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He turned to alcohol to numb his senses, and he became violent. At one point, he shook his baby daughter to get her to stop crying and that’s when his wife planned to leave him. Instead, she became a born-again Christian after attending a Billy Graham revival and urged Louis to go with her. He was reminded of his prayers on that raft, his promise to God that he would serve Him the rest of his life if only God would save Him, and that’s when his life changed. He went home and gathered up all the alcohol in the house and dumped it down the drain, and he never again suffered from PTSD or flashbacks. He even returned to Japan to confront the men who tortured him who had been captured as war criminals, and he offered them his forgiveness.

This was an incredibly moving story, and Louis Zamperini is pretty inspiring! In spite of everything that he had endured, his heart had not hardened. His captors may not have deserved his forgiveness, but he gave it and was able to move past that pain to start the healing process. Laura Hillenbrand is a very gifted writer, and the story was hauntingly beautiful. She writes in such a vivid and descriptive way that she made me feel as though I was right there in the life raft with Louis, Phil and Mac! The only thing that made this author’s story better was the narration by Edward Hermann, which was top-notch. He brought this remarkable story of one man’s determination to life.

This review was posted on my book blog:
http://darlenesbooknook.blogspot.ca/2...

I received a complimentary copy for voluntary review consideration. ...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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Nov 01, 2015 Lorna rated it it was amazing

I listened to this on CD. I think that is why I enjoyed it so much. Had I read through all the details, I think I would have given up on the book. It was so well read that I had a much easier time following along.

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