From the Bookshelf of Extreme Book Nerd Challenge 2018 (unofficial)…

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption

Laura Hillenbrand

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Sep 05, 2011 Eric rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: biography, war, narrative-history

The incredible story of Louis Zamperini, an American runner who ran in the Olympics in Germany and later ended up interned in Japanese prison camps during World War II.

This story is truly amazing and inspiring. It is told in the form of a "narrative history", so in some ways it reads as a novel, in some ways a history, and in some ways a biography. This is both good and bad. For many people this format will have more appeal than a pure history. It certainly has some elements of storytelling - fo The incredible story of Louis Zamperini, an American runner who ran in the Olympics in Germany and later ended up interned in Japanese prison camps during World War II.

This story is truly amazing and inspiring. It is told in the form of a "narrative history", so in some ways it reads as a novel, in some ways a history, and in some ways a biography. This is both good and bad. For many people this format will have more appeal than a pure history. It certainly has some elements of storytelling - foreshadowing and insight into people’s thoughts as they described them after the fact.

The problem that I see with the narrative history format is that the author has made all the decisions about the veracity and reliability of the history. I would like to know more about the interviews and documents that support the story so that I can know what information was recorded at the time of the events and what was gleaned from interviews some sixty years later. I would like to know what details were corroborated by many people. On the other hand, these details may decrease the appeal of the story to the wider audience.

(view spoiler)

The entire story is pretty incredible. Some aspects are so incredible that in a work of fiction it would stretch the bounds of plausibility, and yet the details are researched and sources are cited in great detail at the end. Overall, this is a very impressive work.
...more

1 like · Like · see review

Feb 09, 2019 Rae rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2019

Some parts were difficult, but the amazing feeling of the triumph of the human spirit. I'm speechless. ...more

Like · see review

May 06, 2022 Heidi Mcjunkin rated it it was amazing

Fascinating story that is excellently written. I had very little knowledge about the war in the Pacific. This made me want to go and learn more.

Like · see review

Jan 01, 2014 Pilar Saslow added it

impressed by the amount of research the author did. I had only small information about the war in the Pacific, I learned so much. Very interesting even though the topic of wars depressed me. As a translator I was glad to see that it was mentioned several times in the book that knowing another language (Japanese) was of utmost importance. I also love the fact that the Japanese interpreter was kind even though he was the enemy. I can't wait to see the movie. ...more

Like · see review