Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption in Around the World in 80 Books

Oct 09, 2013 Nadine in NY Jones rated it it was ok

Shelves: non-fiction, history, lotsa-buzz, narrative-nonfiction, everyone-loved-it-except-me, era-world-war-2

Yet again I'm in the awkward position of hating a book that so many have loved. And yet, I am not mystified by the popularity of this book. Many people love stirring war stories of the Great Generation soundly trouncing their enemies, and they love religious inspirational stories, and they love redemption stories, especially redemption through suffering. But this book had a lot of themes that really bother me.

This tale is filled with rampant sexism, jocular references to prostitutes (who I'm sur Yet again I'm in the awkward position of hating a book that so many have loved. And yet, I am not mystified by the popularity of this book. Many people love stirring war stories of the Great Generation soundly trouncing their enemies, and they love religious inspirational stories, and they love redemption stories, especially redemption through suffering. But this book had a lot of themes that really bother me.

This tale is filled with rampant sexism, jocular references to prostitutes (who I'm sure didn't enjoy the experience as the Americans did), vile details about the Japanese that is sure to stir the blackest xenophobic heart, and endless rah rah courage-under-fire and grace-under-pressure stories. I'm sure it's all true, but that's not the point. Is it needed to tell a strong story? I don't think so. The third part of this book felt like torture-porn: how many highly detailed descriptions of torture does one book need? Frequent mentions of how sexually aroused the Japanese guards were by torturing the POWs makes the whole thing even ickier. On top of all that, I was rolling my eyes at the woo, at the declaration that Zamperini's family somehow had a hotline to God, and that's why they were so sure he wasn't dead. (I'm sure A LOT of soldier's families were "sure" their son was not dead - and a lot of them were wrong; belief isn't enough.) I didn't need to hear about how God saved Zamperini out at sea, how he lived because he just really wanted to live - I'm sure a lot of soldiers really wanted to live, but they died anyway. God didn't step in here, Zamperini just beat the odds.

I couldn't shake the impression that Hillenbrand had hoovered up every possible detail about Zamperini's life, and just dumped it all in, whether it strengthened the narrative or not. So many times (it seemed) I read that THIS was the turning point, then I went on to read more and more of the same that came before. How was it a turning point if nothing changed?

And it's BORING. Take the opening scene. Here you have this dashing airman w an impish smile and roguish grin, a former Olympic athlete for crissakes, downed over the Pacific, stranded in a life raft for weeks, surrounded by SHARKS, and fired on by Japanese Zeroes!!!! This is Die Hard material!! How can this be boring?? But it is. The story isn't boring, but it's so overladen w MINUTIAE that it can't carry the weight, and it draggggsss under the needless details. Every day of their 47 days stranded at sea is described, with the number of sharks and the size of the sharks described each day. I could have done with a lot less detail.

I guess I'm glad I read it. I did learn some things. For example: Hershey made emergency ration bars (part of the supplies on the life rafts) that were extremely high in calories, non-melting, and extra bitter to ensure the soldiers would not eat them unless it was a dire emergency.

I did wonder at Hillenbrand's choice to lay out all the nasty details (view spoiler) She even mentions later in the book that Louie and Phil had intentionally with-held that information after they were freed, in respect to Mac's family. So why reveal it now? I suspect it's because she couldn't resist throwing in one more redemption-through-suffering story, in a book already heavily laden with both redemption and suffering. ...more

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Feb 27, 2011 Sarah rated it it was amazing

Shelves: recommend-to-friends, nonfiction, page-to-screen, book-club-dm, pants-crappingly-awesome, 100-to-read-in-a-lifetime

Do you think you have been wronged? Do you think your life has been hard? Are you hanging on to anger, hurt, resentment, pain? Believe me, what you have gone through is nothing compared to what this man has endured. And yet he was able to forgive his tormentors and let go of the pain and fear his experiences caused. In WWII after his plane crashed, Olympic miler Louis Zamperini and two crewmates floated on a raft in the Pacific for 47 days, subsisting on rainwater, raw bird meat, and albatross b ...more

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Feb 10, 2011 Kay rated it really liked it

Shelves: world_war_ii, harrowing-tales, biogr-memoir, japan-japanese-lit, audiobooks, nonfiction

I'm an absolute sucker for a WWII survival story. Whether set in frigid climes (We Die Alone) or in a steamy tropical jungle (Ghost Soldier), the survivor who just won't give up hope has a special place in my heart, probably because it's a trait I particularly admire but lack myself.

Hillenbrand does a fine job here of recreating the era and helping the reader understand what motivates the central character, Louis Zamperini. She sets the stage nicely by showing his early bad-boy struggles, which ...more

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Mar 02, 2015 Kristen Iworsky rated it really liked it

This is definitely a tough read about a POW's experience during World War II- 'tough' meaning I had nightmares about it. I definitely need to read something lighter for my next book. ...more

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