Unbroken
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Knowledge is power, especially when you face a shark...
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Agreed. Great scene. Good Life Lesson!
I loved so much about this book! To be honest, the scenes with the sharks were the most terrifying to me. I love your conclusion though Julia! lol. Good to know that there are ways out of impossible situations. ;)
Julia wrote: "Here is my favorite scene from this book:"...As he lay underwater, his legs tugged in front of him by the current, Louie looked down at his feet. His left sock was pulled up on his shin; his righ..."
This was clearly my favorite scene from the book too!!! If you saw this in a movie you would say "C'mon, no one could realy do that and survive." Great sequence.
The whole book is a miracle of wonderful writing about a terrific character. Certainly the best non-fiction I've read this year, although the Poisoner's Handbook (I think that's the title) was also excellent. Anyway, Louie and his partner being able to survive all those days at sea is both horrifying and thrilling. All WW!! vets should have as good of a writer as Laura Hillenbrand to preserve their stories.
You guys read it ! Me too well I luvvvv running
I absolutely loved this book. It's truly amazing to think that Laura Hillenbrand wrote this entire book without ever meeting Louis due to her debilitating illness. Her story: www.cfids-cab.org/MESA/Hillenbrand.html
This was a highlight for me too, in this book. Amazing that he remembered that advice and kept his cool about him in order for him to be successful. All the shark scenes were incredibly frightening for me. Of all the war stories I have read, this was a fresh new perspective and I learned so much!
How many other Louie's were there? Probably not that many who were also Olympic runners, but probably quite a few who survived by sheer determination. But more broadly, how many men and women return from war and then deal with the horrible effects of PSTD? Are we doing any better in that department? "Unbroken" is an amazing book about an amazing many. Louie was unbroken in one sense but very broken in another. But his determination and will to survive was extraordinary and he did overcome. He put himself back together and was able to live. A truly remarkable and wonderful story.
I agree that this shark scene was very vivid. Very intense. It really conveyed Louis' personality. All of his childhood mischief and sense of adventure. His inventiveness and fearlessness. He was able to stay calm under pressure, which saved his life again and again. Very remarkable man.
I liked this scene as well. i cant wait to see this scene in the movie. All the shark scenes were incredibly frightening for me, but i learned a lot from it
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"...As he lay underwater, his legs tugged in front of him by the current, Louie looked down at his feet. His left sock was pulled up on his shin; his right had slipped halfway off. He watched it flap in the current. Then, in the murky blur beyond it, he saw the huge, gaping mouth of a shark emerge out of the darkness and rush straight at his legs.
Louie recoiled, pulling his legs toward his body. The current was too strong for him to get his legs beneath him, but he was able to swing them to the side, away from the shark's mouth. The shark kept coming, directly at Louie's head. Louie remembered the advice of the old man in Honolulu: make a threatening expression, then stiff-arm the shark's snout. As the shark lunged for his head, Louie bared his teeth, widened his eyes, and rammed his palm into the tip of the shark's nose. The shark flinched, circled away, then swam back for a second pass. Louie waited until the shark was inches from him, then struck it in the nose again. Again, the shark peeled away.
Above, the bullets had stopped coming. As quickly as he could, Louie pulled himself along the cord until he reached the raft. He grabbed its wall and lifted himself clear of the shark."
Conclusion: Even if you face a shark moving on you with an open mouth, you can survive, provided that you know how to handle a shark. This is why I've always been a big fan of education.