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

First off, I did not think I would enjoy this book. I do not like war books, I do not like pain and suffering. That is about 99% of this book. I enjoy books such as The Mitford Series, Harry Potter, southern humorous books. I really like books that are well written and make you smile. So why did I read this one? I am going to work on a project where we record the histories of war veterans to be archived. We will interview them and record their accounts and experiences. We have a few World War II veterans living in our community, and I wanted to read up on my WWII history in order to know a little more about it than what I received in high school and college. The reviews on this book were very high, so I ordered it on my Kindle, and began reading, not expecting to enjoy it at all, and a little bit hesitant. First off, I was quite surprised that I read it and actually enjoyed reading it. I also learned much more about WWII than I would have ever learned from a text book. The author used the facts that she had, and documented where her facts came from. This information was not boring either. She worked it into the story so that you knew what was going on during the war in Japan, at the same time "x" was going on on the other side of the world. You also would think that a person would give up long before Louie did, but he kept holding on, just like I kept holding on reading this book...you wanted to see if he would get out of the hell he was in and into a better place. Each time, it just kept getting worse. But, this still was not "hard" to read, because little bits of hope would filter in and keep you going...just like it kept Louie going. Louie is a remarkable man. I am sure there are many other remarkable men. My uncle survived the Bataan Death March, so he too had the drive that Louie had to survive, but Louie had kept every bit of documentation of his life and experience, so the author was able to use his photos, letters, etc to create this account of his life. I started to give this a 4 star review...because I still do not like the subject matter, nor the abuse, the loss of so many lives...so the 4 star would be for the actual topic...the war with Japan. But that's not the books fault. The book is a 5 star book, so I went ahead and gave it a 5 star rating. If you would like to read a good book, but aren't the history/war/torture type of reader...please don't let the subject matter of this book stop you. It is not presented in a way that makes it hard to read. On the contrary, it kept me reading. I know my review is lame. But I struggled with how to review this book, and I decided not to worry about how I "described it" and to just write my thoughts. I didn't want to put details in, because it was the details that kept me turning the pages, so I will leave them to you to discover. It's a book you will be proud to say "I read that book" and it will give you an insight to our veterans and what they endured. It also helps me to understand how bitter my uncle was whenever he would encounter an Asian from 'any' country...it didn't matter that they weren't Japanese...he couldn't be near them. I never understood that, but after reading how they were treated, now I understand. I will probably purchase the hardcover edition of this book, so that I can have my kids read it and to have on my shelf for others to read, borrow, etc. I enjoy reading my Kindle, but some books deserve to be present on your shelf. This one does.

In the narrative, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, the harrowing story of Louie Zamperini's life as a Prisoner of War in World War II is flawlessly conveyed, bringing readers mixed emotions, as they witness the ups and downs of one man's extraordinary life. Louie Zamperini grew up in Torrance, California where he was introduced to running by his older brother, Pete. Louie's inspiring natural talent compelled him forward, until he had become one of the best runners in the world. With the Olympics well within his grasp, Zamperini decided to sign up as a member of the air force to avoid being drafted into a less desirable position. Louie's Olympic dreams were put on hold as he traveled California, training to serve his country. Being that, the equipment Louie was dealing with, wasn't of stellar quality. Indeed each time Louie's plane took off, a foreshadowing of the inevitable danger leapt onto the page. On May 27, 1943, Louie's life was spared as his plane crashed into the ocean, but the blessing quickly became a curse as Louie spent the next forty-seven days trapped on a life boat with no food and minimal water. When Louie finally escaped hell on the life boat, it is not for the better. Louie spent over two years being shipped around different Japanese war camps, each growing more terrible. Hillenbrand relates Louie's hardships and makes the readers' heart ache for the trials Louis endured, throughout his time as a prisoner of war in Japan. Particularly Hillenbrand expertly describes Louie's discovery of God. Evolving from a man with little knowledge of Christian faith, Louie experiences angelic visitations after vowing to serve the Lord forever, if he could only be saved. "On the fortieth day, Louie was lying beside Phil under the canopy when he abruptly sat up. He could hear singing. He kept listening; it sounded like a choir. He nudged Phil and asked him if he heard anything. Phil said no. Louie slid the canopy off and squinted into the daylight. The ocean was a featureless flatness. He looked up. "Above him, floating in a bright cloud, he saw human figures silhouetted against the sky. He counted twenty-one of them. They were singing the sweetest song he had ever heard." Hillenbrand's eloquent writing style supplies the readers with not only the action filled moments of terror, but tranquil and sensational moments can be found sprinkled throughout. After reading this book, I acquired a new respect for the hardship that one person can go through and still survive. With each page, Unbroken became harder to put down, and once I had finished, my respect for Louie, and everything he survived, was overwhelming. I highly recommend this riveting tome to anyone and everyone. Although it began at a generally slow pace, the setting is perfectly set to make each of Louie's tragedies that much more painful. Laura Hillenbrand does a fabulous job taking Louie's story and conveying it in such a way that everyone who reads it will find some pleasure or point of interest. While I was skeptical about whether or not I would enjoy a war book, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this account brought in so many other topics I felt a particular passion for. Louie's mindset of never giving up is inspiring to all, and his determination and passion for running is relatable to any athlete. His incredible discovery of Jesus Christ and the experiences he had are thrilling to all those of faith and challenging, yet magical, to those who are not. Unbroken is a fabulous novel conveying the tragic and fantastic story of Louie Zamperini's unbelievable survival.

Au de la de l'histoire incroyable mais vraie du personnage, j'ai énormément appris sur la seconde guerre mondiale du côté pacifique. J'ai utilisé chaque minute de mon temps libre pour le lire.

Lo compré a raíz de ver la película y me gustó muchísimo. Muy duro a veces.

To start with: I honestly think that A PAPERBACK VERSION OF THIS BOOK WOULD HAVE BEEN A LOT MORE ENJOYABLE TO READ THAN THE KINDLE VERSION. There are a lot of photos and references all throughout the book. I kept wanting to flip back to previous chapters and remind myself of how Louie's war buddies look like , who's who and flip forward to see the footnotes (presented at the end of each chapter). But this is impossible with a kindle. The only good thing I found about reading a kindle version is that I can easily find definitions of many tech-y war / bomber plane terms which are foreign sounding to me. But I don't think this outweigh the disadvantages I lay out. This is a book so good that you'd want to lend it to all your mates because you believe reading the book will enrich their lifes. So get a paperback version! Now let me start with my review. Being British and UK based, I don't tend to check out the NY Times best sellers list so I never heard of this book, nor this Louie guy, until my sister mentioned it on her instagram post saying "If you're going to read just one book this summer, read this." At times, amazon reviewers ratings are so off they're not to be trusted (Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert was one of the worst book I've ever read and I was on a mission to let the whole world know that the book didn't deserve any star rating, never mind the 1600+ 5* rating it got on amazon.com and 250+ 5* rating on the UK website). In this case however, the 5* ratings on the UK and US amazon are well and truly justified. I would have given it 6* if amazon allowed such rating for exceptional circumstance. I won't summarise the book nor say much about how incredible the life story of Louis Zamperini was because you can read this in other reviews. What I would say is that his story will surely touch and inspire you beyond measure. Particularly on the first half of the book, you'll read so much cruelties and madness which will repulse you, but in the end, you'll gape in amazement at how much a human body and unbroken spirit can endure. I have to also commend writer Laura Hillenbrand for penning Louis's story so beautifully and matter-of-fact-ly. Her writing is so good that I could almost feel Louie's exhilaration when he broke his mile record, his family's sense of loss when the news of his disappearence was delivered, his thirst and desperation as he float on a lone raft in the middle of the vast pacific ocean, his hate towards his captor 'The Bird'. I'll end with my sister's recommendation: If you're going to read just one book in 2014, read this book!

One of the most captivating books I have ever read! Even though there are situations that are beyond imagination – in the prisoner-of-war camps in Japan – for me it is a wonderful story about how people can act even in the most terrible situations. How starving prisoners shared even the little food and few possessions they had to save others from death, and the good that came of it. Even in the darkest places in the world, there can be light. That is what is special about human beings: they always have the freedom to do good, and that is how they become true heroes. With God's help, anything is possible – an experience that Louie Zamperini had.

Merita di essere letto.una storia vera ed avvincente, che racconta la forza, il coraggio, la caduta ed infine la fede di un uomo straordinario.Bravissima la scrittrice che ci illustra in modo vivido anche un periodo di storia americana.