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akappel32's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Oh my god, holy wow this story! This is one I’m sure I will think about and talk about for a long time! Hillenbrand does such a wonderful job telling this story. We get to know Zamperini intimately starting with him as a young boy, his Olympic runs, and his eventual (awe inducing) wartime story. This really is a story of survival and the willpower to survive.
lindsayaunderwood's review
4.0
This is a CRAZY story. The amount of crap the human body can take is astounding. This book gets 4 stars, because it dragged on for a bit in the middle. However, most of the time I couldn't put it down.
hogan45's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Such an amazing story and important lessons to be learned. I do wish there had been less focus on statistics because it felt like there were so many that they all got jumbled together.
jgraydee's review
3.0
I tried reading this book, but just could not get through it. It is a narrative of his life, and some parts of his younger years were very interesting; others were just frankly not.
Our family had a 7 hours road trip, so I rented the audio because I had heard it was a great story and because my oldest son is a military history buff. Audio is definitely the way to go! As my son said, "The story is a narrative." It is a hard read until about mid-way through, when the story begins to become focused.
Louis Zamperini has had an amazing life -- in terms of his Olympic success, what he endured as a Japanese POW, and the life he made for himself in his later years. I wish my kids were required to read a story like in high school.... It should be required reading for every high school student in America.
Our family had a 7 hours road trip, so I rented the audio because I had heard it was a great story and because my oldest son is a military history buff. Audio is definitely the way to go! As my son said, "The story is a narrative." It is a hard read until about mid-way through, when the story begins to become focused.
Louis Zamperini has had an amazing life -- in terms of his Olympic success, what he endured as a Japanese POW, and the life he made for himself in his later years. I wish my kids were required to read a story like in high school.... It should be required reading for every high school student in America.
spectracommunist's review against another edition
5.0
When he thought of his history, what resonated with him now was not all that he had suffered but the divine love that he believed had intervened to save him."
I love WWII stories but this was the first bio I read of a war-veteran and a POW and it's magnificent.
It is a great story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption in extreme conditions of suffering.
It's written so beautifully portraying a child thief, an Olympic sprinter, a war veteran and a civilian.
So many incredible stories of close calls of near crashes or of running out of fuel over the shark infested Pacific.
During one battle, their B-24 is hit 594 times AND ALL BUT ONE of the crew survive.
Eventually, Louie's luck runs out and during a rescue mission in an ill-equipped plane, they crash into the ocean. He survives with a few other men on rafts for 47 days.
They fight hunger, thirst, aggressive sharks; they dodge bullets from Japanese pilots.
Rescue comes in the form of the Japanese Navy. So begins a long stay in and out of POW camps.
He somehow survives unspeakable tortures and after years in captivity, he is free.
While the war may have ended for the word, it continues to rage in Louie's psyche.
Freed from his cell, his mind becomes his new tormentor, disturbing his thoughts and sleep with hellish flashbacks and dreams.
He meets a woman, falls in love and gets married, yet the war haunts him and a cloud of misery hangs over his marriage.
He resolves to return to Japan, find "The Bird," the tyrant who tortured him, and kill him.
At this stage in the story, he's ugly and unlikable (though the reader understands why).
Drinking too much, he becomes abusive. His wife talks him into going to see Billy Graham speak.
He walks out one night. Another night he goes and is converted to a Christian life.
Normally, the cynic in me would moan and groan, or maybe put the book aside for fear of it getting preachy... but it is what it is. Louie finds peace and forgiveness.
He no longer is haunted by bad dreams or the desire to find and kill his Japanese tormentor.
Religion frees him from hate and he becomes a model husband, father, and citizen.
For a history lover, it's a MUST READ!
I love WWII stories but this was the first bio I read of a war-veteran and a POW and it's magnificent.
It is a great story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption in extreme conditions of suffering.
It's written so beautifully portraying a child thief, an Olympic sprinter, a war veteran and a civilian.
So many incredible stories of close calls of near crashes or of running out of fuel over the shark infested Pacific.
During one battle, their B-24 is hit 594 times AND ALL BUT ONE of the crew survive.
Eventually, Louie's luck runs out and during a rescue mission in an ill-equipped plane, they crash into the ocean. He survives with a few other men on rafts for 47 days.
They fight hunger, thirst, aggressive sharks; they dodge bullets from Japanese pilots.
Rescue comes in the form of the Japanese Navy. So begins a long stay in and out of POW camps.
He somehow survives unspeakable tortures and after years in captivity, he is free.
While the war may have ended for the word, it continues to rage in Louie's psyche.
Freed from his cell, his mind becomes his new tormentor, disturbing his thoughts and sleep with hellish flashbacks and dreams.
He meets a woman, falls in love and gets married, yet the war haunts him and a cloud of misery hangs over his marriage.
He resolves to return to Japan, find "The Bird," the tyrant who tortured him, and kill him.
At this stage in the story, he's ugly and unlikable (though the reader understands why).
Drinking too much, he becomes abusive. His wife talks him into going to see Billy Graham speak.
He walks out one night. Another night he goes and is converted to a Christian life.
Normally, the cynic in me would moan and groan, or maybe put the book aside for fear of it getting preachy... but it is what it is. Louie finds peace and forgiveness.
He no longer is haunted by bad dreams or the desire to find and kill his Japanese tormentor.
Religion frees him from hate and he becomes a model husband, father, and citizen.
For a history lover, it's a MUST READ!
kerinl's review
4.0
Despite a slow start this book is fascinating and well worth a read. I am in awe of all the POW's who survived the unthinkable during WWII. I am grateful for all the servicemen (and women) of both the past and of the present who sacrifice to make this country safe and the world a better place!
danib11's review
5.0
I could not put this book down. At times unbelievable and at others heartbreaking! Well worth it in the end!