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4.49k reviews for:
Unbroken (Movie Tie-in Edition): A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
Laura Hillenbrand, Laura Hillenbrand
4.44 AVERAGE
4.49k reviews for:
Unbroken (Movie Tie-in Edition): A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
Laura Hillenbrand, Laura Hillenbrand
4.44 AVERAGE
What an amazing/horrifying story, how one human being could go through so much horror, torture, and brutality and come through the other side is beyond belief!
I had no idea that the POW camps in Japan were so horrible. I mean, I knew Hogan's Heroes wasn't the way these camps really worked, but... man, were the conditions so much more awful than I realized. I find it retroactively scary that my grandfather was in the Navy in the South Pacific at the time of the events in this book.
I did enjoy this story... if "enjoy" can include "feeling compelled to keep reading, to see how it things turn out" rather than "made happy by reading." As a natural optimist, I really identify with the main character and it chills me that it is possible for someone with that personality can be made to feel the way Louie did. His resilience is inspiring, but the effects of so much suffering... I don't want to think too long about that.
At first, I felt that the historical inclusions were distracting from the story, but it didn't take long before I realized how well they were setting the stage so that I would know more of the background of the times. I learned a lot about World War 2 that I didn't know before.
While the story is told really well most of the time, so that I was sucked into feeling like I was starving or it was raining or I was exhausted, there were times when the details went sketchy, too. I felt like everything up to the Green Hornet was better detailed than what came after. That may be because some things can't be imagined, or can't be told in as believable of a way. Also, the focus on Louie doing something different than the background of other indistinguishable men began to grate. There were too many scenes like that, even for a biography. Overall, though, the story was captivating. A book I could not quit reading... well, listening to.
I did enjoy this story... if "enjoy" can include "feeling compelled to keep reading, to see how it things turn out" rather than "made happy by reading." As a natural optimist, I really identify with the main character and it chills me that it is possible for someone with that personality can be made to feel the way Louie did. His resilience is inspiring, but the effects of so much suffering... I don't want to think too long about that.
At first, I felt that the historical inclusions were distracting from the story, but it didn't take long before I realized how well they were setting the stage so that I would know more of the background of the times. I learned a lot about World War 2 that I didn't know before.
While the story is told really well most of the time, so that I was sucked into feeling like I was starving or it was raining or I was exhausted, there were times when the details went sketchy, too. I felt like everything up to the Green Hornet was better detailed than what came after. That may be because some things can't be imagined, or can't be told in as believable of a way. Also, the focus on Louie doing something different than the background of other indistinguishable men began to grate. There were too many scenes like that, even for a biography. Overall, though, the story was captivating. A book I could not quit reading... well, listening to.
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
"On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.
The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown."
I have not read much about WWII, and what knowledge I have is about the world in Europe. Laura Hillenbrand takes you into WWII over the Pacific. She follows Louie Zamperini's life before, during, and after the war. Wonderfully written, well researched, it captured me (no pun intended) from the very beginning. I could not put the book down.
Hats off to Ms Hillenbrand for this beautifully written account of Louie's life.
The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown."
I have not read much about WWII, and what knowledge I have is about the world in Europe. Laura Hillenbrand takes you into WWII over the Pacific. She follows Louie Zamperini's life before, during, and after the war. Wonderfully written, well researched, it captured me (no pun intended) from the very beginning. I could not put the book down.
Hats off to Ms Hillenbrand for this beautifully written account of Louie's life.
"Our integrity sells for so little, but it is all we really have. It is the very last inch of us. It's the one thing that can't be taken away."
-Ian Martin, The Passion of the Nerd
As I finished this book, this quote kept running through my mind. Louis Zamperini was one of thousands of soldiers who was captured and had unconscionable things done to him during World War II.
Louis is notable, however, because not only did he survive his ordeal, but he eventually forgave his tormentors and went on to live a full and loving life.
This is a difficult read - the things done to Louis and the other PoWs are horrifying - but it also manages to be somehow uplifting.
Another relevant quote, by Mr. (Fred) Rogers, that came up for me several times earlier in the book: "My mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers — so many caring people in this world.”
As you read Louis's and his fellow soldiers experiences, console yourself by finding the helpers. There are terrible horrors in this world, but there is also so much love.
-Ian Martin, The Passion of the Nerd
As I finished this book, this quote kept running through my mind. Louis Zamperini was one of thousands of soldiers who was captured and had unconscionable things done to him during World War II.
Louis is notable, however, because not only did he survive his ordeal, but he eventually forgave his tormentors and went on to live a full and loving life.
This is a difficult read - the things done to Louis and the other PoWs are horrifying - but it also manages to be somehow uplifting.
Another relevant quote, by Mr. (Fred) Rogers, that came up for me several times earlier in the book: "My mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers — so many caring people in this world.”
As you read Louis's and his fellow soldiers experiences, console yourself by finding the helpers. There are terrible horrors in this world, but there is also so much love.
An amazing story. My only complaint is that she goes into too much detail. She seems so enraptured by Louie's story that she doesn't want to leave any of it out, but I think she could have edited down the POW period. After a while, her descriptions of what he went through were repetitive.
Laura Hillenbrand was able to recreate Louie's entire life in this book. She did an amazing job. I cried and I laughed throughout the book. Even in times when I probably would have gone mad and wanted to die Louie was able to forge ahead and he always came out on top. I would read parts of this book to my husband, who generally can't be bothered with what I am reading, and he was interested and ask questions to find out more. This book was definitely a revelation of the human spirit.
A book and film review is available on my reading and writing blog, A Vase of Wildflowers.
https://lnholmeswriter.wordpress.com/2015/01/10/book-and-film-review-unbroken/
https://lnholmeswriter.wordpress.com/2015/01/10/book-and-film-review-unbroken/
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced