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

First off, I must say that I am very encouraged to see the THOUSANDS of positive reviews of this book. The bravery, unbelievable sacrifices, devotion, patriotism, and tenacity of "The Greatest Generation" should never be forgotten. I am heartened to see that even in this day and age of Political Correctness, many share my feelings on the matter.

Please bear with me for a moment, while I provide a little personal background before launching into my review. I feel it is relevant.

I can very proudly say that my parents (I am 51) were members of that generation to whom we all owe an immeasurable amount of gratitude. At the time of World War II, My father was a very young Marine (one of my pet peeves is seeing "Marine" spelled with a lowercase "m") who joined the USMC shortly after the war broke out. As so many in the US military did, he fought the Japanese in the Pacific from one hell hole island to another. Thankfully, he made it home safely, and went on to lead a very distinguished career in the United States Marine Corps. Sadly, he died when I was only 17 (he was a much too young 59), and many is the time I have wished I could have talked to him about his war experiences, especially since I have grown to become an avid student of history for the past 25 years. Note; if there are any members or past members of the US military in your family or circle of friends, LISTEN TO THEM ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCES! I was young and stupid, and my opportunity is lost.

Now for the book. POSSIBLE SPOILERS..... This book is Odyssean in its vast tapestry of one epic struggle after another. The name of Louis Zamperini is one that, hopefully now, thanks to Laura Hillenbrand, will become a household name in the pantheon of great Americans. From the time of his youth, to the rigors of the Olympics, to the gripping fear of aerial combat, she traces his remarkable life through a seemingly never ending ordeal of survival while being lost at sea for a record 47 days, only to be captured by the Japanese to endure a withering, seemingly ceaseless nightmare of thirst, starvation, torture, sickness, humiliation, loss and loneliness, eventually becoming a fixed recipient of unbelievable brutality by a sick and twisted sadist who is relentless in his devotion to break Mr. Zamperini's spirit.

Frequently, when thinking about WWII vets, I have often wondered out loud to my wife; "how in the world did these guys, after seeing what they saw and experiencing what they experienced, get on with 'normal' life?" Indeed, one could argue that Louis Zamperini's greatest challenges came AFTER he experienced a multitude of challenges that would have utterly destroyed most people in body, mind and soul. Thankfully for Louis and his family (and his family is VERY much a part of the story), he eventually found a way. Regarding his family, this book should appeal to many people across a wide spectrum, as Laura Hillenbrand takes us into the thoughts and emotions of those who loved him most, and we share in their seemingly interminable hours of agony, spent in the uncertainty of any knowledge of the well being of one they held so dear.

The book is very well researched, and one can tell that Laura Hillenbrand certainly put a Herculean amount of effort into putting it together. My only negative critique would be that I occasionally found some of the sentence structure to be a bit choppy. However, that being said, she does a wonderful job of allowing us, as much as possible within a book, to see, hear, smell, feel, and taste the details of a story that stagger the imagination. It is emotionally riveting.

This book will inspire you, make you angry, make you cry, and make you immeasurably proud to be an American. Ultimately, it will reveal in a very raw, graphic, (this book is not for the squeamish), heartbreaking and heartwarming way, the indomitable spirit of mankind, and how one man, after living through seven kinds of hell, remained, UNBROKEN.

Please allow me to close by expressing a deeply heartfelt THANK YOU to all the brave and wonderful men and women, past, present, and future, who wear the uniform, be it Army, Navy, Air Force, United States Marine Corps, Coast Guard, or National Guard. We live free because you serve.

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.

The story of Louie Zamperini as told by Laura Hillenbrand truly captures both the emotional and the factual accounts of Louie's life and the lives of so many other POWs. The research put into this book is astounding, but the facts flow in a way that is easy to understand (but still challenging in the right way). The characters are developed as deeply complicated, and their stories read like a brilliant novel. At times, I had to remind myself that this is all real, all true.

Within its pages, this book brings joy, hope, faith, sorrow, loss, and truth. I was extraordinarily invested in the characters and found myself haunted by their experiences. Though I feel like I have a good understanding of WWII, the majority of my knowledge comes from European accounts, both fiction and nonfiction. Subconsciously, I think I've stayed away from the Pacific side of things.

My grandfather was an American Navy Officer stationed in and around Southeast Asia during the war. My great-grandfather, on the other side of my family, was a Japanese air force pilot. My great-uncle was an interpreter. They both died fighting for Japan.

In war, you want to believe that there is at least some semblance of rules and justice. WWII is complicated, because there was so little of that on the European side of the Axis. I guess, as third generation Japanese immigrant, I wanted to believe that Japan was different. But startlingly, just based on the statistics and stories in this book, POWs held by the Japanese were treated worse (MUCH worse) than POWs held by any other country, including Germany. Add that to the stories of mass genocide, enslavement, and torture carried out by the Japanese based on the same misguided eugenics doctrine as Hitler's followers, and it's no wonder they were on the same side.

So, when I was reading this book, I connected with Louie, since he and my Grandfather both served in different capacities in the same part of the war. But I had an almost guilty connection with the Japanese, wondering if the Zero pilots, the interpreters, the soldiers of Japan's atrocious warfare described in the book were my family members. Where was my grandma during all of this? How did she feel about the Japanese superiority complex? I'd like to think she never agreed, but as the daughter and sister of soldiers, who really knows. I never asked and if I had, I doubt she would have told me. The family enshrined my dead relatives but never spoke of their service, deaths, or the war. It was a subject not to be brought up in the presence of my Japanese relatives, and in some ways, was equally difficult to discuss for my American grandfather.

This book is incredible. Life-changing. Challenging and hard but also joyful and wonderful. I learned so much, but most importantly, I was challenged to think about this war in a different way. I started considering my relationship to history but also the general implications of this war and how it has shaped America in the smallest and largest of ways. I would highly recommend it, even if you are someone who does not enjoy nonfiction.

For good reason, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand landed on many Best of the Year lists in 2010, including on Mark's. I'm not sure I would have picked this up otherwise; I like World War II books as much as the next guy (if the next guy in question also likes World War II books), but this is focused on one man. And it's 500 pages. I wasn't sure that I was ready to commit.

I'm so glad that I did. After a few pages, I knew that I would love this book. Unbroken is the story of Louie Zamperini, a hooligan-turned-Olympic runner-turned-pilot-turned-prisoner of war-turned- unbroken and hopeful man. That's a pretty good one-sentence summary of the book, just in case the publisher is looking for a subtitle for the forthcoming paperback version. I liked Louie instantly; he was a troublemaker tough-guy, but found his escape from his California town by running. Introduced to the sport by his brother, Louie runs in high school, college, and then in the 1936 Berlin Olympics where he met Adolph Hitler.

His life changed soon after as the story follows Louie into his new career as an AAC bombardier, until he crashes in the Pacific. Louie and two others survive at sea for over forty days without provisions (with a troubling scene about a lice infestation in his newly grown beard). If the story ended here, it would be a powerful journey. However, it does not. Much of the book is his horrid treatment in several prisoner of war camps in Japan. Just when I thought all the evil happened to Louie, there is a new chapter of horror.

The title is perfect to describe Zamperini. This man personifies courage, resilience, and hope in ways I have never seen. There were times I gasped aloud to read his ordeals. The squalor and suffering only provide a backdrop to allow Louie's courage and character to shine brightly.

I hesitate to say to much to avoid taking away the suspense as you read it, but allow me to say that Louie continues to sink lower into despondency and hopeless until God intervenes. In literature, it's called deux ex machina; in life, it is called redemption.

This book also has much to say about the many Japanese atrocities in World War II, whether it is in prison camps, Pearl Harbor, or Nanking:

"The Japanese military surrounded the city of Nanking, stranding more than half a million civilians and 90,000 Chinese soldiers. The soldiers surrendered and, assured of their safety, submitted to being bound. Japanese officers then issued a written order: ALL PRISONERS OF WAR ARE TO BE EXECUTED. What followed was a six-week frenzy of killing that defies articulation. Masses of POWs were beheaded, machine-gunned, bayoneted, and burned alive. The Japanese turned on civilians, engaging in killing contests, raping tens of thousands of people, mutilating and crucifying them, and provoking dogs to maul them. Japanese soldiers took pictures of themselves posing alongside hacked-up bodies, severed heads, and women strapped down for rape. The Japanese press ran tallies of the killing contests as if they were baseball scores, praising the heroism of the contestants. Historians estimate that the Japanese military murdered between 200,000 and 430,000 Chinese, including the 90,000 POWs, in what became known as the Rape of Nanking."

This gives a more complete picture of the behavior and the attitudes of Japan, and why Hiroshima and Nagasaki were last resorts. Japan was on par of the atrocities committed by Hitler and Germany, and the two countries had more in common during treatment of people during the war than they differed. This concept certainly is not in our modern psyche. It is accepted (and often applauded) to denigrate Germany, but it is labeled as racist if we criticize Japan.

In addition to the highlighting of a great man and as a history lesson, Unbroken is simply excellent prose. Hillenbrand has a poetic style of writing even the cruelest events.

Examples: He felt as if he would faint, but it wasn't from the exertion. It was from the realization of what he was.

One engine, for reasons known only to the plane, was thirstier than the others, so the gauges had to be watched constantly

There was one perk to life in the barracks. The bathroom was plastered in girlie pinups, a Sistine Chapel of pornography. But it was good to feel oriented, to know that they were drifting toward land somewhere out there, on the far side of the earth's tilt.

Dignity is as essential to human life as water, food, and oxygen. The stubborn retention of it, even in the face of extreme physical hardship, can hold a man's soul in his body long past the point at which the body should have surrendered it. The loss of it can carry a man off as surely as thirst, hunger, exposure, and asphyxiation, and with greater cruelty. In places like Kwajalein, degradation could be as lethal as a bullet.

The paradox of vengefulness is that it makes men dependent upon those who have harmed them, believing that their release from pain will come only when they make their tormentors suffer.

Whether or not you are a fan of war accounts, go read this book. Like me, you will be mesmerized with Louie Zamperini for good reason. He is a man who stands above other men, and his story demands to be told. The more like Zamperini we are, the better the world would be.

I finished this one a few days ago, but have put off writing a review. Part of me wants to rate this 5 stars because the story of everything Louis Zamperini went through deserves 5 stars. Unfortunately, I found myself really not enjoying the writer's writing style on quite a few different parts throughout the book. Honestly, while it was a really good book, I think it could have been even better in the hands of another writer. (Example: I have no interest in sports whatsoever. However, The Boys In the Boat was one of my favorite books that I read last year. Author Daniel James Brown was able to take a subject I have no interest in and make it enthralling.) There were times when I felt the author was unnecessarily vulgar in her writing.

The subject matter of the book was interesting and definitely won't be leaving my mind for a long time to come. However, it won't rank up there as one of my all time favorite nonfiction reads simply because there were times when I didn't care for the writing itself. It's definitely one worth reading, though, because they things that bothered me may not bother other readers. I do recommend checking out the Young Adult edition as well simply for the extra photos it offers. I do not recommend this for younger readers as much of the subject matter is quite brutal and horrific. I would say 4.5 stars, but I may round up as I see how the story follows me after finishing.

Spoilers Ahead

Anyway, back to the subject of the book. Louis "Louie" Zamperini definitely lived an interesting life. Raised in a very loving and supportive family, he was a wild child who was constantly into mischief that progressed into stealing as he got older. I think he was very lucky that his older brother, Pete, helped steer him towards running as a healthier outlet for his energy. He was a natural and, with training and hard work, he made it to the 1936 Olympics and would likely have medaled at the 1940 Olympics if war had not broken out.

He ended up as a bombardier in the Air Corps. Unfortunately, the US government treated their soldiers as they have in many other wars in that they were easily dispensable. They gave them planes that were quite unsafe to fly and then filled them inadequately with supplies in the case of crashes. Many, many men died in training with never having even seen any combat. After Louie had been stationed for two months, several dozen men from his bomb group, 1/4 of his barracks had been killed and many of those were a result of plane crashes. Between 1943 and 1945, 400 AAF crews were lost en route to their theaters. Oftentimes, no one ever knew what happened to the planes or their crews. Unfortunately, Louie's plane, sent out on a rescue mission, ended up being one of those planes that simply vanished (ie. crashed, but no one knew where).

Louie and his pilot and friend, Phil, miraculously survived over 40 days on the ocean with little to no supplies. They managed to create something to catch rain water and subsisted on the few fish and birds they were able to catch. After enduring sharks, starvation, dehydration, the sun bearing down on them, and being shot at by enemy planes, they were taken as POWs by the Japanese.

I don't even know how to describe the treatment of POWs by the Japanese. It was beyond horrific. I can't even grasp how one is able to do those types of things to a fellow human being even in the atmosphere of war. Sadly, Louie was singled out by one particularly horrible monster nicknamed "The Bird." He made Louie's life hell on earth. I found myself often cringing and horrified by what the POWs were subjected to. Thirty-seven percent of Allied POWs died in Japanese camps versus one percent in Nazi camps and we all know how awful the Nazis were.

The devastation Louie and Phil's families felt when they found out they were missing was so horrible. I can't even imagine what they went through. I honestly sobbed through the entire chapter talking about their families when they found out and everything they went through not knowing, but still believing that they were still alive. They never gave up on them.

Even after the end of the war and the POWs were rescued, the Pacific POWs suffered through PTSD and the things they endured often followed them their whole lives. It was no wonder that so many of them had a hard time coping and some turned to alcohol or suicide as their only way out. It was interesting following Louie's life after the war and seeing him finally triumph over his abusers even going so far as to forgive them. (I don't think I could be that strong.)

I was personally disgusted that the American government treated the Japanese war criminals in much the same way they did the Nazi war criminals in the 1950s. Many of the Japanese war criminals were tried and executed or imprisoned after the war, but the American government chose to take a "forgive and forget" style when it came to the atrocities committed against the POWs with the Cold War approaching. They decided to release many who had been preciviously convicted and halted the trials of many more. Unfortunately, this meant "The Bird" was never tried even though he ranked up there was one of the most terrible men in the war in the Pacific.

I'm glad that Louie found happiness in the end after all he endured. It's sad that so many others didn't. The camp he set up in the wilderness to helped troubled youth sounded like a great program.