Unbroken

by Laura Hillenbrand

The incredible true story of Louis Zamperini, now a major motion picture directed by Angelina Jolie.

THE INTERNATIONAL NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER

In 1943 a bomber crashes into the Pacific Ocean. Against all odds, one young lieutenant survives. Louise Zamperini had already transformed himself from child delinquent to prodigious athlete, running in the Berlin Olympics. Now he must embark on one of the Second World War’s most extraordinary odysseys. Zamperini faces thousands of miles of open ocean on a failing raft. Beyond like only greater trials, in Japan’s prisoner-of-war camps.

Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini’s destiny, whether triumph or tragedy, depends on the strength of his will …

Now a major motion picture, directed by Angelina Jolie and starring Jack O’ Connell.

• ISBN10: 0007378017
• ISBN13: 9780007378012
• Publish Date: 20 January 2011 (first published 1 January 2010)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 20 December 2013
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Fourth Estate Ltd
• Format: Hardcover (UK Trade)
• Pages: 500
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[readingwithwrin]

“A lifetime of glory is worth a moment of pain. Louie thought: Let go.”

See reviews first on my blog

I never really know what to say in these reviews, because I don't want to give anything away. But I will say this, if you can please listen to the audiobook of this. If I hadn't I honestly don't think I could have gotten through Zamperini being a POW and the horrible conditions he and so many others had to live in was almost to much for me to listen to at times. But it is so important that we all can know what happened to them, so we don't let it happen again, and that we can really understand more about why so many of them struggled when they came home. The majority of this story does take place in POW camp's this is where we really get to see Zamperini survive and thrive almost at times.
Now I had seen the movie before having read this, so I think if I hadn't of seen it first, I probably wouldn't have pushed through it as much as I did, because I wanted to see more of what happened once he had gotten home and what he had done in his later years.
For me the best parts of Zamperini's story were his younger years before the war, and what he did after the war. Sure he was a troubled child and an even more troubled adult after the war, he was still very determined. And finally with the help of his wife he was able to turn things around and turn into a very great man, who helped many young people and showed how perseverance and God can really help you get through the bad things in life.

“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.”

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

Fond of:
Louie Zamperini led (good or bad) an incredible life. I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone to contradict that. It feels strange to say you are "fond of" a person being in a POW camp, going through the unimaginable, but Louie has grit and overcomes it, remaining "Unbroken". Not only was the subject matter provoking but Hillenbrand's writing is excellent and through her meticulous research gave a grand view of the 1936 Olympics and weeks aboard a raft.

Not Fond of:
He finds God. Not just God, Billy Graham. This is not a knock at religion, I was happy that he was able to come to peace with his experience but I get a little annoyed/tired of stories, fiction or non that conclude with the finding of Him. It just felt a little "Chicken Soup for the Soul".

Final Thoughts:
It was a riveting story and is one of the few books that lives up to the hype. But I think because my Dad, who recommended Unbroken, talked it up so much that my expectations were a bit high. Overall, Unbroken was a little difficult to read at times because it was such an intense subject matter but Louie Zamberini's story is worth time.

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

I find it difficult to review nonfiction books of this sort because of the stories they tell. If you don't like it, are you a horrible person? Zamperini survived a horrifying experience, and he and those around him were certainly left with formidable scars... But the book? If we can look at it solely as a piece of literature, it's not that great.

I was bored through about chapter 15. When there isn't a lot of "action" going on, jumping around like she did is confusing. She spent at least half the book focusing on people other than her subject and for a while I was infuriated because she made it seem as though the others were mere footnotes of importance compared to Zamperini's actions. That is not the correct way to treat history. She continued inferring her own opinion and embellishing throughout and any historian should be ashamed of that... It's all about the money; it helps sell books.

Seeing the trailers for the film as well, I don't think Hollywood is going to bring the story back down to earth. It sounds like a god will be made out of a man. Why can't we just tell stories as they happened?