*Unbroken

bc unbroken
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

“Unbroken,”delivers! It is the true story of Louis Zamperini’s life.  Who’s Louis Zamperini, and why should I read a book about him?  Simply put, it will enhance your life.

Survival stories resonate with us.  We want to know how someone endures hardship – any kind of hardship.  Louis Zamperini’s life is a spellbinding, roller coaster tale of incredible endurance, and in the end a testament to the man himself. It will inspire you to also go on.

Louis was a high-strung youth, stealing whatever food he could, constantly running away from trouble, till his older brother got him involved with track.  Without all of today’s fanfare, young Louis was able to secure a spot on the American Olympic track team and ran in Hitler’s Germany before World War II.  Louis was so fast that it was believed by the next Olympic games he
would break the four-minute mile.  Unfortunately, the war would eliminate Louis chances, and it would test
Louis like nothing had before.

Louis joined the Army Air Corps and became a bombardier and was stationed in the Pacific.  Any and all life lessons he had
previously learned could not prepare him for what lay ahead.

Why has this story become so popular?  Louis Zamperini is one of the last remaining WWII veterans, and he lived an
extraordinary life.  It always amazes me how any of us are alive today, with what our ancestors had to endure.  All humans suffer in war no matter which side you are on.  Through all of Louis’ suffering he managed to have a glimmer of hope and he retained his sense of pride and self-respect. The Japanese tried to undermine the prisoners’ dignity (as I’m sure most prison camps did).

“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…degradation could be as lethal as a bullet.”   Louis came very close to giving up, but he hung in there against all odds.

As our lives bounce along the current of the wind, we find beautiful sunny skies, but inevitably comes the rain – some of us have steady rainstorms, some of us have hurricanes, some tornadoes, and still a rare few have a severe hurricane that spouts out a few tornados.  Louis had to survive it all and come out of his ordeal as whole as possible.  Louis overcame all that he was put through, but not without scars.

This book was made for book clubs.  There will be amble discussions on Louis’s survival alone, plus you have the historical aspects of WWII.  The book will inspire you – it is a must read!

Rating: 9.5

 

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