Unbroken- A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
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Web ID: 18027987Unbroken Book Review
Unbroken is a book by Laura Hillenbrand which tells the impossible story of Louis Zamperini. The book begins by telling readers about his early habits of misbehavior and pranks. However, as he gets into running, these habits begin to dissipate. Louis was one of his high school track team’s best athletes, eventually becoming a college runner at USC. However, he did not stop at college. He went on to compete in the 1936 Olympics, which were held in Berlin. When the 1940 Olympic Games were canceled, he was forced to join the Army Air Corps. After a few successful missions, Louis’ plane malfunctioned, resulting in a crash landing. Louis and two other men survived the crash, and they had to attempt surviving on a life raft. They had to resort to many creative ways to stay alive. After 47 days and one of the men dying, they were finally saved. However, they were rescued by the wrong side. Following 47 days at sea, Louis now had to survive a Japanese POW camp. He was starved, tortured, and beaten, yet he survived. This shows the amazing strength he possessed, not just physically, but also mentally. One prominent theme in this incredible book is resilience. Throughout the book, Louis had to go through struggles that I find difficult to just imagine. Firstly, he was fighting in World War II, widely considered as the deadliest war in history. While fighting, his plane malfunctioned, resulting in a crash landing. However, he still never gave up. He was stranded at sea, not for a week, not for a month, but for a whole 47 days. After these 47 days, he was finally rescued. But what he had to go through next was even worse. He was not rescued by members of the Allied Powers, but by the Japanese, who were part of the Axis Powers. They took him to a POW camp, in which he was beaten, starved, and tortured. Yet he still never gave up. This all shows why resilience is a major theme throughout this story. Although resilience was a key theme throughout this story, so was forgiveness. This is because Louis Zamperini was able to find it in his heart to forgive his captors, despite what they did to him. One guard, named Mutsuhiro Watanabe, beat Louis every day. However, Louis knew that you live a better life if you forgive rather than hate. He is set on getting revenge, but after letting go of his bad habits, he no longer thinks about him. Then after hearing the news that Mutsuhiro had killed himself, which is news that would have once made him happy, he feels compassion for him.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Great Book!
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand is a story about WWII soldier Louie Zamperini. The book begins by showing Louie’s early life, where we see his habits of delinquency and pranks. As the book goes on, Louis starts to get into running and drops these habits. Louie was a very talented runner, running in college and later the Olympics. Though soon, as the war went on, Louie decided to become an airman. A crashed plane led to him getting lost at sea for 47 days and later being captured as a POW in Japan. In Japanese POW camps, Louie and other soldiers faced challenges and injustice, many dying or almost dying from the beatings and cruelty of Japanese soldiers. By showing the challenges that Louie faced, Hillenbrand was sucessful in showing Louie’s strength and ability to overcome adversity, and inspired readers to be like him. She showed this using imagery, so the reader could really put themselves in Louie’s shoes. Readers are able to experience the things that Louie was through these intense details and better understand him. When they are able to better understand him, it is easier learn from him and his actions that included bravery and resilience. The imagery included descriptive details about the POW camps and beatings that occurred there, as well as what the 47 days Louie, Phil, and Mac spent in the middle of the ocean on a raft looked like. Hillenbrand's use of imagery helped show how mentally tough Louie and the other soldiers were. Overall, I thought this book was very interesting and did a great job of showing Louie's life and bravery. Hillenbrand did a great job of telling the story because it never got boring, even when she included all of the background information. One of my favorite things about this book was in the POW camps, they would prank and make fun of the Japanese soldiers without getting caught. For example, the Japanese soldiers didn’t know English so they would call them names to their faces (one of the guards was nicknamed “Sh!tface”). They knew that if they got caught they could be beaten or killed, but they still did it and found the humor in their situation. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone because it gives a lot of insight on what soldiers risk and do for us and how hard they fight for their country.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Ten themes in the book
1. Resilience: Zamperini's story demonstrates the power of resilience and the human capacity to overcome incredible adversity. 2. Survival: Zamperini's survival in the Pacific Ocean for 47 days after his plane crashed shows the strength of the human will to live. 3. Courage: Zamperini's experiences as a prisoner of war in Japan, where he endured brutal treatment and torture, demonstrate the courage and resilience of the human spirit. 4. Redemption: Zamperini's story also shows the power of redemption and forgiveness, as he eventually forgave his captors and found peace. 5. Friendship: The book highlights the importance of friendship and human connection, as Zamperini's relationships with his fellow prisoners helped him to survive and endure his captivity. 6. Patriotism: Zamperini's service in World War II is a testament to his patriotism and love for his country. 7. Perseverance: The book emphasizes the importance of perseverance in the face of adversity, as Zamperini never gave up despite his many challenges. 8. Forgiveness: The power of forgiveness is a major theme in the book, as Zamperini eventually forgave his captors and found peace and closure. 9. Humility: Zamperini's humility and gratitude, even in the face of great success and recognition, is a powerful reminder of the importance of staying grounded and appreciating the people around us. 10. Inspiration: Finally, the book is a powerful inspiration to readers, reminding us of the strength of the human spirit and the power of hope and resilience even in the most difficult circumstances.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Story of Survival
Laura Hillenbrand is known for being the author of some amazing books and magazine articles. Some of her best selling books include Seabiscuit and Unbroken. With great success in her writing, Laura Hillenbrand won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year in 2001, and even spent time turning her books into movies. The book "Unbroken" that was written by Laura Hillenbrand in 2010, is a true story of survival. Throughout the book, we follow the lives of Louis, Phil, and Mutsuhiro, and all of the struggles that they have encountered. Louis Sivie Zamperini competed in the Berlin Olympics in 1936. But, after the Olympics, Louis joined the military and was later reported dead about being involved in a terrible plane crash. But after Louis and a few of his cremates, including Phil, survived the plane crash, they were determined to make it back home safely. Louis and Phil had to survive a long raft voyage with very little supplies in order to make it home safely. After lots of hoping and determination, Louis and Phil were able to survive the voyage, but that was not the end of their struggles. Louis and Phil were kidnapped by the Japanese and taken to POW camps where they were physically and emotionally abused in the camps and by Mutsuhiro Watanabe, also known as "The Bird." After being able to survive the POW camps, Phil and Louis were able to return home safety, which then shares the stories of what they do for the rest of their lives. However, the story also follow Mutsuhiro around as we learn what he did after the end of the war. After surviving a ton of horrible events, Louis returns home where we dedicated the rest of his life sharing his story of survival and his love of God. As for Phil, he returns home to India where he creates a family with his wife, and lives the rest of his life rarely speaking about the war. As for Mutusuhiro, after causing a lot of pain mentally and physically, he was able to return home and receive no punishment for any of his actions. He ends up playing down his actions, and finds something to put all of the blame on. This story shares many great themes, such as survival, love, and war. Throughout the whole book, we read about multiple characters dealing with horrible situations like abuse and starvation. However, these characters live with hope in their hearts which aids them to survival. We watch as these characters push themselves to survive whatever is thrown at them. As for love, it is clear that the love between the characters, love for God, and the love between the people and soldiers is extremely strong, and it helps with the characters survival. Not only is the book based on events happening during war, but it also shares the effects that war can cause on survivalists. It shares how much damage war, emotional abuse, physical abuse, and more can affect a soldier for the rest of his/hers life. Overall, this book is an amazing and heartfelt read. Reading about what the characters overcome and how they never give up is truly inspirational. The book is written so well and can easily draw any read in and paint a picture in the mind of the reader. If you like reading about books involving survival, then this is the book for you.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Changed My Life
I read this a few months ago and it is truly inspirational It remains the only book that I still feel powerfully about. It is a story of true perseverance and human strength, I have never felt as powerfully about a book as I do about this one. You will not regret reading this book.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com