Sunday, April 17, 2016

Unbroken: Ben Row

 Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
Laura Hillenbrand
4 star
471 pages

This book follows Louis Zamperini on his journey through life. He was a rebel as a kid, stealing, fighting and running away from the law, he eventually got into track and that turned him into a more social and charismatic highschooler. He eventually got good enough to go to the 1936 in Germany, where he placed 7th in the 5000 meter run. When he got back, he was drafted into the Air Force where he was captured by enemy forces and held in POW camps. When the war ended, he struggled with PTSD and looked for redemption.

I thought the style of this book was very unique. There were certain things in the book that amazed me, like how all of the names referenced in the POW camps can be traced back to real people who were actually in these camps. The book put such detail into all of the story elements. The dialogue seemed so genuine and real for the time period.

There were a lot of memorable moments in the book. Like the first chapter when we followed the zeppelin around the world and we saw what was happening in history at that time. And the first time Louie saw action with his crew in the attack on the Japanese base. And when the American planes finally drop supplies for the soldiers in the camps.


I think most people would like this book. If you are into history around this time period you would especially enjoy it.   

3 comments:

  1. I've never read this book, I've only seen the movie. You're review did a good job of pulling me in.

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  2. Your review makes me want to read this book! It's also interesting that this is a historical novel. What was was in 1936?

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  3. I meant to say "What war was"

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