Laura Hillenbrand: Unbroken

This is a book that I plan to use in my AP Language class next year, and so, needed to read.

Unbroken follows the story of Olympic runner Louis Zamperini. Laura Hillenbrand tells the story of Louie's childhood and the trouble he caused in Torrance, California until he finally discovered running. From there, he competed in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. As World War II broke out, Louie was drafted and sent to the Pacific. On a rescue mission, Louie's plane went down over the water and the surviving two members of the crew and Louie floated on a raft for more than a month without being rescued. Instead, they landed in the Japanese-occupied Marshall Islands and taken prisoner. As prisoners of war under the Japanese, they were taken back to mainland Japan and placed in prison camps, forced into labor, unfed, and severely beaten. Louie survived two years in these camps, first at Ofuna, then Omori, and finally Noetsu. At the end of the war, the camps were liberated, and Louie was able to return home. However, Louie's life at home was shattered by his experiences in the war. Unable to escape the horrors he had experienced, Louie spiraled into alcoholism and violence. However, he was able to find healing and forgiveness, and eventually pulled his mind from the PTSD that had haunted it for years.

Overall, I loved this book. The story is riveting and horrific, and it's awful to realize that it is a true story. This man lived through these things. He survived when most others would have given up. I like that Hillenbrand attempts to be fair to the Japanese (particularly the civilians) while still giving us the truth of what happens. There's no denying that what the Japanese did was horrific and violent, and I feel that she tries to pin the blame where it's deserved, and not on their entire nationality. Something that bothered me, particularly earlier in the book were her attempts to give background information. The war in the Pacific was complicated and agonizing, with more men dying in accidents than combat. While this is relevant information, Hillenbrand spent too much time here, often rehashing similar or same statistics multiple times. Sometimes her footnotes were unrelated anecdotes about the people mentioned, and seemed unimportant. By the end of the book, I found that these issues were less, but they were definitely prevalent in the beginning.

Overall, I would rate this book PG-13 and ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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