Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

This is one of the books that I have read in two days flat. I would have read it in just one sitting but unfortunately did not have enough time to do that. I guess from this two sentences you can imagine for yourself that it was almost impossible to put the book down. I was clued to the book like a young child that would not let go of a sucker.

The book tell of a wonderful story of Louie Zamperini –Louie was  a track and field star in the 30s and was a great sport fan. He participated in the Berlin olympics, as part of the US air force in WWII. Louie Zamperini was shot down over the sea and drifted in the ocean for over thirty days, he was then captured by the Japanese armies and made a remarkable recovery to come back and live his life to the fullest.

The author Hillenbrand is one of the finest authors I thin. I am not sure what I was hesitant to read Seabiscuit, one of her books but I guess there is a good reason for everything.  She has a great talent of making stories alive even when reading them from the book. Her stories are gripping and all her images become live and vivid. You can tell by reading the book the she has done a lot of research and put a great effort on the book.

The story talks about Zamperini’s humble beginnings rise to being a start in sports and finally his involvement in World War. The author gave us the opportunity to see the B24 bombers from the persons who actually flew them. The incidents where Zamperini and his friend Phil were drifted into the sea are beautifully and well written and structured. The author was also not shy to tell about the horrors that were waiting for them at Japanese prison. She eloquently described them. You can tell that the author respcted her subjects as she tells the stories.

Our history does not say a lot about the POW and history of the pacific, but here the author tried to do justice to these wonderful untold stories. In her book, Hillenbrand tries hard to change all that and tell these stories.

After reading the book, I was not sure whether to rate it 4 or 5 but I ended up giving it 5 and maybe its because this was the first book I read for Hillenbrand. I think I already have an expectation for her next books and hopefully they will be on the same lvel or even better.