Unbroken is one of those books that you see everywhere. I saw it first in stores and was slightly intimidated. It looked like one of those books I was not smart enough to read. Then, I saw my mother-in-law reading it and heard her raving about it. I saw it on my vacation to Hawaii, where I finally bookmarked it in my mind as a book I needed to read. Then, I saw a preview for the movie version of Unbroken that is coming in December so the book soared to the top of my must-read list. It has taken me weeks to finish this book, but tonight I have the satisfaction of saying that I finished it and am now well-versed in the amazing story of Loius Zamperini.
As a student, I never really learned about WW2. For whatever reason, each and every year, my social studies/history teachers always returned to the dawn of man and moved forward, stopping pretty much at the same place every year: WW1. I can't say that I even know that much about WW1 because any information taught about it was crammed in at the last minute when my brain had already checked out for the summer and was already sitting by a pool somewhere. I couldn't tell you anything about the Korean War, I know a little more about Vietnam (but not much), but WW2 I know next to nothing about. So, I have tried to teach myself by reading about this war (and visiting Pearl Harbor twice now in my lifetime) and learning as much as I can. Helping my girls study for their History classes have helped, too.
The funny thing is, reading Unbroken felt, at times, as though I was reading a book for a class. It is a slow read (which I read recently that reading slowly is good for your brain and your body, so hooray for that!) and you really do need to read every word (although I will admit that in some of the battle scenes, I did not read every word. I couldn't. Same for the parts in the camps. It was too hard to read every word). I found that the last 100 pages were turned very quickly. It was exciting to read how Louis' story turned out in the end. Read the epilogue. It is SO worth your time.
Unbroken is the true story of Louis Zamperini from his boyhood days to his final days, and everything in-between, with particular emphasis on his time as an Olympic runner and a WW2 Air Force Pilot. This memoir is written by Laura Hillenbrand, author of Seabiscuit, and it is superbly done.
However, it wasn't an easy story to read. Aside from the length of the story and the detail packed story that made for a slow read, the details are often so horrifying it's hard to read them. It's hard to believe that men were forced to live as Louie lived and forced to endure all that he did. My heart felt pain for these brave men and I felt grateful for their service and their sacrifices.
As I read, I only marked one section--a section dedicated to dignity:
Men subjected to dehumanizing treatment experience profound wretchedness and loneliness and find that hope is almost impossible to retain. Without dignity, identity is erased. In it's absence, men are defined not by themselves but by their captors and the circumstances in which they are forced to live. (pgs 188-189)
The idea of preserving one's dignity stuck with me as I read Unbroken and it seems to be true of any terrifying situation as well as being true of our daily lives: all we really want is to preserve our dignity. To move through life knowing who we are and to be proud to hold our heads high. When these brave men were forced into situations where their dignity was compromised, that's when the enemy began to win the fight. I will never again take lightly the privilege of walking through life on my own, making my own choices, and answering only to myself and my conscience. What an amazing privilege it is to be a free American.
Thank you, Louie, for sharing your story. It is a powerful one.
Happy reading everyone!
:) Dodie
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