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Unbroken
By Laura Hillenbrand
Random House, 2010
Hardcover, 457 ppg.
ISBN: 978-1-4000-6416-8
Some years back, I had the pleasure of reading Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand. When the movie came out, there was a big fuss made about it and while I did plan on seeing the movie, I wanted to read the book first. This decision introduced me to the researching skills and beautiful, captivating writing that is Hillenbrand’s. I was so taken with how expertly she wrote such a book, and it moved me a great deal. She brought Seabiscuit’s story to life on the pages. So when I found out that she’d written another nonfiction book, this one being the story of Prisoners-of-war (POWs) from World War II, I became excited about the prospect of having her book in my hands. I knew, just from reading her first book, that I would enjoy her second book. And I was not disappointed. It took me a while before I sat down to read it, and it took me a while longer to actually read through it, but I read it and it was so worth the wait.
Unbroken is Laura Hillenbrand’s breathtaking masterpiece. It is a true story of survival when three men are captured by the Japanese during World War II. I was delighted by this book on two levels: One, that it was by an author whose writing I enjoyed and, two, that it was about history. I am a history buff, so I was definitely looking forward to reading this book all the more.
As a child, I remember seeing all this attention being focused on Prisoners-of-War, but mostly about the POWs from the Vietnam War. The war that happened shortly before I was even born. And long before that was this story of POWs from World War II. I wasn’t even born yet when this happened, so I barely heard anything about them when I was a kid. It was all about the Vietnam War! Not World War II. So I barely knew much of the stories that survived after this war happened.
My parents, however, were born shortly after that war ended, so my father had known a thing or two about it. He often filled in the blanks when I struggled during homework from history class when we were covering World War II. Pearl Harbor was a very difficult topic we discussed and even though I have books about Pearl Harbor, have seen the documentaries and movies, I knew very little of what the POWs of WWII went through. This book gives everyone that glimpse. In fact, it tells the story of a handful of the POWs and the nightmares they endured while at the prison camps – and even after they made it home. This book is a testament of why it’s so important that we never forget our POWs of World War II – or ANY of our wars, for that matter. Former Japanese soldiers who were later tried for war crimes after the war said this was how prisoners were treated in the camps in Japan, but this could also be how prisoners are treated at any of the prison camps. The only difference is that not a lot of people are able to write about it in such detail.
And that’s another reason why Hillenbrand’s book is so important. We are seeing what we might never have been able to see, or know, that took place in these prison camps.
The star of this story, of course, is Louis “Louie” Zamperini, an Olympic runner who joined the military and fought in World War II. He was in active duty before Pearl Harbor even happened, and thankfully Hillenbrand introduces us to Louie long before then. We get to know him when he was a delinquent teen. How his brother, Pete, turned his life around and how Louie transformed into the soldier that would witness with his own eyes the devastation of Japan’s attack on America on that day in 1941. We are with Louie and his comrades – Russell Allen Phillips (who Louie called “Phil”) and Francis “Mac” McNamara – while they are floating in a raft after their plane, The Green Hornet, is downed. What they go through to survive this dangerous journey, how they starved and fought off sharks, and when Mac takes his last breath. But the real horror begins after Louie and Phil are captured by the Japanese and end up in one prison camp after another. This part of the book was very difficult to read; I was outraged, saddened and shocked by the cruel treatments these men and many other POWs endured at the prison camps. Many times I had to stop reading and put down the book, simply because it was so shocking to read of how the men were mistreated at the camps. I was humored by the little things they did to “get back” at their tormentors, yet ultimately I was awe-inspired by how some of them were able to hang on, clinging to the hope that one day they would be rescued.
I will not be quoting from this book as a way of showing just what kind of brutalities these soldiers endured while in these camps, because these words MUST be read, in the book itself, and the whole story must be taken in to understand and have a sense of respect for what these POWs went though. Read their story, read their WHOLE story, because one paragraph is not enough to sum up what they went through.
In the end, I was shedding tears of joy and happiness for where Louie’s journey takes him. I cried when his family learned he was alive, when he finally embraced his mother again after four years of being away, and how, in the end, Louie frees himself from the nightmare that haunts his soul after he returns home.
Unbroken truly is a story of survival. It is a story of the enduring human spirit, and of how faith can help someone get through the worst of experiences. It is one of the most powerful books I have ever read and I definitely recommend this book to everyone. You don’t have to be a history buff to appreciate this story, nor do you need to have any interest in war stories. This story moved me so deeply and I had a newfound sense of respect and appreciation for our POWs. To have lived through what they have lived through, and to honor those who died at the hands of their captors. This book is just one more book that brings to light the importance of remembering our POWs from wars of long ago, but it is ultimately the one book that is worth reading.
Five stars.
