tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091584537195738879.post6362134625320781986..comments2024-01-27T03:42:09.622-05:00Comments on A Bookish Affair: Review: Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura HillenbrandMeg @ A Bookish Affairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15634397276714805455noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091584537195738879.post-11614752626069953802013-12-06T10:31:01.501-05:002013-12-06T10:31:01.501-05:00I'm glad you liked the book! It is one I recom...I'm glad you liked the book! It is one I recommend to everyone. I think it should be required reading. I know it made me want to hug a veteran and say 'Thank You!'Kim@Time2Readhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15584489744366874728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091584537195738879.post-79626432414319712422013-12-02T16:19:53.892-05:002013-12-02T16:19:53.892-05:00This sounds like a real winner. I can't belie...This sounds like a real winner. I can't believe I've had this book for a year now and haven't read it yet. I must remedy that. ;)Annahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08046635675540466183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091584537195738879.post-77418652877228651852013-11-23T09:59:11.070-05:002013-11-23T09:59:11.070-05:00I read this for my book group and really enjoyed i...I read this for my book group and really enjoyed it. Hillenbrand is quite a writer.Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07567954521782974033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091584537195738879.post-41889950620353003652013-11-23T07:37:23.650-05:002013-11-23T07:37:23.650-05:00I read this book, too, and I certainly gave it mor...I read this book, too, and I certainly gave it more than 4-1/2 points. Here's what I thought of it.<br /><br />UNBROKEN by Laura Hillenbrand (author of SEABISCUIT) is nonfiction. I’m afraid many readers will miss this book for that reason. They think nonfiction is dull. But I promise, UNBROKEN is not dull. It’s a can’t-put-it-down book that will keep you up at night.<br /><br />Louie Zamperini was a track star in the 1930s. He was good enough to go to the 1936 Olympics in Germany, and all expected, with more experience, he would be a medalist in the next Olympic games. Instead, World War II interfered, and Louie was drafted into the Army Air Corps.<br /><br />Then Hillenbrand relates his life as a wartime flier. But Louie’s experiences, even compared with other fliers who saw combat, weren’t typical. Although “war is hell” is true for everyone involved, Louie’s hell was progressively worse. Just when I thought, this is more than a person can take, it got even more hideous.<br /><br />Somehow, in part because Louie was so physically fit, he kept going. But he wouldn’t have if not for amazing mental strength as well.<br /><br />If you expect a summary of what happens, I’m sorry. It would be unfair to you. I found the book un-put-downable just because I wasn’t familiar with Louie’s story. I would be doing you a disservice by summarizing the book’s various parts.<br /><br />Do yourself a favor: don’t read the book flap or other reviews, either, until you’ve read the book yourself.<br /><br />I can tell you this. UNBROKEN begins with a prologue. Louie and two other men are floating on a rubber raft in the ocean. They’re starving to death and weak when a jet flies low over them. Louie thinks it is American, and they are about to be saved. But it’s not. What happens on that ocean is really bad. But after the prologue and after the story begins with Louie’s early life to his experiences as a runner to the Olympics to the military, it then keeps getting worse.<br /><br />Even so, I didn’t think this was a depressing book. I’ll admit, sometimes it was hard to read, and, if you’re like me, you may get so caught up in the story you’ll even get a headache at times. I wanted to keep reading because, even though bad kept happening, Louie kept overcoming.<br /><br />Hillenbrand continues the story after Louie’s military service, and we see his (and others who were with him) ability and inability to cope. We see lives forever changed, often disastrously.<br /><br />And we also see . . . . Well, I can’t continue without giving away what you should read and not anticipate because of something I said. But hint: I learned some unpleasant facts about Japanese civilians during World War II and after, even to present day.<br /><br />Although I read slowly, I read a lot. I usually find one, maybe two, books a year that are so wonderful I can’t speak highly enough of them. This is one of those books.techeditorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01713987832589573174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091584537195738879.post-47394448778351215572013-11-22T13:52:28.966-05:002013-11-22T13:52:28.966-05:00Sounds like Hillenbrand has written another winner...Sounds like Hillenbrand has written another winner!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com