From my bookshelf: Unbroken

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

A few weeks back, I read the book, Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand (author of Seabiscuit).  This was a book club pick and everyone was super excited that it was chosen.  Who knew that our little group could be so excited about a biography!

Unbroken is the biography of Louis Zamperini.  Zamp is best known as a runner who competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics as the youngest US athlete to make the team.  But what makes his life even more extraordinary is what he went on to do when WWII broke out... joining the military, a plane crash, 47 days lost at sea, battles with sharks, enduring the abuse as a Japanese prisoner of war, and listed as dead by the US military.  All of that, kind of makes the running look easy.

His insane, harrowing story of survival is incredible.   I will admit, that the details of torture when Zamp was in the prisoner of war camps were difficult to read.  Even though I knew that Zamp survives, I could not put this book down for I needed to know HOW he survived.

I am so impressed with this man and I wonder what made him so special that he was able to persevere  when so many others could not.  Was it his positivity, courage, intelligence, mischievous ways, pure spite?

This book is a keeper.  The story of human survival is amazing.  I learned so much more about the Japanese and their history and culture.  And like all good books these days, rumor has it that Universal Studios has bought the rights to make a movie.  So hurry up and read the book before the movie comes out.