I'm going to make a prediction.
I know it's only March, but I'm pretty sure I just read my favorite book of the year.
UNBROKEN by Laura Hillenbrand
is a true-life story that is IN-CRE-DI-BLE!
Think THE GLASS CASTLE (by Jeannette Walls) meets THE HIDING PLACE (by Corrie Ten Boom).
As a boy, Louie Zamperini was the terror of his neighborhood, and that is a ridiculous understatement. (You'll see what I mean after the first few pages.)
As a teen he found something that kept him out of trouble--running--specifically the mile. He was so good he competed in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. While there, he met Hitler and was roommates with Jesse Owens. (Reading this first-hand account of the Olympic try-outs and competition was so very interesting, especially since it was during the WWII era, which I find particularly fascinating.)
In September 1941, the 24-year-old enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces, and was eventually deployed to Hawaii as a B-24 bombardier. (He arrived several months after the Pearl Harbor invasion.) It was during a mission in May 1943 that his plane went down in the Pacific, and all but he and 2 others died.
They would survive 47 days with basically no provisions, catching fish and birds, fending off sharks, and Japanese planes that strafed them from the air.
Louie would go on to survive 2 years in captivity, traveling from one Japanese camp to another. Even though each camp would be more horrible than the one before, the determination and ingenuity of the prisoners grew too as they struggled to regain their dignity.
After the war, Zamperini returned home to California, and despite a hero's welcome, he was tormented by his memories of his captors. He turned to alcohol, and though it threatened to tear his marriage apart, he didn't see how his life was spiralling out of control.
Then, one night, he found himself sitting under a big-top tent, the smell of sawdust underfoot, and heard the clear strong voice of a young man from North Carolina sharing the message of the gospel...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I can't say enough about this book. You just have to read it!
I know it sounds like a difficult read because of the heavy subject matter, but let me tell you, the ending is SO VERY INSPIRATIONAL! I couldn't say that about Walls books...they left me slack-jawed and mad.
Today, Louie is 94, and is leaving a legacy that is more about forgiveness and the grace of God, than his wartime experiences. And he is a force to be reckoned with! (Just how many people run, skateboard, and rockclimb in their 80's?!?!?)
I know it's only March, but I'm pretty sure I just read my favorite book of the year.
UNBROKEN by Laura Hillenbrand
is a true-life story that is IN-CRE-DI-BLE!
Think THE GLASS CASTLE (by Jeannette Walls) meets THE HIDING PLACE (by Corrie Ten Boom).As a boy, Louie Zamperini was the terror of his neighborhood, and that is a ridiculous understatement. (You'll see what I mean after the first few pages.)
As a teen he found something that kept him out of trouble--running--specifically the mile. He was so good he competed in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. While there, he met Hitler and was roommates with Jesse Owens. (Reading this first-hand account of the Olympic try-outs and competition was so very interesting, especially since it was during the WWII era, which I find particularly fascinating.)
In September 1941, the 24-year-old enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces, and was eventually deployed to Hawaii as a B-24 bombardier. (He arrived several months after the Pearl Harbor invasion.) It was during a mission in May 1943 that his plane went down in the Pacific, and all but he and 2 others died.
They would survive 47 days with basically no provisions, catching fish and birds, fending off sharks, and Japanese planes that strafed them from the air.
Louie would go on to survive 2 years in captivity, traveling from one Japanese camp to another. Even though each camp would be more horrible than the one before, the determination and ingenuity of the prisoners grew too as they struggled to regain their dignity.
After the war, Zamperini returned home to California, and despite a hero's welcome, he was tormented by his memories of his captors. He turned to alcohol, and though it threatened to tear his marriage apart, he didn't see how his life was spiralling out of control.
Then, one night, he found himself sitting under a big-top tent, the smell of sawdust underfoot, and heard the clear strong voice of a young man from North Carolina sharing the message of the gospel...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I can't say enough about this book. You just have to read it!
I know it sounds like a difficult read because of the heavy subject matter, but let me tell you, the ending is SO VERY INSPIRATIONAL! I couldn't say that about Walls books...they left me slack-jawed and mad.
Today, Louie is 94, and is leaving a legacy that is more about forgiveness and the grace of God, than his wartime experiences. And he is a force to be reckoned with! (Just how many people run, skateboard, and rockclimb in their 80's?!?!?)
7 comments:
I am currently listening to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society...very much about WWII, but a different perspective. Really enjoying it.
I'm putting this on my to read/listen to.
Since our taste in books is pretty similar, I told Patrick we need to get this. He was excited because he has read a ton of reviews on it and said it was already on his short list. I'll be reading it soon!
I've benefited from many of your recommendations, so this one is going in my queue. Presently I'm reading a book I think you'd like, history buff that you are. It's called Island of the Saints, based on a true story of a German soldier who gets shot off a U-boat for disloyalty to the Fuhrer. He washes ashore and is nursed back to health/develops a friendship with an unlikely, hateful woman whose husband was killed by Germans. I'm only just past halfway into it and I'm loving it!
You have most definitely whetted my appetite. I will be getting this book.
Hello to my new friend. =) What a great blog. You like a lot of the same things I do. Only silver for me too. Love how you are so organized. It was great being with you this weekend.
After reading your post I reserved this book from the library. It'll be a while till I get it...there were like 50 some holds on the book! Crazy! Im trying to expand my reading horizon and branch out from reading Christian romance novels:) thanks for the recommendation!
Janelle Erb
LOVED IT!!! I'm going to link to your post when I review it. I'm going to use every power of persuasion I have to get my book club to read this next year. Patrick loved it too.
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