Unbroken Book Review

Unbroken Book Review

Nathan Shane Loomis

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand, the author of Seabiscuit, is an inspirational, compelling, and intense novel. The story follows Louis Zamperini, who was one of the fastest runners of the first half of the 20^th century and later entered World War II as a pilot. The book starts from the start of his life when his parents migrated over to United States from Italy and continues into Zamperini’s life in modern times. As a reader, you can admire amount of detail and care put into this book, but Hillenbrand was just telling us what happened to this American hero. It’s almost unbelievable what Zamperini achieved and went through during his days of running and during the war.

The story begins with young Zamperini living in Torrance , California with his parents and his older brother, Pete. As a child, Zamperini was a delinquent. Every day he would find something new to upset his teachers, his family or even the police. Bullies picked on him since he was an Italian immigrant, but not for long, since his father taught him how to use his fists. "Kids who crossed him wound up with fat lips, and bullies learned to give him a wide berth.” One day he ran away from home with one of his friends and lived under a bridge for a week living on nothing but lizards and dead birds. When Zamperini became a freshman, in high school his brother, Pete, wanted to clean up his act. Pete saw potential as Zamperini as a distance runner for the high school track team. Zamperini had been running away from trouble for years whether it was bullies, clerks, or the police. Pete motivated Zamperini to train for the track team through fall and winter, and Zamperini hated the training. Pete trained with him almost every day. As Zamperini would do workouts runs, Pete would be on his bike shouting out times and would never let Zamperini slack off. Finally, when track started, Zamperini joined the team and found that girls were very attracted to track runners. This motivated Zamperini to stay on the team, and by the end of his freshman year he ran a 4:50 mile (1600 meters). Zamperini excelled during high school, and his times were legendary for back then. Zamperini got an athletic scholarship to USC and was the top runner in the nation. He attended the 1936 Berlin Olympics and ran the 5,000 meter. He got 8^th place in the race with a time of 14:45. He ran his last lap in 54 seconds and he passed seven runners during that lap. He was so fast that he even sparked the attention of Adolf Hitler. Hitler called up Zamperini to his office and congratulated him personally by giving him a handshake. When Zamperini came back from Berlin, he was treated as a hero. Ironically, Zamperini’s USC track coach said the only runner that could beat him was Seabiscuit. In Zamperini’s final year at USC, he ran a 4:08 mile and it stood as a national record for 15 years.

After college Zamperini dreamed of flying and enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1941. After Pearl Harbor he was stationed in Hawaii. After a couple of months of flying around the Pacific and fighting in colossal air battles, Zamperini was sent on a rescue mission with a crew of eight other men to find survivors of a lost plane. When he and his crew were about 800 miles south of the base, one of the engines lost power and they crashed into the ocean. Only Zamperini and two other men survived the crash, the men took refuge on two little life rafts (which eventually turned to one). For more than a month the three of them lived off rain water, and they were able to catch fish and seabirds that would come by their raft. After 30 days tail-gunner Francis McNamara died, but Zamperini and pilot Russell Phillips survived in the open sea for 47 days. They drifted for 2,000 miles. During those 47 days they encountered sharks that tried to attack the boat (they were able to beat some of them with their paddles and eat them). They also faced Starvation, the scorching sun, dementia and were attacked by a Japanese plane. Finally, they reached the Marshall Islands, but the next day the Japanese Army captured them. They took the two into a Tokyo prison camp. Zamperini was brutally beaten, tortured and humiliated in the prison camp. The Japanese army gave no mercy to Zamperini. One of the grotesque punishments they gave Zamperini was shoving bamboo up his fingernails, and then punching his face until he got knocked out. Zamperini was held in prison camp for more than two and half years. When America nuked Japan, Zamperini and other American prisoners were set free, ending his three years of torture and survival.

Zamperini returned to Torrance, California, but he still wasn’t at peace. Like many other veterans Zamperini suffered from alcoholism and was haunted by night terrors and rage. In 1946, he married Cynthia Applewhite, and three years later he converted to a Christian and renewed himself. He later became an inspirational speaker and one of his main themes was forgiveness. He even went back to Japan to find many of the officers that tortured him in prison. He got a translator and told them that he forgave them.

Over the years Zamperini has gotten many awards like the NCAA 2012 Inspiration Award. He was also conducted to many Hall of Fames, like the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999. The book closes with Zamperini returning to the Berlin Track Stadium for the first time since the 1936 Olympics. The moment is truly powerful.

Unbroken is one of the best books I’ve ever read. As a track star, myself, I completely related to Louis Zamperini. His story is extremely unique and epic. Zamperini has been through it all from competing in the Olympics to being a prisoner of war. Zamperini is 93 years old and still stands as one of the most inspirational WWII veterans. Louis Zamperini is truly an American hero and a national treasure.