I did something this past weekend that I haven’t done in a while- read a 400 page book in just over two days. And for this to happen, the book has to be a gripping read. This one is.
The book is Unbroken, written by Kenyon alum Laura Hillenbrand, the author of Seabiscuit. I heard about this book several months ago, but never got around to purchasing it. I made my way into Paragraphs downtown Saturday looking for something else and ended up walking out with Unbroken. The book tells, in vivid detail, the story of former Olympic runner and WWII POW Louis Zamperini…and what a story it is.
It covers his quest to win an Olympic medal in the 1936 Berlin games, his disappointment at having the 1940 games cancelled, his enlistment in the US Army, his WWII experience in training, running bomber and rescue missions in the South Pacific, the crash of his plane, his 37 days lost at sea, and his two brutal years in Japanese POW camps. The book is filled with incredible historical detail and fascinating anecdotes as we walk alongside Louie and his journey. We then find him post-WWII, trying to recover his life that was, finding love and loss, the battle with his war demons, and finally, redemption.
Reading this book I have found a renewed appreciation for the men and women who serve our country, and for those who never made it back. The conditions of being lost at sea and of war are described in such detail that you literally feel like you are there. I understand more about PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and how it can consume lives. I feel the frustration of being thirsty and seeing nothing around you but water, knowing that drinking it will kill you (and Hillenbrand explains why in clear physiological detail).
Perhaps most importantly, I have a renewed knowledge that the love of Jesus Christ knows no limitations…and Louie’s redemptive transformation near the end of Unbroken underlies that once more. I won’t go into more detail because I don’t want to spoil the story, but make no mistake- God shows up in a big way.
Universal Pictures has owned the rights to Louie’s story since the late 1950’s…yet no film has been made. Universal and Walden Media, on the heels of Hillenbrand’s book, are looking to produce Unbroken, but no details have emerged. I almost hope they don’t make the movie, or if they do, they do it in a mini-series. There’s no way you can pack that much into two hours. It wouldn’t do the story justice.
By the way, Louie is still alive and kicking at 94 years of age. Find out more about him at www.louiezamperini.com
-Joe
Driving Notes 