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| Quick! Go get a copy... |
I cannot get my mind off Louis Zamperini’s story. Every time I feel grumpy or tired I flash to his years of struggling to survive in a disintegrating life raft on the Pacific Ocean or in a brutal Japanese prisoner of war camp in the 1940s. Then I feel so ashamed of myself that I immediately smile and adjust my attitude.
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, is beautifully written and completely riveting, I can’t wait to get in the car and turn on the CD (I have even been volunteering to run errands so I can get more car time - pathetic). This is an author that knows how to tell a story.
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, is beautifully written and completely riveting, I can’t wait to get in the car and turn on the CD (I have even been volunteering to run errands so I can get more car time - pathetic). This is an author that knows how to tell a story.
When Hillenbrand came out with Seabiscuit, 10 years ago, I remember cheering at the top of my lungs as I listened to the hoof-by-hoof account of Seabiscuit winning Santa Anita. My husband recalls times he sat in the driveway because the story was too good to turn off.
That year, for Christmas, I got a Seabiscuit ‘action figure’ to set up on my bureau (I was 34).
I can tell an author is gifted when they write about a subject that I have absolutely no interest in and I fall in love with it. Horseracing was not the least bit interesting to me until I became a Seabiscuit groupie. And now I can’t learn enough about prisoners of war, WWII battles and Louis Zamperini. What an incredible gift...the ability to tell a story so well that it changes the lives of the people who read it, inspires them, gives them hope and connects them to a history that they would have never experienced without you.
Laura Hillenbrand spent seven years researching Unbroken. This doesn’t seem surprising at all now that I have read the book. Woven through each harrowing chapter are letters, diary entries, historical accounts and detailed descriptions. In addition to all the reading, Hillenbrand spent hours on the phone with Zamperini himself, listening to the fascinating details of his remarkable life.
That year, for Christmas, I got a Seabiscuit ‘action figure’ to set up on my bureau (I was 34).
I can tell an author is gifted when they write about a subject that I have absolutely no interest in and I fall in love with it. Horseracing was not the least bit interesting to me until I became a Seabiscuit groupie. And now I can’t learn enough about prisoners of war, WWII battles and Louis Zamperini. What an incredible gift...the ability to tell a story so well that it changes the lives of the people who read it, inspires them, gives them hope and connects them to a history that they would have never experienced without you.
Laura Hillenbrand spent seven years researching Unbroken. This doesn’t seem surprising at all now that I have read the book. Woven through each harrowing chapter are letters, diary entries, historical accounts and detailed descriptions. In addition to all the reading, Hillenbrand spent hours on the phone with Zamperini himself, listening to the fascinating details of his remarkable life.
The book makes you feel as if you are running alongside Zamperini in Berlin, learning to fly a B24, pounding sharks on the head and crawling to your plank inside filthy barracks for another frigid night. Hillenbrand’s writing invites you to experience each challenge for yourself.
A racehorse and a prisoner of war might not seem like they have a lot in common, but Seabiscuit and Zamperini were cut from the same fast cloth. They both overcame enormous hardships, struggled through one challenge after the next and came out winners. Zamperini endured years of suffering without losing hope. He faced each day’s challenges anew and persevered through starvation, abuse, humiliation, terror and exhaustion.
A racehorse and a prisoner of war might not seem like they have a lot in common, but Seabiscuit and Zamperini were cut from the same fast cloth. They both overcame enormous hardships, struggled through one challenge after the next and came out winners. Zamperini endured years of suffering without losing hope. He faced each day’s challenges anew and persevered through starvation, abuse, humiliation, terror and exhaustion.
In a Voice of American interview, Hillenbrand explained that because of severe Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, she is confined to her home in Virginia. She writes about subjects that let her escape her physical suffering and offer her hope for overcoming adversity. Writing about Seabiscuit and Zamperini have given her the chance to study how athletes face difficulties without being crushed by them. The book is a lesson in taking one day at a time, dealing only with the immediate crisis in front of you and finding small pockets of refuge wherever they may be hiding. Good advice for everyone.
I only have one more question - where can I get a Louis Zamperini action figure?
I only have one more question - where can I get a Louis Zamperini action figure?
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