Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand—a Review

I did not think I would like this book. Considering the subject material—the war, POW camps, and torture--I thought it would be an ideal book for men. I only read it because a good friend (female) recommended it. I am glad she did—I couldn’t put it down. Louis Zamperini is the unbroken protagonist, who survives a childhood of juvenile delinquency and goes on to become a track star and participant in the Olympic Games—only because his brother Pete fights the system and encourages Louie to run.

But it is Louie’s service in the air force during WWII that comprises the bulk of the book. Hildebrand avoids the trap of historical detailing and instead focuses on the thoughts and relationships of the men resulting in a book that reads better than most fiction. Louie and two buddies crash over the ocean, surviving forty-plus days on a disintegrating raft surrounded by aggressive sharks and suffering devastating hunger and thirst as their flesh wastes away and their skin burns in the sun. They survive a spray of bullets as Japanese planes fly overhead targeting their raft. Rescue finally comes—by the hand of the enemy. The Japanese POW camps prove to be far worse than the forty days spent on the raft.

Hillenbrand does an exemplary job of illustrating the depths of human depravity that were displayed in POW camps all over Japan. The Japanese completely disregarded the rules of the Geneva Convention because their own code of honor superseded international law. (Allowing oneself to be captured was so dishonorable as to deserve torture.) The survival of Louie Zamperini and others shows that the human body is an incredible piece of machinery, able to withstand the most cruel tortures the human mind can devise. What the Japanese did to our POWs makes you wonder if hell could be any worse. Hillenbrand exposes the reality that even the strictest externally imposed code of honor does nothing to improve the moral depravity of the human soul.

Louie Zamperini should have died any number of times. His survival is a story of miracles, and I found myself wondering why God would continue to save this guy who wanted nothing to do with Him. The answer comes in the last chapter. If you do not believe in God or in the sovereignty of God over the details of a man’s life, you may change your mind after reading this book. Every detail of Louie’s early life plays a part in the tapestry of the man Louie becomes. After the war, Louie is so filled with rage and hatred for his tormentor (nick-named the Bird) that his one goal in life is to find and kill him. He takes to drinking and nearly destroys his marriage. He suffers flashbacks and debilitating nightmares. The sickness of his soul leads to the most incredible miracle of the whole book, the details of which will make a grown man cry. I will leave it at that. Read the book.