Unbroken

I wanted to recommend a book if you’re looking for something to read. It’s Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. Hillenbrand also wrote Seabiscuit, which many of you may be familiar with.

The book is a well written narrative of the life of Louis Zamperini. It traces his story from a troubled youth who discovers a love of running and becomes an Olympic athlete. He is drafted and ends up in the Pacific in the Army Air Corps. He is a hard living soldier whose plane crashes in the Pacific. He survives months of floating in a rubber raft across the ocean and is eventually captured by the Japanese. He spends years in Japanese prison camps. He survives the war and returns home. He is eventually saved at Billy Graham’s Los Angeles Crusade.

It was a very good read. The descriptions of life as a Japanese prisoner were horrifying. We often hear about German atrocities but little is mentioned about how cruel and inhumane the Japanese were. After the war Zamperini is battling demons from the war and turns to alcoholism. The story of his conversion is an incredible tale of God finding the sinner and saving him. I also enjoyed his experiences as a member of the US Olympic Team at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Here are some observations about the book. The main focus of the story is the triumph of a man by will power. No real mention of God’s preservation of this life through several life threatening situations. Also the story of his conversion is a small part of the book. This is the turning point of his life but it is related as just another event in an eventful life.  I will also warn you again that sometimes the descriptions of his life as a Japanese POW are sometimes graphic and horrific.

I recommend reading Unbroken, it is a story of a man who goes from the pinnacle of human achievement to the depths of human depravity who comes to the end of himself and meets Jesus!