Book Review #1 - Unbroken

For some reason (pride, previous disappointment, too many spoilers), I struggle to read books that have already been read and adored by the masses.  When Unbroken was released, I was well aware it was the current book du jour but all the buzz was positive and so I bought it with as much anticipation as others, figuring I’d beat most to the punch and before my curious apathy towards popular books could set in.

As more and more read, finished and gushed about this book, the further and further down my “to-read” list it went.  If the current novel I was reading hadn’t been so horribly boring, Unbroken might never have been read.  Thankfully, for my own enlightenment and spirit, the dust was shucked off and one more fan of Louis Zamperini’s story of enduring the unendurable was made.

This book can be easily compartmentalized into four separate sections: the pre-war character development of Louis Zamperini, his struggle to survive on a life raft in the Pacific Ocean, the atrocities and depravities he witnessed and suffered as a prisoner of war and post war life.  Even though I felt each of these four segments of the book had its own start, middle and end, Hillenbrand does a fantastic job of creating a whole story, never failing to tie the narratives together or jolting the reader out of Zamperini’s point of view.  This feat alone is astounding when considering the vast amount of data Hillenbrand includes.  She meticulously details his family life and childhood starting with his Italian heritage and rebellious youth in Torrance, California, the statistics and races of the 1936 Summer Olympics, all kinds of facts and figures from the US military, Japanese war history, the post war religious revival and interviews with a war criminal known as “the bird.”   It’s a lot of information!  Nevertheless, she weaves each well-researched nugget effortlessly into an incredible story about a man’s indomitable spirit and ability to survive unimaginable horrors, both physically and emotionally.

At times, I didn’t love it.  Early on, I felt strongly that I was listening to the memoir of an old man recalling past events of his life with those infamous “I walked to school uphill in snow both ways!” kind of glasses.  Louis’s childhood scraps seemed a little too extreme, from jumping out of a two story building and walking down the street at the age of two, to beating up every kid in the neighborhood.  Frankly, I didn’t like young Louis very much.  His delinquent behavior wasn’t at all endearing to me.  I understood early on that Hillenbrand was including this information to support his later ability to survive but it seemed forced....planned even.

Even when the author wrote about Zamperini, Phil and Mac's 47 days spent on a life raft, I thought, “How is there this much detail?  These men were starving, delirious and sun stroked!” and yet it never feels foggy or hallucinatory.  The days seem definite instead of blending into each other.   Daily moods and chronicles of events are almost perfectly recalled.  I don’t know how this part of his story was researched but when I read it, I was a bit skeptical because it’s all so incredible.  Sharks leaping out of the water at him!  Albatrosses caught with bare hands!  Japanese zeros shooting from the sky at them!

And then I thought, “Give it a rest, Lucy!  This man spent 47 days on a life raft in the Pacific Ocean and survived to tell the tale!  He can remember whatever the heck he wants to remember.”

I’m not saying that I don’t believe him.  I do.  What I realized later is that combined with his fame earned from his Olympic glory and being erroneously labeled killed in action, he had more opportunities than most to have his experience recounted and recorded.  He also proves throughout his later life to be exactly the kind of man to punch an attacking shark in the face.  He’s really something.

Like most other readers, the degradation he suffered as a POW was hard to read.  At my core, I believe in the goodness of people.  War seems to make people forget who they are and some of the guards at his prison camp don’t seem human at all.  I traveled to Thailand a few years ago and spent some time seeing what has become known as the Death Railway, including some museums that contained pictures of the POWs forced to build it.  Because of this, I could visualize the bony bodies, filth and cruelty described by Hillenbrand and lived by Zamperini.  It should be unimaginable.  I thought Hillenbrand did an incredible job to not only write about the conditions and events but to also draw conclusions about what happens to men who are treated  as less than human.  She writes, “Dignity is as essential to human life as water, food and oxygen.  The stubborn retention of it even in the face of extreme physical hardship can hold a man’s soul in his body long past the point at which the body should have surrendered it.  The loss of it can carry a man off as surely as thirst, hunger, exposure, and asphyxiation, and with greater cruelty....degradation could be as lethal as a bullet.”

It felt unexpected when Zamperini, who had thus far seemed almost Indiana Jones-esque in his ability to survive anything, faltered from this very degradation once the war was over.  To me, the psychological injuries and Zamperini’s very honest battle with his war demons, were the crux of this book.  More heroic than any of the many brave and remarkable accomplishments of his existence was how he dealt with his PTSD.  Because, contrary to the title of the book, he WAS broken.  And then he was not.

I must also mention Hillenbrand’s own incredible story.  As lots of reviewers mention, she became a success with the publication of her Seabiscuit memoir. I thought it fascinating that she first discovered Zamperini and became curious about who this man was while looking through old newspapers for articles about Seabiscuit.  Because those articles were invariably in the sports section, she noticed stories about an up and coming runner named Louis Zamperini.   She called him and an amazing friendship was born.

Hillenbrand and Zamperini have never met.  Hillenbrand suffers from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and thus rarely leaves her home in New York.  She has to strategically plan her days to have the reserves of energy to research, interview and write.  Even with the popularity and demand of both her books, she has been unable to go on book tours to promote them.  Lovingly, Zamperini offered to go in her stead.

I think there is a level of understanding between the two of them that makes this book what it is.  Without a doubt, Zamperini’s story is remarkable and awe inspiring.  But, quietly and without any sharks or bombs, so is Hillenbrands.  She understands struggle.  She gets the power of mental fortitude.  She lives her daily life as a prisoner inside a diseased body.  I think she was able to tap into Louis’s struggle and write about it with his perspective because she is a survivor.  She chooses to be unbroken.

It’s all quite incredible.  Read this book (if you haven’t already, obviously:)).