Unbroken

Unbroken is a Nonfiction novel by Laura Hillenbrand about the life of Louie Zamperini. He grows up as troublemaker in Torrance, California by stealing food, running, and dreaming of leaving the town for good. Louie's brother, Pete, turns his love of running from the law into a passion for track and field. His career goes far into him breaking high school records, going to the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936, and training to beat the four minute mile. This career is put on hold when the Second World War breaks out and he signs up for the army air corps, becoming a bombardier. Louie and his crew, including pilot "Phil" Phillips are involved in an air battle with their plane, the Super Man. The crew is forced to land the plane, even though there's over five hundred bullet holes. The men is then transferred to a less reliable plane, the Green Hornet, which is shot down over the Pacific Ocean. Only three men survive: Louie, Phil, and Mac; Phil is torn apart by the guilt of the crash, Mac begins to go crazy (unfortunately dying later), and Louie wrestles a shark at sea and eats its liver. Louie and Phil survive for forty-six days, but end up being captured by the Japanese and put away in a terrible POW camp. The men are tossed back and forth through terrible camps until the war ends; with one of them where Louie encounters a sadistic guard with the nickname 'Bird', being punched over two hundred times, and having to clean a pigsty. Louie is able to return home, reuniting with his family and marrying his love at first site, Cynthia. They have a daughter and Louie begins to have a drinking problem at this time. The horrors of the war are haunting Louie, causing him to turn to drinking to try to forget. This, and catching him shaking the baby, causes Cynthia to divorce him. She changes her mind when Billy Graham comes to town and convinces Louie to go to one of his preaching sessions. After this, he finds his faith and quits drinking, becoming a motivational speaker. Years later, he finds peace in his past and forgives all those who wronged him in the war. In 1998, he carries the Olympic torch past Naoetsu, where he was once imprisoned, putting his past behind him. I really enjoyed this book because I find World War II very interesting, and to hear about Louie's point of view made it even more interesting.