Author: Laura Hillenbrand
Pages: 496
Published: 2010
Genre: Non-fiction, Biography, History
Rating: 5/5
On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.
The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.
Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.
Thoughts: I really, really, really liked it and it really lived up to the hype that I have heard about this book. It was also a book that was very much an emotional journey and the emotions that I experienced were very much unexpected. While there were times that the book felt a little dry, like the description of a B-24 bomber, the story always had a point and it was building to something that was going to be written later on in the book. I am not going to spoil the book for those of you who are planning are reading the book, but I will say its an amazing journey, especially emotionally. Highly recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment