Book Review - Unbroken

Again, no medical news today however I did just finish an excellent book my brother gave as I was going in for surgery. Unbroken was written by Laura Hillenbrand, who also wrote Seabiscuit. The book is about Louie Zamperini, a man that ran in 1936 Olympics in Berlin and should have been the first person to break the 4 minute mile. Instead he joined the Air Force at the start of World War II. In 1943 he was shot down over the Pacific Ocean and spent 40 plus days in a raft with 2 other men. They finally drifted onto an island that was held by the Japanese.

He was held as a POW until the end of the war. The beatings, living conditions, lack of food and water he survived on for 2 years is truly unbelievable. However the way he endured these sufferings, by maintaing his pride and dignity, is the remarkable part of the story. At one point the author writes "without dignity identity is erased. In it's absence, people are defined not by themselves but by the circumstances in which they are forced to live".

How cool is that?

Thanks for caring.