As I hope you all well know, your opinion counts and your voices are heard as a member of the Smith Family Book Club! And in the spirit of that thought, I've received a number of comments from family members currently reading this quarter's choice that they wanted me to create a specific post for
Unbroken so it can be the site of all comments. I thought this an excellent idea! So in an effort to make this blog user friendly, ta dah ...................
Now you have no excuses ...............comment away mi familia.
Happy reading book lovers! I hope you are enjoying this quarter's book choice as much as I am. HOw are we going to ever top this pick. I know you can do it. Please submit your ideas to me asap.
Debbie
4 comments:
I really loved this book! Not only was it insightful into WWII, but it had so many great lessons to be learned. Here are some bullet points into what I learned in this book. 1)I have a renewed vigor to memorize things. There are so many things to remember that sometimes I just don't because I k ow I can look it up. But seeing how that kept his mind active and saved him....I realized the importance of it. 2) The idea of suffering was completely put into perspective. And what the human spirit can endure and live through is also amazing. I bet we are all stronger than we think we are when put to the test. 3) Being such a spitfire of a person helps you survive! :) Loved this book and the insights.
Sarah and I finished Unbroken this last weekend. By far, this is one of the best books I have read in a couple of years. Simply amazing, so kudos to whomever originally suggested it.
We actually read the book aloud to one another and laughed, paused to consider, shed some tears, and often said "I think we have time for one more chapter, don't we?". Despite occasional verbal flubs (from pg 57: "In Ephrata, Louie and Phillips fell in [LOVE] together." Whoops! Where did that come from? This isn't Unbrokeback Mountain!), we had a great time with it.
A couple of thoughts I/we had during the read:
- I always wondered when the learning curve was at it's worst in the aviation industry. I knew there had to be a point where going up in a plane was fairly dangerous. I think flying during that time had to be terrible: 52,651 accidents over the course of the war resulting in almost 15,000 personnel's death. Not only am I grateful for the sacrifice these individuals paid for their country, but for the knowledge their experience brought to modern aviation. After WWII was the point when modern aviation really took off and I think we have this generation to thank for it.
- That Bird was really a fathead.
- I echo what Sarah said about the human spirit. That anybody survived POW camps is a miracle. I appreciated the willingness of Louie to speak openly about the experience and the emotional toll & stress that his time in the camp took on his life after the war.
- The description of Louie's time in the air, on the water and in the camps was remarkable. You felt like you were there. I'm grateful to understand what they went through, but am terribly saddened by what people can do to one another. I just have a hard time understanding why anyone can rationalize treating others (even enemies) that inhumanely is unfathomable to me. To read that such a small percentage died in Nazi POW camps (was it 1%?) versus the number in Japan (was it 25%) was crazy.
- I can't believe the Bird didn't meet Louie. Doesn't that show his true colors right there?
- Big question: Cynthia went through a great deal with Louie. The book details that in depth. My only real critique of the book was where was it left out the revitalization of their marriage. It went on to talk alot about what Louie did. But, I only remember one line that seemed to hint that they were closer, but even a paragraph or two about their relationship would have helped close Louie's five years of turmoil.
-Above all, it was neat to see God's hand in Louie's life. This just bore testimony to me that the atonement plays such a critical role in helping us work through emotional and physical pains we have to bear because of terrible suffering at the hands of others. Free agency is key in this life: but we all will suffer because of other's bad choices. The downward spiral that Louie's life took was a result of the answers that the world offers to cope with stress. But when he allowed his heart to be softened and remembered those words he uttered as he was dying of thirst aboard that raft, that's when his path to redemption began. I am grateful for the alternative which Christ offers to all of us and for the example of Louie Zamperini. What a change took place within that man! I mean, could you go back and shake hands with or embrace your captors? Could you be willing to meet with the bird? That's the power of the atonement right there.
As Mom has said, it's gonna be hard to top this one.
Better late than never, right? I finished the book in June so here's my promised comment. Wow, was I ever impressed with the tremendous amount of courage and sacrifice that the servicemen gave daily. It was amazing to have such a first-hand description of Louie's experience though it all. I found it especially interesting to read how difficult it was for Louie to recover to normal life afterward. What a strong-will he had to survive and I'm so glad that he was able to find the path to forgiveness and renew his life. Tremendous pick for our book club.
To echo Cherali - better really late than never, right? I finally finished this book a few weeks ago and loved every moment of it. Now that I am done with school I have an insatiable desire to read. In fact, right now I'm sitting in the airport (after a weekend visit in SLC) with a backpack full of books I'm taking back to read.
Unbroken was a great thought starter. I found myself thinking about it as I drifted off to sleep at night. I must admit it prompted quite a few random google searches: how many days can you survive without water, where's _____ atoll, etc. I even found an interview with the bird posted on YouTube from shortly before his death.
One of the questions that I kept asking was how. How could we treat others so despicably? Why do we ignore the suffering of others around us? This book gave me a better understanding of the horrors of war and the necessity to treat others with respect. The hardest thing for Louie wasn't the physical suffering - it was the lack of respect for his humanity that affected him most. That is something that everyone deserves.
What a great choice for the book club. I look forward to jumping into book #2 - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Hopefully my next post will come shortly!
Chad
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