Unbroken: A Review of the Book by Laura Hillenbrand
I was recently given this book by someone who knew that I was going through a tough time.
Some call it a mid-life crisis, some would say a 'mid-life opportunity'.
Basically I've been in the this mode for two years, so neither one really describes the situation.
I quit my stressful banking job--a job that tore me to shreds mentally and spiritually before it spit me out onto the pavement.
I was at a crossroads.
What do I do now? The book was meant to bring perspective to my life, which it did in spades.
The main character of the book goes through events that evoke some very strong emotions in me.
I'll highlight just three of them, all varying in intensity and duration, and arduousness.
1.
His fighter plane is shot down over the ocean.
(<1 hour) Although short in duration to the other two, this is the one that starts the hellish ball rolling.
I think many have felt the tinge of fear when flying.
Fear of falling out of the sky, helpless.
Time stands still as it becomes apparent that the plane will crash.
The world becomes dreamily quiet, probably because the mind simply has too much to process at once.
Finally, he's under water, tangled in debris and slipping to and from consciousness.
2.
He floats on a liferaft in the open ocean for 47 days.
The detail given during this account makes me feel as if I'm there, scorched by the sun, harassed by sharks, bludgeoned by hallucinations.
At this point, I can't put the book down.
The immense shock and willpower that his body endures and his second-nature to survive is no less than a miracle.
3.
He's captured by the Japanese and tortured for over 4 years.
Living in a 3-foot square cage, being fed rotten gruel crawling with maggots and undergoing constant attack from dysentary, it seems the daily torture is almost a footnote.
But it gets worse.
One leader of his P.
O.
W.
camp finds him irresistible, and beats him every single day for four years, makes him empty human exrement from holes in the ground with his hands, and verbally abuses him for hours at a time every single day.
Needless to say, this soldier has serious P.
T.
S.
D.
for years after he, along with hundreds of other P.
O.
W.
's, get rescued at war's end.
But there is a great ending to this story, which I'll save for your enjoyment.
I looked very hard at this man and his many trials.
Way beyond respect and admiration, I look up to him as a sort of mentor--a man I may never meet, but someone I have grown to be very thankful for.
After all, through his torture, I have been liberated.
Some call it a mid-life crisis, some would say a 'mid-life opportunity'.
Basically I've been in the this mode for two years, so neither one really describes the situation.
I quit my stressful banking job--a job that tore me to shreds mentally and spiritually before it spit me out onto the pavement.
I was at a crossroads.
What do I do now? The book was meant to bring perspective to my life, which it did in spades.
The main character of the book goes through events that evoke some very strong emotions in me.
I'll highlight just three of them, all varying in intensity and duration, and arduousness.
1.
His fighter plane is shot down over the ocean.
(<1 hour) Although short in duration to the other two, this is the one that starts the hellish ball rolling.
I think many have felt the tinge of fear when flying.
Fear of falling out of the sky, helpless.
Time stands still as it becomes apparent that the plane will crash.
The world becomes dreamily quiet, probably because the mind simply has too much to process at once.
Finally, he's under water, tangled in debris and slipping to and from consciousness.
2.
He floats on a liferaft in the open ocean for 47 days.
The detail given during this account makes me feel as if I'm there, scorched by the sun, harassed by sharks, bludgeoned by hallucinations.
At this point, I can't put the book down.
The immense shock and willpower that his body endures and his second-nature to survive is no less than a miracle.
3.
He's captured by the Japanese and tortured for over 4 years.
Living in a 3-foot square cage, being fed rotten gruel crawling with maggots and undergoing constant attack from dysentary, it seems the daily torture is almost a footnote.
But it gets worse.
One leader of his P.
O.
W.
camp finds him irresistible, and beats him every single day for four years, makes him empty human exrement from holes in the ground with his hands, and verbally abuses him for hours at a time every single day.
Needless to say, this soldier has serious P.
T.
S.
D.
for years after he, along with hundreds of other P.
O.
W.
's, get rescued at war's end.
But there is a great ending to this story, which I'll save for your enjoyment.
I looked very hard at this man and his many trials.
Way beyond respect and admiration, I look up to him as a sort of mentor--a man I may never meet, but someone I have grown to be very thankful for.
After all, through his torture, I have been liberated.
