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Finally a book I can't put down

So for much of the last month or so I have been reading shit. After this week, that has finally, mercifully changed. I am about 3/4 of the way through a biography called, "Unbroken," by Laura Hillenbrand, the author of "Seabiscut" (another book I loved.) and I cannot put it down. I got it from my parents library. My Dad's shelf is filled with these types of books and I was lucky enough to come across this gem. It's the story of a WWII bombardier whose plane crashed into the ocean during a mission and his subsequent tale of survival despite being lost at sea for over 40 days and then captured and taken as a POW by the Japanese military. It is an absolutely amazing story and I am lost in it. At times the writing feels disjointed and the characters not flushed out, but the story itself more than makes up for any shortcomings. I have read a lot on WWII and am endlessly fascinated by this era in time. I'm not sure how it started but I remember taking every class I could on the topic in college and immersing myself in the literature(and there is an abundance of it out there). And yes I did read, "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich," which is over 1200 pages long on my own time mind you, even though my friends looked at me like I was nuts. Even though I can only trace this fascination as far back as college, I am convinced I was actually a jazz singer in the 40s and have been reincarnated in the present day. How else do you explain my love of all things 40s? No one my age is into jazz, grainy black and whites and holocaust literature as much as me so yup, I'm going with my reincarnation theory. So I guess it is not surprise that I am in love with this book and this story. The really compelling part for me though, and how this book differs from the countless others I have read is that it takes place mostly in Japan. I haven't read nearly enough about what went on over there during the war. Most literature of this time focuses on the Holocaust and so this feels like a whole new perspective has been opened up for me. The main character in the book is contained in several POW camps for over 2 years and is still there when the bombs are dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. I don't want to give away too much of what occurs but suffice is to say that it is pretty horrific stuff. Reading this has made me look at my own life at little more closely. Even though I have had a rough go of it over the past couple of years, it has been a absolute picnic compared to what these POW's went through. It has made me have a new appreciation for the comfort and relative ease of my own life. It is an uncomfortable read and often people ask how I can bear to read stories like this and my answer is always the same - because I have to; we all have to. We owe it to the men who suffered unimaginable pain to give us the freedom we have today and we owe it to ourselves so we never get too greedy, gluttonous and lazy. I have no tolerance for people who don't educate themselves about our country's history no matter how gruesome because it is a reminder that tragedy is never too far away and that we should never ever take anything for granted.
I am almost done with this book but I don't want to be because it is giving me a perspective I haven't had in a while and I hope I can hold onto. I'm sure I will finish it this week and hand it on to the next person to be horrified, educated and humbled.

Comments

  1. Maggie RandolphFebruary 7, 2012 at 9:13 AM

    I just finished Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo!! True, it's not a classic but if you are looking for upbeat, positive, read- in- one -day type of book, this will shake you out of your funk.

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