Angie’s Comments (group member since Jan 08, 2013)

Angie’s comments from the Hedges' 5th Hour 12-13 group.

If I had the opportunity to converse with , author of Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption , I would have TONS to say and ask. While I’m only about 100 pages into the POIGNANT 400-page book, so much has happened and the writing is so rich, that I am confident we could talk for hours. I would start our conversation by asking her about her research process. The chapter I just finished, titled “Five Hundred and Ninety-four Holes,” relayed a mission gone awry with vivid detail. I could see, taste, touch, and smell every moment—from the exploding sharks to the spurting blood. I noticed that the Notes in the back of the book painstakingly outline her sources: telephone interviews, diary entries, newspaper articles, etc. So, my question isn’t so much WHERE she found her information, but more her process of collecting and organizing it. I can’t imagine writing a 400-page book that includes this level of detail AND attributes sources so painstakingly! Before Hillenbrand and I would wrap up our conversation, I would be remiss if I didn’t tell her how much I appreciated the carefully selected photographs she included. For example, Hillenbrand closed the same chapter with a small portrait of Harry Brooks, looking very young and brave. This portrait followed her deft description of his fate: “Technical Sergeant Harold Brooks died one week before his twenty-third birthday. It took more than a week for word to reach his widowed mother, Edna, at 511 ½ Western Avenue in Clarkville, Michigan. Across town on Harley Road, the news reached his fiancée, Jeannette Burtscher. She learned that he was gone nine days before the wedding date that they had set before he left for the war” (104). Wow.

If you were able to meet with author of your book right now, what would you say to him or her? What questions would you ask? Support your response with at least two specific details or quotations from the book. Integrate at least one vocabulary word (capitalize the word). Include the title and author of the book.

It is addicting :-)

So, how do you like Good Reads so far? How should we use it in class?