European Royalty discussion

I'm planning on reading Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand with a couple of family members, so I thought I would start a thread here to see if anyone else is reading it.

At least for the next month or two (Sept 2012 - Oct 2012), please give warnings about spoilers if you post about them. This seems to be a nail-biter!

I just got the book yesterday. Do read the Preface. It will hook you from the start.

Christine

I'm finishing up a different book right now, so I put myself on the waitlist for the library's Kindle addition. I should get the book in a week or two.

This book sounds really good. I'll see if I can get my hands on it.

Chapter two. Louie's brother, Pete, plays a significant role in Louies's life. What a difference one can make in another's life! Do we have a responsibility toward our siblings? Who are our brothers and sisters?

Just got the book and should be able to start it tomorrow.

I am on about page 80, not quite the page turner I was told it would be, but still interesting.

I'm probably at around Chapter 5 or so (view spoiler)[(Louie finished up the Olympics in Berlin and was prepping for the 1940s Olympics when war broke out) (hide spoiler)].

It is amazing how Pete changed Louie's life! It's wonderful when people see potential in others that they might not see themselves. My husband and I both have careers (now) based on someone noticing us when we were temps (with no clue what we were doing at the time). I do not know where we would be without those two people!

I think we have a responsibility to help those we care about whether they are family or friends in whatever way we are able (physically, emotionally, financially, etc.) as long as we aren't enabling any bad behaviors. It brings you closer, and they will likely help you when you need support - give and take.

I'm enjoying the book so far but need to pick up the pace before it deletes itself from my Kindle, lol!

Somewhere around page 100, the book became a page turner for me. Even though I could guess what would happen in the next XX pages, I still found myself wanting to keep reading, to see exactly how things would play out.

On page 167, the author talks about an unlikely place of intellectual refuge that Louie found and suggests that the background noise of our lives perhaps impedes our intellectual growth. What do you think? Hold that thought and see if you change your opinion, even a little bit, when you read that section.

gggrr, I still can't get this from the library, but I'm still trying.

Sabrina wrote: "gggrr, I still can't get this from the library, but I'm still trying."

Sabrina,

This is probably hard to get at all libraries, but have you tried an inter-library loan?

Thanks for the advice Christine, I actually had to request it through an inter-library loan. I just finished the book today. What a story!

Sorry, baby woke up before I was able to finish my thought . . . we'll see how far I get this time ;-).

This story was so much more than I thought it would be based on the description.

It was a little slow in the beginning, but I enjoyed reading about the troubled Louie. He reminded me of my father and his cousins who grew up in a tough neighborhood and had to learn street smarts at a very early age.

Pete was a GREAT brother!! I hope my boys grow up to help each other with the same love and devotion.

It was very hard to read about the POW's time in the prison camps.

I finished the book yesterday.

I agree with you Sabrina - there was a lot more to Louie's story than I expected. I knew about him getting lost at sea, but I must have missed the part about the POW camps when I read the first little blurb about the book because I just couldn't believe his bad luck of surviving so long at sea just to get thrown into a series of horrific camps. Almost all I have read about WWII has focused on Europe, so I really didn't know anything about the conditions of POW camps in Japan. I knew that there was/is controversy about how some members of the Japanese military were/are being remembered (war memorials, etc.), but I didn't really know why. Now I understand - those camps were beyond brutal.

This may be a silly question, but I just have to ask.

I thought sharks didn't like people and will only attack if they've mistaken you for a seal?! If true, I'm just wondering why they were so agressive towards the men stranded in the ocean.

Sara I've been meaning to thank you for sharing this book us. I'm glad I read it.

Good question about the sharks (unfortunately I don't have an answer!). I can understand why the sharks would go nuts if there is blood in the water, but not if the guys were just sitting in the boats. Maybe the men were so out of it due to the conditions (lack of food / water, environment, etc.) that they imagined the sharks being more aggressive than maybe they were? I really have no idea though. Glad you liked the book!

I read this book in May. My friends told me about this book many time. I read and start writing a review hop over to this website Many people like my text and now they want to read this story.