Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand

One of my challenge tasks is to read 10 books on the Pacific effort during WWII.  My parents both recommended this book since they liked her Seabiscuit so I got it from the local library.  It talks about Louis Zamperini's involvement with the war and his time spent as a POW in a Japanese camp.

I really liked the first half of the book where she describes his upbringing and his attempt to break a 4 minute mile.  I also liked hearing about the B24 Liberators and the bombing missions.  His time spent adrift at sea after getting shot down was cool, but I became less interested after he was captured by the Japanese.  I guess I felt uncomfortable since the Japanese were nasty SOB's during the war, but I now have a lot of Japanese colleagues and dated a Japanese woman last year.

People say it was another time and another place, but the stuff they did during the war...the raping, the brutality...crikey.  I can understand why a lot of older Americans don't like the Japanese.  I know we can't blame young Japanese because they didn't fight, but it's not something which should be forgotten no matter how embarrassing they find it.

Her book is not heavy on military matters and is more a human interest story.  The book trailed off at the end to become a bit too sappy for me.

I recommend this book, but with reservations.