I want to read Lauren Hillenbrand's Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
, but I'm a little nervous.
Louie Zamperini was an Olympic athlete, a runner of whom it was said, “The only runner who could beat him was Seabiscuit.” He was scheduled to compete in the Tokyo Olympics, but the games were canceled. A few years later, instead of participating in a competition dedicated to the concept of peace, he found himself fighting against the Japanese in the South Pacific, where his plane was shot down, and he was captured.
That's the part that scares me. The reviews I've read about this book indicate its depiction of the tortures Louie Zamperini went through as a prisoner of war are very ... ummm ... honest. I've read before about what Japanese POWs went through in WWII, and reading things like that is not what I consider to be a fantastic experience. And yet, this story fascinates me to the point that I'm seriously considering reading it anyway, and just skimming the difficult sections.
(I'm such a coward. No need to point it out. I already know.)
Any books you want to read, but think might be a little too intense for you?
1 comment:
A few years back I was perusing a second hand bookstore and came across a biography of an individual whose name conjures up wickedness, but being a curious wench I cracked it open and read the first chapter dealing with childhood and was captivated in a 'that poor child no wonder...' sort of way. I didn't read past the first chapter. I knew it would contain things I didn't want in my head.
But...just this last month I was in another bookshop and came across a book of letters written by this person and I did buy it. I've read the introduction, but I'm saving the letters until I'm ready to emotionally digest them. You know some books will make you laugh and cry as they cut open your heart and then somehow stitch it into a larger creature.
As for WWII POW stories, I don't think I could handle that. War stories, war songs...they all make me cry (even before the horrifying parts). I recently read 'Echoes in the Air a Chronicle of aeronautical ghost stories' by Jack Currie and that made me cry! All those beautiful young men flying and dying in the wars.
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