Unbroken
by Laura Hillenbrand
- Percentage of approved critics who have given this book a positive review.
Critic Rating
72%
Critic Reviews: 18
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- User rating from iDreamBooks & iTunes
Reader Rating
91%
Reader Ratings: 8664
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Synopsis
On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane's bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War. The lieutenant's name was Louis Zamperini. In... more
About Laura Hillenbrand
Published: November 16, 2010 by Random House Large Print
Genre: Biographies & Memoirs, History. Non-fiction. 800 pages
- All Critics: 18
- Positive: 13
- Negative: 5
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The New York Times | 9 Nov 2010
. . .virtually everything about Zamperini is filtered through her capable yet rather denatured voice, and we don’t really hear him.
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The Washington Post | 12 Oct 2010
. . .Hillenbrand presents as fact a few too many stories that seem like family legend.
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Los Angeles Times | 28 Oct 2010
. . .it is the tension of Zamperini's fight to live in barbaric conditions that makes "Unbroken" so disturbing and thrilling.
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The Telegraph | 16 Jan 2011
Displaying the same qualities of meticulous research and identification with her subject that brought Seabiscuit alive. . .
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Oregon Live | 20 Oct 2010
It is hard to decide which aspect of "Unbroken" is more remarkable -- Louis Zamperini's life story or Laura Hillenbrand's telling of it.
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Dallas News | 21 Nov 2010
. . .this is biography taken to the nth degree, a chronicle of a remarkable life lived through extraordinary times.
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Kirkus Reviews | 1 Sep 2010
Alternately stomach-wrenching, anger-arousing and spirit-lifting—and always gripping.
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New York Magazine | 14 Nov 2010
I found myself wondering. . .if that devotion was an obstacle, if it led Hillenbrand to accept a version of Zamperini’s life that is slightly less complex than his actual life might have been.
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Oprah.com
Through astonishingly detailed research. . .Hillenbrand tells a clear-eyed tale of yet another underestimated creature who tried hard, ran fast, and miraculously beat the odds.
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The New York Times | 14 Nov 2010
Ms. Hillenbrand is a muscular, dynamic storyteller. . .
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The Telegraph | 20 Jan 2011
Hillenbrand must be congratulated for chiselling out such an uplifting story.
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NPR | 1 Dec 2010
Hillenbrand has a gift for recovering the spirit of mid-20th century America. . .
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The Wall Street Journal | 13 Nov 2010
She doesn't show us much of the hero in repose or illuminate how his wartime trials look to him in the sunset years.
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Marine Corps Gazette
The narrative of Unbroken is so compelling, the story so riveting, and the lessons so insightful and permanent that every American in uniform should read, savor, and learn from this book.
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Bloomberg | 15 Nov 2010
Nevertheless, the deeper in I got the less I found myself wanting to return to her endless atrocity anecdotes. . .
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Publishers Weekly | 11 Oct 2010
Hillenbrand's triumph is that in telling Louie's story (he's now in his 90s), she tells the stories of thousands whose suffering has been mostly forgotten.
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