What I'm Reading Now:

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Unbroken

Title: Unbroken

Author: Laura Hillenbrand

Pages: 473

Genre: Biography

Grade: A+

Synopsis: Louis Zamperini is a rising track star in the 1930's living in Southern California.  Louis narrowly makes the Olympic team to compete in Berlin in the 1936 Olympics.  He doesn't win a medal, but his track times are dropping quickly and many expected Louis to be the first person to run a a sub 4-minute mile.  Louis is training hard and looking forward to the 1940 Olympics when WWII breaks out and derails his plans.  He enlists in the Army and trains with a crew on a B-24 bomber, fighting the Japanese over the Pacific.

My Review:  This was a powerful book.  I felt numerous emotions as you feel the elation, pain, hope and suffering of Zamperini and others.  Throughout the war, Zamperini's life was miraculously spared numerous times.  The most surprising emotion was anger and even a bit of hate for the Japanese and their cruelty to the American prisoners and their own people.  A telling statistic is that 1% of POWs died while interred during the war in Europe, but more than 1/3 of all POWs died who were interred by the Japanese due to torture, slave labor, starvation, etc. This is the story of Louis Zamperini the hero.

From the Book: "(p. 10) Louie's mother, Louise, took a different tack. Louie was a copy of herself, right down to the vivid blue eyes.  When pushed, she shoved; sold a bad cut of meat, she'd march down to the butcher, frying pan in hand. Loving mischief, she spread icing over a cardboard box and presented it as a birthday cake to a neighbor, who promptly got the knife stuck. When Pete told her he'd drink his castor oil if she gave him an empty candy box. "You only asked for the box, honey," she said with a smile. "That's all I got." And she understood Louie's restiveness. One Halloween, she dressed as a boy and raced around town trick-or-treating with Louie and Pete. A gang of kids, thinking she was one of the local toughs, tackled her and tried to steal her pants. Little Louise Zamperini, mother of four, was deep in the melee when the cops picked her up for brawling."

"(p. 32) The buses drove to the Olympic stadium. Entering in a parade of nations and standing at attention, the athletes were treated to a thunderous show that culminated in the release of twenty thousand doves. As the birds circled in panicked confusion, cannons began firing, prompting the birds to relieve themselves over the athletes. With each report, the birds let fly. Louie stayed at attention, shaking with laughter."

This last quote is a sub-note from the text in the book.  While the unfortunate story in the book was forced to focus so much on the evilness of war, I found this note inspiring with the respect that the two opposing sides show to each other.
"(p.348) *As Halloran parachuted over Tokyo, the Zero that had shot him down sped toward him, and Halloran was certain that he was going to be strafed, as so many falling airmen were. But instead of firing, the pilot saluted him. After the war, Halloran and that pilot, Isamu Kashiide, became dear friends."

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Gathering Blue

Title: Gathering Blue

Author: Lois Lowry

Pages: 215

Genre: Fiction

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Kira is a gifted weaver with a lame leg who lives with her mother.  In the world that she lives in, the weak are typically cast aside and left for the beasts in the forest.  When Kira's mother dies, she is left to fight for herself when she receives deliverance and a mentor from the Council of the Guardians. 

My Review: While the book is marketed as a companion to "The Giver", one of my favorite books of all time, I think that distinction may hurt the book more than help it. In my opinion, the Giver is such a good book, that my expectations for this book were set higher than they would have been.  I enjoyed this book and found the story and plot very thought-provoking.  It was nice to have a short easy read.

The Pickwick Papers

Title: The Pickwick Papers

Author: Charles Dickens

Pages: 24 discs (Read 10 1/2)

Genre: Classic

Grade: D

Synopsis:  Mr. Samuel Pickwick is a retired businessman and bachelor that is ready to do a little traveling and have some adventures.  He forms the Pickwick Club and he and is fellow Pickwickians form a corresponding society to report back about their journeys and travels. 

My Review: Well,  this may not be fair because I actually didn't finish the book.  I don't remember the last time that I didn't finish a book, but this one was so long, it had been checked out from library for more than 2 months and I just didn't have it in me to keep trudging.  Generally, this book is well-liked, but I found it quite dry (with a little bit of humor here and there) and I had a hard time following along.  A few times I reviewed summaries of the chapters to get a better idea of the plot, but I was never sucked in to the stories.  If I make it through my current 'to-read' list, and once I've read a few of Dickens' other works then I'm willing to give this one another shot.