Book Review: Unbroken

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"Such beauty, he thought, was too perfect to have come about by mere chance."

via

I decided to read Unbroken after about eleventy-five people recommended it to me. It felt right.

This book did not disappoint. Here's the premise in a nutshell: A biography of an Olympic runner's experience as a plane crash survivor and prisoner of war in Japan during WWII.

This book moved something inside of me when it comes to forgiveness, survival, resiliency and still seeing the beauty in the world when you feel like you're surrounded by a whole lot of ugly. The descriptions of his plane crash and experience as a POW seemed almost surreal -- like too crazy to be true. I read a lot of heavy literature about tough things going on in the world, but it's still hard to wrap my head around it every time.

I feel like this book really takes you into the belly of his trauma (so be warned, if you don't have the stomach for some violence and graphic descriptions) and that makes his journey, emotional struggles and grappling with the idea of forgiveness feel very personal and real. I like true stories because they have a way of being both unexpected and not picture-perfect while still being that much more amazing for the miracles and happy endings if/when they do come.

And even though this book is a biography, it reads like fiction -- meaning if you're not into typical historical novels, I think this one will still hit home with you. (Take it from someone with a really short attention span.) I'm also just frankly blown away by the detail and multiple first-person accounts for a biography -- mad, mad props to the author.

Have you read this book? Or other good ones lately?

Next up on my plate: Wild by Cheryl Strayed