Month: January 2020

Book Review – Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

If you like tales of survival and stories about real life events and acts of heroism, then Unbroken is a book for you.  The book is written about a man named Louis Zamperini who’s fighter plane was shot down over the south pacific during world war 2.  The author Laura Hillenbrand actually got to spend time with the family of Louis Zamperini and the man himself I believe.  This fact makes this story all the more impactful because most of the facts probably came from the Veterans mouth, or those close to him.

The book takes you quickly through the beginning of Zamperini’s life, through his basic childhood and adolescence, but the story actually begins once he is flying missions over the South Pacific Ocean during World War 2.  This is very much a story of survival against insurmountable odds and about perseverance.  I won’t give up any of the main story but not much goes well for Louis during those years as a captured POW. 
What I liked about the book.

The main character himself could be fictional but it makes the tale all the more exciting knowing he was an actual living person. I don’t know why I find that time period so fascinating. The World War 1 and 2 eras impress, and irk me at the same time. I have been fortunate enough to travel and tour some of the famous memorial sites throughout Europe and Japan both. The whole concept of a “World War” is a terrifying reality to our human culture. You can arguably say that those wars gave us the modern drive for industry and capitalism, and still to this day, play a big part in the world economy.

I enjoyed this book because it doesn’t stop once you start reading it. There aren’t really many slow parts so to speak. The book takes you on the full ark of his experiences during the war itself, and then continues on to detail the healing that takes place among the soldiers coming home from those conflicts. I can’t imagine having to go through some of the ordeals that him and his crew had to go through, or the sheer terror of being stranded on the open ocean. So many experiences happened to Louis Zamperini yet he stays sane and even grows from the experience. A true testament to the will of man and the unyielding drive that some can develop to stay alive.

I love stories like this but it may not be a good one for people who are sensitive to detailed depictions of torture and survival.

I enjoy anything to do with WW2 and that time frame. I believe everyone should know something about the era all of our grandfathers and grandmothers lived through.

Definitely read this book if you like tales of survival and details about lesser known facts about WW2. Unbroken is a thoroughly engrossing story of a man who wouldn’t give up. Some good lessons and humanity in these pages, I definitely recommend.

This New Year 2020

It’s been an interesting time in the couple years that I have been writing on this blog. It’s the third day of the year 2020 and our Dumb shit president is provoking war with another nation. I try to be positive but the state of our politics is fucking disgusting. We literally have an impeached president who just assassinated another world leader, and no one will hold him accountable. The politicians in America in the year 2020 have forgone any sense of common decency, compassion, or empathy. My country is controlled by rich white men and women who have no care for the average. War and profits are all they communicate in.

What’s far worse is that they have divided us to the point where anything is an argument. There is a war on reality and I hate to say that reality, yes reality, is losing. There are enough dumb and completely complacent people in the country that this sad state is kept afloat by their own disregard for what is really happening.

I completely understand why people feel helpless and ultimately hopeless. Every system in the world that we know seems to be against the average person yet it is the average people who help perpetrate the system with our own apathy and distraction.

There is a lot to be upset about and a lot to be enraged about, there are tons of ways to hate on the system and take negative action. That is just it. They want you to feel negative. They want you to feel hopeless and worthless. The powers that be are the ones that keep us unhealthy and in the dark. Distracted with technology and media.

I’m not writing just to lament and bitch about all of the bad… I know in my heart and mind that there is positivity and love in the world. I see it everyday. Life really is what you make of it. Gratitude is the attitude. All we can hope to do is move forward and up and be kind to each other. In the coming Year I want to be productive and not put too much energy into things outside of my own mental orbit. I can be a positive light and I can be a motivation to others.

Now in this year 2020 we have to put aside differences and come together in solidarity. Australia is on fire, the earth is crying. I hope for some kind of absolution but I know that will only happen when we as a people wake up and start loving and taking care of each other and our planet. I have hope honestly. Everybody, myself included, needs to step our game up and start living our best life for the future.

So for the new year and new decade, I hope I can be productive and steadfast in my goals. I want to be compassionate and willing to help others. I want to be forthright and make sure to communicate as good as I can. Most of all I want to not fret about the future but make it how I need it to be. For myself, and for other humans.