While I'm sure I would have loved reading Unbroken as well as listening to it I would have to say in this case the audio version wins out. Edward Herrmann had such a smooth and calming quality to his voice as well as a historical and intelligent edge. I would listen to anything he read.

I'm not sure if I could compare a book to Unbroken because I feel as though there has not been a book I've read quite like it. I love the combination of the historical information as well as the human element as we follow Louis' journey from a small boy to a grown man in a POW camp. I would have to say that the closest match that I've come across would be "The Devil In The White City" by Erik Larson. Although, while being similar in historical facts and great storytelling I feel that Larson's book lacked the human emotion quality that Unbroken had. Louis' story definitely stole my heart and will stay on my mind for years to come.

I loved the fact that his performance made me feel calm and relaxed. It was as if I was 10 years old again and I was listening to my grandfather regale me with tales of his youth. I literally wanted to curl up under the covers and just listen to him paint a picture of this incredible man's journey.

Definitely! Although time and my busy schedule did not permit me so. The beginning was good but a bit slow to start as the author had to familiarize the listener/reader with the protagonist's beginnings so that we could see why he had made the choices he did in his later life. I feel that because of the back story I knew Louis' almost as well as I knew a friend or neighbor and that made the story so much more real and charming. Once the story got to around the middle where the height of the suspense was I did feel like I did not want to put the book down (or in my case my headphones down!)

I'm so glad that I came across Unbroken on Audible and I'm glad that I decided to give it a listen. The story will forever be in my heart and it is definitely one I am recommending to all my friends and family.

This is almost too good to be true.. Certainly the best historical biography in recent memory. I only hope as many people as possible can read this book before hollywood ruins it.

In addition enjoying an inspiring story of courage and perseverance I learned a great deal about the Pacific theater of WWII. Well worth the time.

Just the vivid color of it all. I could smell, taste, hear all the sounds. The reader is phenominal.

When they were on the raft for days and the sharks were swimming round and round as if they knew it was only a matter of time. At first one could feel the tense fear but as time went on you could feel it dissipate as the days got longer and hope was fading.

This book can truly have an impact on ones life....I highly recommend it.

I have not read the book, but the audio edition was great. Edward Herrmann is a wonderful narrator. I felt like I got to know the characters so well and the story was so riveting.

Louie of course. He truly is a symbol of the human spirit. Both his physical endurance, emotional strength and his ability to forgive makes him a true hero.

Louie

A riveting story about human strength, endurance and forgiveness!

I really felt the story and all the events going on

I enjoyed hearing the tale of survival on the raft.

Good narrator, not sure if it made a great deal of difference because the story was fantastic.

Italian-American immigrant overcomes troubled youth to become promising track star, then is caught up in the mess of WWII as an airman, goes down in the Pacific, somehow survives only to end up as a tortured POW in Japan. Post-war, receives notoriety, yet is deeply troubled by his war experience. At his worst, finds Jesus through Billy Graham and his life turns around. Lives an extremely full life into his 90s, including returning to Japan to personally forgive those who tortured him.

Louis. He's the man.

A large portion of the book covers the war years and his time as a tortured POW. Difficult to take it all in.

I appreciate that his faith is taken seriously.

Excellent read. Louie sure lived a charmed life indeed. The narrator was a familiar voice from many television documentaries I've seen, and was expressive and easy to listen to. However, there were a few mispronounced town names that were a little hard to swallow. You would think that someone would have caught these ( a tiny bit of research would have helped) - for example Ephrata, Washington was pronounced "ef' -fretta " instead of ee-fraytah". But overall this was a great listen!

Unbelievable story with an uplifting ending. Excellent writing and descriptions by Laura Hillenbrand.

Plane crash and sharks

Louie

no

Quite a story. I won't repeat previous reviewers. I didn't give it 5 stars for 2 reasons; first of all the writing is a little bit simplistic in parts. Second I found out that he wrote a book about the whole story himself. Why does Hillenbrand have to tell it again?