Laura Hillenbrand
Ed. Mondadori
pp. 457
"An incredible true story" reads the cover of this book. An exaggeration? Quite the contrary: on the life of Louie Zamperini, the protagonist of this remarkable work, at least three books were written and a film with the same title was shot, directed by Angelina Jolie (released in Italy at the beginning of 2015). And yet I knew nothing about this man and his life, which we can rightly define as unbelievable, until recently.
When I came across the trailer for the Jolie film, I was very intrigued by the story behind its plot, partly because it was a "war story", so I was determined to see it. However it is a period of my life when those related to cinema and film are faded memories, supplanted by a reality made up of fairies with butterfly wings and stilettos, various talking fauna (including an unbearable little pig), a bear and a Siberian girl and many, many other cute fantastic characters, beloved by our little media "dictator". Fortunately I later discovered the existence of the biography from which the film was taken, written by Laura Hillenbrand after seven years of work, including documentary research and interviews. This should already give a sense of the "greatness" and exceptional nature of the life of Louie Zamperini, the 2 July 2014 disappeared, at the venerable age of ninety-seven.
In short I consider the book of Hillenbrand as a classic that should be housed in the libraries of each of us as it is indeed a biography, but it is also a historical-military book in which are reported many events of the war theater of the Pacific, strictly enriched with statistics, anecdotes and many details on the aircraft, technologies and tactics used. This is the result of the rigorous and impressive research work carried out by the author in archives scattered throughout the world. Moreover the episodes reported by the interviewed characters to write the book have been carefully verified by the author through cross-checks.
However, that of the Hillenbrand is also an exciting novel, in which shines the unconditional and immense love of a mother who does not surrender to the reality that she would like a child first reported missing and then declared dead in action in the Pacific. It is a book in which such infinite and pure love is contrasted with "absolute evil", embodied in a Japanese soldier, undisputed master of the lives of the unfortunate prisoners entrusted to him. Louie never managed to meet the evil jailer after his release but with an uncommon gesture, inspired by his own religious faith found thanks to the war events, he forgave him despite all the evil he caused him during his imprisonment. Two and a half years of hell, during which "the Bird", as the Japanese corporal was nicknamed by prisoners, devoted himself particularly to annihilating Louie, humiliating him continuously, depriving him of his basic rights and needs and keeping him in a permanent state of terror. Every moment of the day could be the last experienced by the American prisoner and every beating due to a fury of the Bird or his sadistic desire to show off his power, risked ending with his death. Like that time when Louie, exhausted by malnutrition and illness, was mercilessly beaten by 220 well punches and remained for some time hanging between life and death.
Finally, I also consider it a book of denunciation and redemption, which brings to light the terrible suffering that Allied prisoners of war have suffered in Japanese prison camps. Sufferings that in many cases have continued to afflict the existence of the survivors, even after their release (the statistics reported in this regard are really impressive). And yet this important page of history was hurriedly sacrificed and left to oblivion, in the name of the political needs of the second post-war period. According to the author this was largely due to the process of "reconciliation" between the Allies and Japan undertaken shortly after the end of the war, for mere political opportunities. At the time, communism was also advancing rapidly towards the east and reconciliation with Japan was functional to the blockade of Western countries to arrest it on the western shores of the Pacific.
Finally, I think it's a useful book for all of us, taken from our big and small daily dramas. The story of Zamperini, in fact, shows how it is possible to overcome almost every kind of difficulty thanks to the strength of mind, faith and determination to preserve one's dignity at all costs.
For this last aspect of the story told by Hillerbrand I decided that my next reading will be the book written by Zamperini himself, with David Rensin: “Vivi! The life you want ". I think Louie has earned the right to give some good life advice!
All that remains is to try to summarize in a few lines (it is not easy) what is told in the book.
Louie from a humble Italian-American family, a rising star in athletics (he took part in the 1936 Berlin Olympics), immediately after the outbreak of the Second World War he joined the Army Air Corps (the Air Force didn't exist yet). After fighting some furious air battles in the Pacific skies as an official pointer for a B-24 "Liberator" bomber, it survives a disastrous ditch due to a technical failure. Then he wanders in the ocean aboard a dinghy together with the pilot and a gunner (who will die of starvation), without food and water for well 47 days and more than 3.000 kilometers, escaping from the ravenous jaws of the sharks and the machine-guns of the Japanese aircraft . Then, once captured, he was interned in several Japanese prison camps for more than two and a half years in which, reduced to skin and bones and seriously ill, he opposed himself to the Bird's goal of annihilating him physically and morally. More than once he is on the point of giving up and succumbing and yet, sometimes thanks also to the support of the other prisoners, he survives incredibly until the day of his liberation. However, years later his demon continues to haunt him in dreams, until he falls into the abyss of alcoholism and depression. Finally, during the sermon of a preacher who is forced to assist by his wife, he remembers a solemn promise that one day, while he was drifting in the ocean, he made to the Lord. So with forgiveness and mercy he manages to find his inner peace and to drive away from his life and once and for all, the demon with almond eyes (which he will never be able to meet). A life that then Louie will dedicate entirely to others and in particular to young people, with a predilection for those defined as "difficult".
A true hero. An example of life.
Ciro Metuarata
