Visually enticing, thought provoking, with many interesting and multidimensional characters... But I found many parts of it slow and uninteresting, despite the mostly good writing. I had some unanswered questions at at the end, but I think the author meant to leave some elements to the imagination (perhaps too much, but oh well). I'd actually love to see this in movie form. The imagery was so rich it would be amazing on screen and I think could be made much more dramatic than the sometimes cumbersome narrative allowed. Still, I enjoyed it immensely as it kept me thinking and was incredibly creative. I'd recommend it to anyone who has a soft spot for surrealism and magic...

A truly amazing story about a truly amazing man... Though not such an amazing book, unfortunately. It reads like a long history paper full of dates and details and names you'll never hear again. Too many names that often don't add anything to the story besides a quote, too many quotes from people who oddly go unnamed, too many minor characters to care about. But Zamp, Phil (occasionally called Allen...confusing!), the Bird... These are interesting. And the accounts of survival on the open water and the horrific trials endured in a POW camp are truly amazing, grotesque, captivating, horrifying and heartbreaking all at once. Definitely worth the time spent reading. But sometimes I frankly got bored with the unemotional writing. I would certainly recommend this to anyone interested in history and WWII, as I am, but would not to anyone too fainthearted or who needs interesting writing to stay engaged. Also, while there was nothing overtly anti-Japanese at all, I felt that the Americans were painted as being completely blameless at all times. Sure, the Japanese were brutal... But it's funny she never once mentioned that the US had internment camps of Japanese-American civilians... Oh well. This book was immaculately researched and incredibly detailed, but honestly, the story speaks for itself and would have been amazing no matter who wrote it. All writing aside, I couldn't help but be inspired by Zamperini's story, which is probably the whole point.