Three Powerful WWII Novels That Are Worth the Read

Three Powerful WWII Novels That Are Worth the ReadExpand your understanding of WWII with these compelling, critically acclaimed novels.All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr.“You know the greatest lesson of history? It’s that history is whatever the victors say it is. That’s the lesson. Whoever wins, that’s who decides the history.”Maybe you’ve heard of this Pulitzer prize-winning, New York Times best-selling book, or maybe you haven’t. Either way, this book deserves your attention. The chapters alternate between the perspectives of Marie-Laure LeBlanc, an inquisitive French girl who happens to be blind, and Werner Pfennig, a bright German boy who dreams of being a scientist. As the book goes on, Marie-Laure finds herself trapped in Nazi-occupied France, and Werner is forced to join Hitler’s Youth. Although they don’t realize it right away, their lives are intricately bound together by a series of preordained events. With death looming around every corner, will Marie-Laure and Werner find each other before it’s too late? Doerr’s writing style is incredibly poetic, and each chapter is filled with immense sensory detail and beautiful metaphors. He cleverly intertwines the complex paths of Marie-Laure and Werner, exploring how the tragedy of war ultimately impacts fate and free will.Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, Laura Hillenbrand.“Dignity is as essential to human life as water, food, and oxygen. The stubborn retention of it, even in the face of extreme physical hardship, can hold a man's soul in his body long past the point at which the body should have surrendered it.” Unbroken is a memoir based on the life of American Louis “Louie” Zamperini. Louie’s parents were Italian immigrants, and he was raised in a household that spoke no English. Due to his ethnicity, he was often bullied by other boys in school, which frequently led to fist fights. He spent much of his youth as a delinquent, choosing to smoke, drink, and steal. In an effort to keep him out of trouble, Louie’s older brother convinces him to join track, hoping it would add some discipline to his life. It worked. Louie becomes an unlikely track star, achieving a national high school record after completing a mile in only 4 minutes and 21 seconds. At the age of 19, Louie competes in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. His dreams of racing in the 1940 Tokyo Olympics abruptly vanish when he is drafted into the military, serving as a bombardier in the Army Air Corps. Following being stranded at sea, Louie and several of his fellow men are captured and brought to a Japanese prison camp. The next several chapters relay the torture, starvation, and cruelty Louie faced under the captivity of Corporal Mutsuhiro Watanabe. As he struggles to survive, Louie holds onto hope that he will one day be freed by the American troops. Hillenbrand’s account of Louie’s life reveals the incredible spirit of a man who refused to be broken.The Book Thief, Markus Zusak.“I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn't already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race-that rarely do I ever simply estimate it.”Since its release in 2005, this novel continues to receive attention as one of the best fictional WWII novels ever written. Set in 1938 in a small town outside of Munich, Zusak weaves the tale of a curious foster girl named Liesel Meminger. After Liesel's foster father teaches her how to read, she falls in love with the power of language. She begins to write her own stories, discovering the freedom that written word can provide. Her infatuation with books is such that she begins to steal the ones that the Nazis are seeking to burn. Zusak presents a childlike comprehension of war, portraying the impact it has on Liesel's innocence as she witnesses the cruelty around her. The book is even more compelling because it is narrated by Death, an omniscient voice that struggles to comprehend how humans can be capable of exhibiting both love and hate.