Quote:
Originally Posted by toomanybooks
I did not read this book for several reasons. I have a question about one of them. I read that he had a spiritual awakening and interacted with Billy Graham which I interpreted as pages about him being a born again fundamentalist. I get enough of this with certain family members so I passed on the book.
My question is does he have a spiritual awakening or is he born again? And if he is born again is it a big part of the book or ignorable?
I can ignore a moderate amount of religion in a book. Is this a book where I can tune the religion out?
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Here is my response. I put it a spoiler to not to give away the ending of the book to those who have not finished yet.
Spoiler:
The subject of Louie Zamperini's religious transformation does not come up until chapter 38 of the book. There are 39 chapters. The following excerpt from a Voice of America article explains more:
Quote:
STEVE EMBER: Louie Zamperini was in prison for over two years, until the war ended in nineteen forty-five. While the American military believed him to be dead, his family never gave up hope that he had survived. But his struggles did not end with the war. After returning home, Mr. Zamperini faced great emotional pain from the stress of his experiences, as many soldiers did after the war. He drank too much alcohol. His behavior nearly destroyed his marriage. He was filled with hatred and anger for his captors.
But in time, he found help with religion. He found work teaching troubled boys about sports and the outdoors. And, he came to accept his past and offer forgiveness to his captors. Louie Zamperini has spent much of his life traveling. He talks about his experiences so his story can help others.
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Religion is not a big part of the book but in the end it became a part of his life. Since this is a story of his life it needed to be told. And if you think that Louie Zamperini has become a full blown fundamentalist I will leave you with this quote towards the end of the book and you can make your own decision. He is talking to a group of troubled boys.
Quote:
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Each evening , Louie sat with boys before a campfire, telling them about his youth, the war, and the road that had let him to peace. He went easy on Christianity, but laid it before them as an option.
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Link to VOA article:
http://www.voanews.com/learningengli...121190159.html