"The Christianity that is central to Louis Zamperini’s life is almost entirely absent from the film."

SI readers have been disappointed with Hollywood’s depiction of Christianity since “End of the Spear” (remember that?). Hollywood has been missing the Gospel message since “Sergeant York”. Suppose Jolie had decided to include the Gospel; then we would have to deal with someone being converted under the ministry of Billy Graham and that would have really started something.

Me? I’ll probably go see the movie ( I get discounted tickets) and I’ll read the book.

As Louie B. Mayer said, “If you want a sermon; go to church.”

If it’s a good film, and not offensive, see it. The better it does, the more the book will sell, and there many people will see the Gospel.

I bought the book thist week at Costco and have read some of it already. The gospel doesn’t seem to be in the book much at all except at the very end. Zamperini writes a letter to the Japanese guard who terrorized him called “The Bird” saying he had given his life to Christ and hoped the guard would do too. Zamperini tries to meeting with The Bird years after the war but The Bird declined. Between that and a few other comments, there really isn’t much else about the gospel. I wonder if that is because it is a biography and not a memoir or autobiography.

So far what I’ve read I think it is a good book and I’m looking forward to reading the rest.

BTW, the Japanese were brutal to our Allies POW’s. Horrible! Being in a Japanese POW camp was like being in a German concentration camp.

The Japanese had their own theory of racial superiority. That led them to treat subject people’s (other Asians) and American/British captives so cruelly. There’s a very grim record of their atrocities in a book called The Knights Of Bushido based on the war crime trial records and eye-witness testimony. Human depravity.