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Beaufort: A Novel Audiobook
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(4.00) - 274 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
By turns subversive and darkly comic, brutal and tender, Ron Leshem's debut novel is an international literary sensation, winner of Israel's top award for literature, and the basis for a prizewinning film. Beaufort. To the handful of Israeli soldiers occupying the ancient crusader fortress, it is a little slice of hell—a forbidding, fear-soaked enclave perched atop two acres of land in southern Lebanon, surrounded by an enemy they cannot see. And to the thirteen young men in his command, twenty-one-year-old Lieutenant Liraz "Erez" Liberti is a taskmaster, confessor, and their only hope in the face of attacks that come out of nowhere and missions seemingly designed to get them all killed. All around them, tension crackles in the air. Long stretches of boredom and black humor are punctuated by flashes of terror. And the threat of death is constant. But in their stony haven, Erez and his soldiers have created their own little world, their own rules, their own language. And here Erez listens to his men build castles out of words, telling stories, telling lies, talking incessantly of women, sex, and dead comrades. Until, in the final days of the occupation, Erez and his squad of fed-up, pissed-off, frightened young soldiers are given one last order: a mission that will shatter all remaining illusions—and stand as a testament to the universal, gut-wrenching futility of war.
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"Loosely based on the real-life struggles of an Israeli army unit based at a crusader fort inside Southern Lebanon, it is a no-holds-barred story of the hell that is war. The characters are very well drawn, and the absurdity of the various situations in which they find themselves is quite clear."
— David (4 out of 5 stars)
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“Evocative, heartbreaking and haunting…Beaufort is that rare thing, a novel of deep moral concern in which sympathetically drawn and beautifully realized characters are allowed to speak for themselves.”
— Los Angeles Times -
“Thirteen young soldiers spring to life with voices at once self-critical and brash, tender, and darkly flippant…Though firsthand accounts and combat memoirs line the shelves of bookstores, Leshem’s fiction rivals them in the completeness of his cosmos of war.”
— San Francisco Chronicle -
“An important novel…This is a picture of war from a soldier’s point of view. Its language is crude, the body count rises, and yet the tenderness of the bonds among the men is extraordinary.”
— Library Journal (starred review) -
“A gripping, viscerally powerful tale…An alternately grim and blackly comic war/coming-of-age novel.”
— Kirkus Reviews -
A gripping, viscerally powerful tale.
— Kirkus
Beaufort Listener Reviews
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" Story of the last Israeli soldiers being evacuated from Lebanon. Great book, makes you feel like you were there - but one of the few cases where I thought the movie was better (also scripted yb Ron Leshem). "
— Janie, 2/5/2014 -
" Contemporary war story. War is for men, not for boys, so why are the boys the ones who have to fight? Read it and weep. "
— Brian, 1/10/2014 -
" Quite interested in historical & socio-political situation of Beaufort, but found unending in-depth soldier narrative bit tedious. Gave up. Will rent movie of this book as think it will be better as moving picture. "
— Charlaralotte, 1/3/2014 -
" Comic at times representation of the Israeli side of the conflict. It's much easier to find Palestinian reports of them as the oppressed people, now here is a picture of Israelis as the oppressors, but not just that, it goes so much deeper as the issue gets more complex. Both sides see armed action as necessary to protect their people. Good book, which brings a comic side to the dispute, which is greatly needed. "
— Eliza, 12/31/2013 -
" I'm on an Israeli novel kick. This one, about the war in Lebanon, is great. The movie was pretty terrific, too. "
— Ayelet, 12/23/2013 -
" If you really want to understand the mind set of young boys serving in the IDF, this is the book for you. It is interesting and heartbreaking at the same time. "
— Susan, 12/19/2013 -
" Amazing characters and if you've lived in Israel, you know or have met every single one of them. I couldn't put this down and now want to see the movie which won awards. "
— Linda, 12/11/2013 -
" I read this book mostly while wearing my uniform. As a soldier this book really struck me. I rarely read books more than once, but I think this will be one that I read again and again. "
— Andrew, 8/7/2013 -
" This is beautifully written, but very sad. "
— Tricia, 1/9/2013 -
" Great book. Written from the perspective of an Israeli Officer charged with manning one of their outposts in Lebanon. "
— T.C., 10/8/2011 -
" Loved pages one through one hundred. Sometime thereafter, I lost steam and shelved the novel. "
— Darshan, 6/20/2011 -
" The only book that made me CRY "
— Darkovary, 5/17/2011 -
" Great book. Written from the perspective of an Israeli Officer charged with manning one of their outposts in Lebanon. "
— T.C., 4/5/2011 -
" Contemporary war story. War is for men, not for boys, so why are the boys the ones who have to fight? Read it and weep. "
— Brian, 9/10/2010 -
" If you really want to understand the mind set of young boys serving in the IDF, this is the book for you. It is interesting and heartbreaking at the same time. "
— Susan, 1/20/2009 -
" I read this book mostly while wearing my uniform. As a soldier this book really struck me. I rarely read books more than once, but I think this will be one that I read again and again. "
— Andrew, 11/1/2008
About Ron Leshem
Ron Leshem is deputy director in charge of programming at Channel Two, Israel’s main commercial television network. His book Beaufort won the Sapir Prize—Israel’s top literary award—in 2006. Leshem lives in Tel Aviv.
About Dick Hill
Dick Hill, named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, is one of the most awarded narrators in the business, having earned several Audie Awards and thirty-four AudioFile Earphones Awards. In addition to narrating, he has both acted in and written for the theater.