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Pumpkinflowers
A Soldier's Story of a Forgotten War
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Narrated by:
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Matti Friedman
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By:
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Matti Friedman
About this listen
“A book about young men transformed by war, written by a veteran whose dazzling literary gifts gripped my attention from the first page to the last.”—The Wall Street Journal
“Friedman’s sober and striking new memoir . . . [is] on a par with Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried—its Israeli analog.”—The New York Times Book Review
It was just one small hilltop in a small, unnamed war in the late 1990s, but it would send out ripples that are still felt worldwide today. The hill, in Lebanon, was called the Pumpkin; flowers was the military code word for “casualties.” Award-winning writer Matti Friedman re-creates the harrowing experience of a band of young Israeli soldiers charged with holding this remote outpost, a task that would change them forever, wound the country in ways large and small, and foreshadow the unwinnable conflicts the United States would soon confront in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere.
Pumpkinflowers is a reckoning by one of those young soldiers now grown into a remarkable writer. Part memoir, part reportage, part history, Friedman’s powerful narrative captures the birth of today’s chaotic Middle East and the rise of a twenty-first-century type of war in which there is never a clear victor and media images can be as important as the battle itself.
Raw and beautifully rendered, Pumpkinflowers will take its place among classic war narratives by George Orwell, Philip Caputo, and Tim O’Brien. It is an unflinching look at the way we conduct war today.
©2016 Matti Friedman (P)2024 Algonquin BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“This superb book is partly a history of the war, partly a personal memoir, and partly a work of political analysis. But mainly it is an effort to tell the story of the young men who fought to defend something “the size of a basketball court”—not all of whom survived. Pumpkinflowers is rich enough to allow different readers to draw their own political conclusions, if they choose to draw them at all. Above all, it is a book about young men transformed by war, written by a veteran whose dazzling literary gifts gripped my attention from the first page to the last.”—Bret Stephens, The Wall Street Journal
“Powerful account of youthful Israelis maturing, fighting, and dying at a forgotten Lebanon outpost. In this limber, deceptively sparse take on the Middle East's tightening spiral of violence, Friedman combines military history and personal experience on and off the line in deft, observant prose. The narrative is reminiscent of novels by Denis Johnson and Robert Stone, linking combat's violent absurdity to the traumatized perspectives of individual participants. A haunting yet wry tale of young people at war, cursed by political forces beyond their control, that can stand alongside the best narrative nonfiction coming out of Afghanistan and Iraq.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Remarkably educational and heartfelt: Friedman’s experiences provide a critical historical perspective on the changing climate of war in the Middle East, shifting from short official conflicts into longer unwinnable wars full of guerilla tactics and the deliberate creation of media narratives and images. His lyrical writing, attention to detail, and personal honesty draw the reader into empathy along with understanding. Friedman’s memoir deserves wide readership."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
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On the morning of October 7, 2023, Israelis awoke to a harrowing reality. Not only were hundreds of rockets being launched from Gaza into Israeli population centers, but the security border had also been breached by several thousand Hamas terrorists. Carnage, not seen since the Second World War, ensued. Elkana Cohen, Captain of an Elite Commando Unit was called, along with thousands of other reservists, to prepare for war. One that will have to ensure nothing less than Israel's survival.
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Impossible Takes Longer
- 75 Years After Its Creation, Has Israel Fulfilled Its Founders’ Dreams?
- By: Daniel Gordis
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1948, Israel’s founders sought a “national home for the Jewish people,” where Jewish life would be transformed. The state they ultimately made, says Daniel Gordis, is a place of extraordinary success and maddening disappointment, a story of both unprecedented human triumph and great suffering.
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Leftist agenda all over the place
- By AlexS on 12-11-23
By: Daniel Gordis
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Life at Camp
- By: Doris J. Sumner
- Narrated by: Doris Jean Sumner
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Life at Camp tells the story of a National Guard Equal Opportunity and Diversity Manager who, overtime, recognized a pattern of military culture-androcentrism-and spent the later part of her 36-year military career challenging the bias that impedes gender equality, strategic objectives, and response programs.
By: Doris J. Sumner
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The Aleppo Codex
- A True Story of Obsession, Faith, and the Pursuit of an Ancient Bible
- By: Matti Friedman
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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A true-life thriller about the journey of one of the world's most precious manuscripts - the 10th-century annotated Hebrew Bible known as the Aleppo Codex - from its hiding place in an ancient Syrian synagogue to the newly founded Israel. Using his research, including documents that have been secret for 50 years and interviews with key players, AP correspondent Friedman tells a story of political upheaval, international intrigue, charged courtroom battles, obsession, and subterfuge.
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don't quess at pronunciation of foreign words
- By dlb on 05-28-12
By: Matti Friedman
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Who by Fire
- Leonard Cohen in the Sinai
- By: Matti Friedman
- Narrated by: Matti Friedman, Andrew Polk
- Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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In October 1973, the poet and singer Leonard Cohen—thirty-nine years old, famous, unhappy, and at a creative dead end—traveled from his home on the Greek island of Hydra to the chaos and bloodshed of the Sinai desert when Egypt attacked Israel on the Jewish high holiday of Yom Kippur. Moving around the front with a guitar and a group of local musicians, Cohen met hundreds of young soldiers, men and women at the worst moment of their lives. In Who by Fire, journalist Matti Friedman gives us a riveting account of those weeks in the Sinai.
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A gem of a book
- By Grace M-T on 04-06-22
By: Matti Friedman
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Spies of No Country
- Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel
- By: Matti Friedman
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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The four spies at the center of this story were part of a ragtag unit known as the Arab Section, conceived during World War II by British spies and Jewish militia leaders in Palestine. Intended to gather intelligence and carry out sabotage and assassinations, the unit consisted of Jews who were native to the Arab world and could thus easily assume Arab identities. In 1948, with Israel's existence in the balance during the War of Independence, our spies went undercover in Beirut, where they spent the next two years operating out of a kiosk....
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Absolutely brilliant
- By David Mane on 06-23-19
By: Matti Friedman
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Oct 7
- The War Against Hamas Through the Eyes of an Israeli Commando Officer
- By: Capt. Elkana (Kuno) Cohen
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
On the morning of October 7, 2023, Israelis awoke to a harrowing reality. Not only were hundreds of rockets being launched from Gaza into Israeli population centers, but the security border had also been breached by several thousand Hamas terrorists. Carnage, not seen since the Second World War, ensued. Elkana Cohen, Captain of an Elite Commando Unit was called, along with thousands of other reservists, to prepare for war. One that will have to ensure nothing less than Israel's survival.
-
Impossible Takes Longer
- 75 Years After Its Creation, Has Israel Fulfilled Its Founders’ Dreams?
- By: Daniel Gordis
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1948, Israel’s founders sought a “national home for the Jewish people,” where Jewish life would be transformed. The state they ultimately made, says Daniel Gordis, is a place of extraordinary success and maddening disappointment, a story of both unprecedented human triumph and great suffering.
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Leftist agenda all over the place
- By AlexS on 12-11-23
By: Daniel Gordis
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Life at Camp
- By: Doris J. Sumner
- Narrated by: Doris Jean Sumner
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
Life at Camp tells the story of a National Guard Equal Opportunity and Diversity Manager who, overtime, recognized a pattern of military culture-androcentrism-and spent the later part of her 36-year military career challenging the bias that impedes gender equality, strategic objectives, and response programs.
By: Doris J. Sumner
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The Melting Point
- High Command and War in the 21st Century
- By: Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. USMC (Ret)., Gen. James Mattis - foreword
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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General Frank McKenzie oversaw some of the most important—and controversial operations in modern US military history. McKenzie provides an honest assessment of his time in command-describing decisions that were sound, as well as some outcomes he wishes were different.
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Very Insightful
- By W. Mason on 12-13-24
By: Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. USMC (Ret)., and others
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Searching for John DeWitt
- How 80 Forgotten Letters from the Trenches of WWI Revealed Timeless Lessons of Honors and Courage
- By: John Chase
- Narrated by: Michael L. Canaan -The Storyteller
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Searching for John DeWitt is more than a historical narrative; it’s a gripping family saga that bridges generations. Through this emotional and eye-opening journey, Chase honors his grandfather’s legacy and sheds light on the silent burdens carried by veterans. This book uncovers an untold story of valor and the unbreakable strength of family bonds in the face of war.
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Had high hopes
- By grandeelgato on 11-23-24
By: John Chase
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Shadow Men
- The Tangled Story of Murder, Media, and Privilege That Scandalized Jazz Age America
- By: James Polchin
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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On May 16, 1922, a young man's body was found on a desolate road in Westchester County. The victim was penniless ex-sailor Clarence Peters. Walter Ward, the handsome scion of the family that owned the largest chain of bread factories in the country, confessed to the crime as an act of self-defense against a violent gang of "shadow men," blackmailers who extorted their victims' moral weaknesses. From the start, one question defined the investigation: What scandalous secret could lead Ward to murder?
By: James Polchin
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A Very British Cult
- Rogue Priests and the Abode of Love
- By: Stuart Flinders
- Narrated by: Kris Dyer
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the almost-forgotten story of Victorian Britain's strangest religious sect and its wealthy, mostly female, followers who believed they could ascend directly to heaven. Henry James Prince was a rogue Anglican Priest with a flare for the dramatic, and the founder of the Agapemone, or 'Abode of Love'. He also claimed to be the immortal conduit of The Holy Spirit and purportedly engaged in free love and ceremonial sex with his mostly female followers. But Prince's eventual death didn't mark the end of this strange set... he was promptly replaced by another.
By: Stuart Flinders
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Palestine 1936
- The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict
- By: Oren Kessler
- Narrated by: Shawn K. Jain
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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In spring 1936, the Holy Land erupted in a rebellion that targeted both the local Jewish community and the British Mandate authorities. The Great Arab Revolt would last three years, cost thousands of lives, and cast the trajectory for the Middle East conflict. The revolt was the crucible in which Palestinian identity coalesced, uniting all in a single struggle for independence. Yet the rebellion would ultimately turn on itself. British forces' aggressive counterinsurgency took care of the rest, finally quashing the uprising on the eve of World War II.
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Who is this narrator?
- By Rachel S. on 09-23-24
By: Oren Kessler
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The Fish That Ate the Whale
- The Life and Times of America's Banana King
- By: Rich Cohen
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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When Samuel Zemurray arrived in America in 1891, he was tall, gangly, and penniless. When he died in the grandest house in New Orleans sixty-nine years later, he was among the richest, most powerful men in the world. Working his way up from a roadside fruit peddler to conquering the United Fruit Company, Zemurray became a symbol of the best and worst of the United States: proof that America is the land of opportunity, but also a classic example of the corporate pirate who treats foreign nations as the backdrop for his adventures.
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Phenomenal
- By Ann on 01-17-25
By: Rich Cohen
What listeners say about Pumpkinflowers
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Roger M Low
- 02-01-25
A most compelling story!
The author weaves a beautiful vignette that captures a slice of a tragic struggle between people.
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- Nathan Beachy
- 12-26-24
The narrator sounds like he's telling a depressing story
which it is almost a depressing story. I guess I didn't listen to the whole book but I decided it wasn't worth my time
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