Comments on: Book review: “If there’s heaven” by Ron Leshem

By: Ari

Ari — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 22:38:49 +0000

A fantastic book about a very tragic situation. well written, gripping and terrifying.
It describes the hardships of a few who protect so many, under horrific condtions. kudos to author Leshem. Yes, there is some vulgarity- but that’s life and particulalry under such difficult and dangerous circumstances.

By: Eli E

Eli E — Wed, 02 May 2007 20:02:59 +0000

Sadly, it seems none of the posters on this blog have any kind of understanding on Israeli culture or the military’s culture and jargon. Unfortunately, the amount of Israeli’s who actually experienced the events described in the book is limited. I for one have, and I must say – this is as close as you’ll ever get to feeling what Israeli soldiers felt while in Lebanon. I recommend you all take a good look inside, know where you stand and thank god for what he has shown you and more so – what he has not, and then you can thank Ron Leshem for the scope and message he has conveyed.
Though fictional, it is the most factual document that so diligently describes the actual events, emotions and hardship we experienced in southern Lebanon.

By: Omer

Omer — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 17:26:06 +0000

It is the best book I have ever read. I hope it will be translated to English soon.

By: Israelit

Israelit — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 22:23:59 +0000

To “Israeli”: Are you really Israeli? It seems to me you have a very twisted look at the Israeli society…..
and you are missing the point of the book….

By: eliben

eliben — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 06:22:32 +0000

To “Israeli”: I think you are taking it a bit too far

By: Israeli

Israeli — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 01:18:52 +0000

I started reading this book in hebrew, and what I am most amazed by is the sheer mass of homoerotic imagery, which is heavily emphasized (in a way) by large amounts of coarse and vulgar chauvinism. To say the truth, it actually does reflect a certain aspect of Israeli society - i.e. the part about the state of women in Israel, which is simply terrible, but that’s beside the point…
To some extent, these kind of things in the book, which seem to be just literary cliches, actually shed a rather realistic light on many aspects of Israeli society, and anyone considering immigrating should read something similar and see if they would like to live with such people and such attitudes on a day to day basis or if maybe its more fit as a brief “experience”. I’m not criticizing immgrants here, btw, just saying some of them really don’t realize what they’re getting into.