Pain Is Weakness Leaving the Body
A Marine's Unbecoming
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Pain Is Weakness Leaving the Body
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Narrated by:
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Garrett Michael Brown
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Lyle Jeremy Rubin
About this listen
An honest reckoning with the war on terror, masculinity, and the violence of American hegemony abroad, at home, and on the psyche, from a veteran whose convictions came undone
When Lyle Jeremy Rubin first arrived at Marine Officer Candidates School, he was convinced that the “war on terror” was necessary to national security. He also subscribed to a strict code of manhood that military service conjured and perpetuated. Then he began to train and his worldview shattered. Honorably discharged five years later, Rubin returned to the United States with none of his beliefs, about himself or his country, intact.
In Pain Is Weakness Leaving the Body, Rubin narrates his own undoing, the profound disillusionment that took hold of him on bases in the U.S. and Afghanistan. He both examines his own failings as a participant in a prescribed masculinity and the failings of American empire, examining the racialized and class hierarchies and culture of conquest that constitute the machinery of U.S. imperialism. The result is a searing analysis and the story of one man’s personal and political conversion, told in beautiful prose by an essayist, historian, and veteran transformed.
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 61
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 56
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 56
J. Kael Weston spent seven years on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan working for the US State Department in some of the most dangerous frontline locations. Upon his return home, while traveling the country to pay respect to the dead and wounded, he asked himself: When will these wars end? How will they be remembered and memorialized? What lessons can we learn from them?
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Must Read
- By Jessica Myrick on 06-04-16
By: J. Kael Weston
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Thank You for My Service
- By: Mat Best, Ross Patterson, Nils Parker
- Narrated by: Mat Best
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 14,280
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 12,890
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Story5 out of 5 stars 12,832
Members of the military’s special operations branches share a closely guarded secret: They love their jobs. They relish the opportunity to fight. They are thankful for it, even, and hopeful that maybe they’ll get to kill a bunch of bad guys while they’re at it. You don’t necessarily need to thank them for their service - the pleasure is all theirs. In this hilarious and personal memoir, listeners ride shotgun alongside former Army Ranger and private military contractor and current social media phenomenon Mat Best, into the action and its aftermath, both abroad and at home.
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5 out of 5 stars
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If Deadpool was a ranger...with less cancer
- By Rick Valkyrie on 08-21-19
By: Mat Best, and others
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They Called Us ""Lucky""
- The Life and Afterlife of the Iraq War's Hardest Hit Unit
- By: Ruben Gallego, Jim DeFelice
- Narrated by: Ruben Gallego, Stephen Graybill
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 136
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 124
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 123
At first, they were “Lucky Lima”. Infantryman Ruben Gallego and his brothers in Lima Company—3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, young men drawn from blue-collar towns, immigrant households, Navajo reservations—returned unscathed on patrol after patrol through the increasingly violent al Anbar region of Iraq, looking for weapons caches and insurgents trying to destabilize the nascent Iraqi government. After two months in Iraq, Lima didn't have a casualty, not a single Purple Heart, no injury worse than a blister. Lucky Lima.
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4 out of 5 stars
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My perspective as a 3/25 insider...
- By R-N on 06-25-22
By: Ruben Gallego, and others
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Leave No Man Behind
- The Untold Story of the Rangers’ Unrelenting Search for Marcus Luttrell, the Navy SEAL Lone Survivor in Afghanistan
- By: Dr. Tony Brooks
- Narrated by: Chris Abell
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,148
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,058
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,050
Leave No Man Behind is a story of courage, perseverance, and patriotism behind the 75th Army Rangers’ rescue mission following one of the deadliest Special Operations incidents in Afghanistan - a grueling search for 12 Navy SEAL casualties and eight downed Night Stalkers.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not What The Title Says It Is
- By ,John on 12-08-21
By: Dr. Tony Brooks
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The Love Stories of the Bible Speak
- Biblical Lessons on Romance, Friendship, and Faith
- By: Shannon Bream
- Narrated by: Shannon Bream
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 53
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 50
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Story5 out of 5 stars 50
The Bible reveals not just butterflies and broken hearts. In Scripture, we see God’s beautiful design for the partnership of marriage. We witness friendships that cross all boundaries. We watch as families navigate the many seasons of life. Our guiding example for them all is the deepest, most abiding, foundational love ever known: God’s unconditional love for His people. In The Love Stories of the Bible Speak, Shannon Bream draws lessons from the good, the bad, and the ugly of Biblical romances, friendships, and families.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Uplifting and motivational book
- By Joseph Sullivan on 03-31-23
By: Shannon Bream
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Bravo Company
- An Afghanistan Deployment and Its Aftermath
- By: Ben Kesling
- Narrated by: Ben Kesling
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 101
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 98
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Story5 out of 5 stars 98
A decade ago, the soldiers of Bravo Company deployed to Afghanistan for a tour in Kandahar’s notorious Arghandab Valley. By the time they made it home, three soldiers had been killed in action, a dozen more had lost limbs, and an astonishing half of the company had Purple Hearts. In the decade since, two of the soldiers have died by suicide, more than a dozen have tried, and others admit they’ve considered it. Written with an insider’s eye and ear and drawing on extensive interviews and original reporting, Bravo Company follows the men from their initial enlistment on.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Inspiring and well written
- By Britanny on 03-07-23
By: Ben Kesling
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War Story
- Sometimes the Real Fight Starts after the Battle
- By: Steven Elliott
- Narrated by: Chris Abell
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 83
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 74
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Story5 out of 5 stars 75
A must-listen for veterans and their loved ones, War Story is an explosive look at the chaos of war - and the battle for life in its aftermath. It confronts some of life’s biggest questions: Why do we choose to fight for a country or a cause? What happens when the cost of that fight overwhelms and destroys? Can we forgive and be forgiven? How do we find hope? At its core, War Story is a dramatic personal encounter with war and faith, love and tragedy, and ultimate renewal.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing
- By Anonymous User on 08-24-21
By: Steven Elliott
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The Greatest Evil Is War
- By: Chris Hedges
- Narrated by: Eunice Wong
- Length: 5 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 60
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 55
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Story5 out of 5 stars 55
In fifteen short chapters, Chris Hedges astonishes us with his clear and cogent argument against war, not on philosophical grounds or through moral arguments, but in an irrefutable stream of personal encounters with the victims of war, from veterans and parents to gravely wounded American serviceman who served in the Iraq War, to survivors of the Holocaust, to soldiers in the Falklands War, among others. Hedges reported from Sarajevo, and was in the Balkans to witness the collapse of the Soviet Union.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Another amazing title by an amazing journalist.
- By Zzzing on 12-28-22
By: Chris Hedges
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Saving My Enemy
- How Two WWII Soldiers Fought Against Each Other and Later Forged a Friendship that Saved Their Lives
- By: Bob Welch
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 92
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 84
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Story5 out of 5 stars 84
Saving My Enemy is the touching true story of two soldiers on opposite sides of WWII whose unlikely friendship, forged in their 80s, dissolves six decades of guilt and shame that had pushed both men to despair.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Our story!
- By Marianne McNally on 04-27-21
By: Bob Welch
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The Fifth Act
- America's End in Afghanistan
- By: Elliot Ackerman
- Narrated by: Elliot Ackerman
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 187
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 167
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Story5 out of 5 stars 167
Elliot Ackerman left the American military ten years ago, but his time in Afghanistan and Iraq with the Marines and later as a CIA paramilitary officer marked him indelibly. When the Taliban began to close in on Kabul in August 2021 and the Afghan regime began its death spiral, he found himself pulled back into the conflict. Afghan nationals who had worked closely with the American military and intelligence communities for years now faced brutal reprisal and sought frantically to flee the country with their families.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A painful but necessary read
- By Tom Hanks on 08-22-22
By: Elliot Ackerman
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I Heard My Country Calling
- By: James Webb
- Narrated by: George Newbern, James Webb
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 50
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
James Webb, author of Fields of Fire, the classic novel of the Vietnam War - and a former U.S. Senator; Secretary of the Navy; recipient of the Navy Cross, Silver Star and Purple Heart as a combat Marine; and a self-described "military brat" - has written an extraordinary memoir of his early years, "a love story - love of family, love of country, love of service" in his words.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Shouldn't narrators learn proper pronunciations?
- By Kindle Customer on 03-21-21
By: James Webb
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The Long Gray Line
- The American Journey of West Point's Class of 1966
- By: Rick Atkinson
- Narrated by: Adam Barr, Rick Atkinson
- Length: 28 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 125
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 110
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Story5 out of 5 stars 110
A classic of its kind, The Long Gray Line is the 25-year saga of the West Point class of 1966. With a novelist's eye for detail, Rick Atkinson illuminates this powerful story through the lives of three classmates and the women they loved - from the boisterous cadet years, to the fires of Vietnam, to the hard peace and internal struggles that followed the war.
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5 out of 5 stars
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His First Book-It Stands With All the Others
- By Richard Bretzing on 07-22-21
By: Rick Atkinson
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They Will Have to Die Now
- Mosul and the Fall of the Caliphate
- By: James Verini
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 121
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 114
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 115
James Verini arrived in Iraq in the summer of 2016 to write about life in the Islamic State. He stayed to cover the jihadis' last great stand, the Battle of Mosul, not knowing it would go on for nearly a year, nor that it would become, in the words of the Pentagon, "the most significant urban combat since WWII." They Will Have to Die Now takes the listener into the heart of the conflict against the most lethal insurgency of our time. We see unspeakable violence, improbable humanity, and occasional humor.
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5 out of 5 stars
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really solid performance keeps you engaged
- By TFMethane on 04-12-21
By: James Verini
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Always Faithful
- A Story of the War in Afghanistan, the Fall of Kabul, and the Unshakable Bond Between a Marine and an Interpreter
- By: Thomas Schueman, Zainullah Zaki
- Narrated by: Patrick Kirchner, Wali Habib
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 182
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 168
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Story5 out of 5 stars 170
Band of Brothers meets Argo in this dramatic and heartfelt dual memoir of the war in Afghanistan told by two men from opposite worlds. Always Faithful entwines the stories of Marine Major Tom Schueman, and his friend and Afghan interpreter, Zainullah “Zak” Zaki, as they describe their parallel lives, converging paths, and unbreakable bond in the face of overwhelming danger, culminating in Zak and his family’s harrowing escape from Kabul.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great Read!
- By justin on 08-13-22
By: Thomas Schueman, and others
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Brotherhood of Warriors
- Behind Enemy Lines with a Commando in One of the World's Most Elite Counterterrorism Units
- By: Aaron Cohen, Douglas Century
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 215
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 166
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 168
Beverly Hills native Aaron Cohen was 18 years old when he left behind his privileged American life with the single-minded ambition of joining Israel's top anti-terrorist commando unit. After 15 months of grueling training, Cohen was offered the only post a non-Israeli can hold.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great insight
- By A Mellor on 07-05-08
By: Aaron Cohen, and others
What listeners say about Pain Is Weakness Leaving the Body
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 11-30-22
Honest, intelligent, and accurate
As a former Marine, I can say that Rubin nails it. He offers brilliant description of Marine Corps culture and the culture of masculinity that runs through it. Unlike so many other veteran memoirs, Rubin doesn't take any assumptions for granted. He guides us through a rigorous interrogation of the belief system that lead him to the Corps and to war. There are no tough-guy battle scenes, here. No self-congratulatory, triumphalist retelling of victories. It's just an honest interrogation of the beliefs that brought so many of us to war.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- grandma
- 06-12-23
Good story!
Loved the details of Lyle’s evolution and his emergence from the brainwashing he grew up with.
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1 person found this helpful