Review by paulgerntholtz -- Man Mission by Eytan Uliel

[paulgerntholtz]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Man Mission" by Eytan Uliel.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Man Mission by Eytan Uliel is an entertaining contemporary read exploring manhood in our time. The narrative gives an insight into the changing roles of men and woman and how this affects their relationships with each other and their families.

The story is written in the first person and opens with the mission statement of the men of Man Mission. Essentially it is an annual adventure cum journey for men, one of the several rules is that no women are allowed. The idea is that the excursion will challenge them and allow them to temporarily escape the day to day pressures of their lives and relationships. The men meet either as children or at university where the initial bonds are formed. They then start the adventure outings as a the result of an off hand remark by the narrator when they are still young and just starting out with their adult lives.

The narrator is the main character in the story. At the outset he has just met the woman whom he believes is his soul mate, her name is Rachel. Sam who is the first supporting character in the story is engaged to be married to Evie. Then comes Daniel and Pamela who have been married for several years already. Lastly there is Alex who is the lifelong bachelor. The story tracks the men and their woman through the highs and lows of their lives for the next fifteen or so years.

Eytan Uliel has a easy to read writing style which he uses very effectively to explore the needs and wants of men in the modern age. He also writes very well about the expectations that society has of men. If I had to name a negative of the novel it would be that I would have liked a deeper exploration of these two themes. He writes beautifully of the many exotic locations that they visit each year from local adventures; they live in Australia; to far flung locations like Iceland, Peru and South Africa among quite a few others.

There is very little profanity in the novel, where it is used it is for emphasis. None of the characters would use a lot of profanity in their everyday speech patterns. There were no spelling or grammatical errors that came to my attention. I would recommend this for all readers of contemporary fiction, both men and woman alike.

I rate Man Mission by Eytan Uliel a well deserved four out of four because I thoroughly enjoyed this and only wish that he had written more.

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Man Mission
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