Review of Man Mission
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Hannalie Korf
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Review of Man Mission
[Following is a volunteer review of "Man Mission" by Eytan Uliel.]
On page one a friendship between the protagonist and a fellow student, he has never seen before is born. Three years later, this friend calls him to remind him of their mutual dream of going to far away countries to eat strange food and have unusual experiences. They called it Man Mission. They went to New Zeeland because that was the easiest on such short notice. Being unprepared, they suffered unnecessarily, and the protagonist hurt his knee causing him to suffer a great deal more. He eventually returned with a lift from drug dealers they came across. Sam continued alone. They reunited in Christchurch. Their next trip was from Tokyo to Niigata, Japan, 200km over a mountain range, and again no preparations were done. This time it was Sam that had his ankle sprained. Nevertheless, they survived. This is how an annual event had been born. Every year to a new place and new adventure. The reader gets to know the protagonist and his friends as well as their lives in between adventures. On the third trip, Daniel, a third member of the circle of friends joined them, and the following year they were four. To describe every trip, would take up too much space. Suffice to say that I tried to skip a chapter or two, but I couldn’t. The reader experiences the lives of four men over a period of fifteen years, from the love and joys of young adults to the hardship of loss, depression, and disillusion.
What I liked about this book was the typical dialogue and interaction between the friends and the true-life situations the four families experienced between trips. The reader learns a lot about the countries they visit. I loved the way our four friends went so unprepared and under-equipped on their missions and then often came across pros whom they could only admire but never did they belittle their own missions. At the beginning of each chapter describing the next adventure, a quote, as well as a verse from the Bible, is given. In a way, it describes the progress of the Man Mission members. The book is divided into three sections describing a few trips each. Each section represents the way to maturity our friends followed. The events are narrated in a very humorous way. Flashbacks to the past add extra humor like the incident when they were teenagers and tried to smoke.
There is not one thing in this book that I disliked. The author is a talented writer, and the narration is captivating and humorous and full of real-life emotions. Milder cases of foul language and the sex-related talking are all in character and I found it more humorous than disturbing.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars because of the interesting narration, the way the reader feels part of the camaraderie of the four friends, and the satisfaction towards the end of the book to know our friends have sorted out their lives.
I wholeheartedly recommend Man Mission by Eytan Uliel to all book lovers. From young adults to the elderly, adventurers to pipe dreamers; across the spectrum will enjoy reading this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
******
Man Mission
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
On page one a friendship between the protagonist and a fellow student, he has never seen before is born. Three years later, this friend calls him to remind him of their mutual dream of going to far away countries to eat strange food and have unusual experiences. They called it Man Mission. They went to New Zeeland because that was the easiest on such short notice. Being unprepared, they suffered unnecessarily, and the protagonist hurt his knee causing him to suffer a great deal more. He eventually returned with a lift from drug dealers they came across. Sam continued alone. They reunited in Christchurch. Their next trip was from Tokyo to Niigata, Japan, 200km over a mountain range, and again no preparations were done. This time it was Sam that had his ankle sprained. Nevertheless, they survived. This is how an annual event had been born. Every year to a new place and new adventure. The reader gets to know the protagonist and his friends as well as their lives in between adventures. On the third trip, Daniel, a third member of the circle of friends joined them, and the following year they were four. To describe every trip, would take up too much space. Suffice to say that I tried to skip a chapter or two, but I couldn’t. The reader experiences the lives of four men over a period of fifteen years, from the love and joys of young adults to the hardship of loss, depression, and disillusion.
What I liked about this book was the typical dialogue and interaction between the friends and the true-life situations the four families experienced between trips. The reader learns a lot about the countries they visit. I loved the way our four friends went so unprepared and under-equipped on their missions and then often came across pros whom they could only admire but never did they belittle their own missions. At the beginning of each chapter describing the next adventure, a quote, as well as a verse from the Bible, is given. In a way, it describes the progress of the Man Mission members. The book is divided into three sections describing a few trips each. Each section represents the way to maturity our friends followed. The events are narrated in a very humorous way. Flashbacks to the past add extra humor like the incident when they were teenagers and tried to smoke.
There is not one thing in this book that I disliked. The author is a talented writer, and the narration is captivating and humorous and full of real-life emotions. Milder cases of foul language and the sex-related talking are all in character and I found it more humorous than disturbing.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars because of the interesting narration, the way the reader feels part of the camaraderie of the four friends, and the satisfaction towards the end of the book to know our friends have sorted out their lives.
I wholeheartedly recommend Man Mission by Eytan Uliel to all book lovers. From young adults to the elderly, adventurers to pipe dreamers; across the spectrum will enjoy reading this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
******
Man Mission
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Latest Review: Secrets of the Kashmir Valley by Farhana Qazi
