Review of Man Mission
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Nicole Naicker
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Review of Man Mission
[Following is a volunteer review of "Man Mission" by Eytan Uliel.]
Man Mission by Eytan Uliel follows the lives of four friends as they navigate life and seek adventure. While still at university Sam and the unnamed protagonist bond over their love of food and decide that they should do an annual vacation. This vacation would essentially be an adventure trip to new locations each year including outdoor activities such as hiking, biking, or kayaking and sampling local delicacies. Years later our protagonist finds himself working his way up the corporate ladder, his youthful dreams forgotten, when he receives a call from Sam telling him to book the tickets, get on a plane, and just go. Thus ensues one of the greatest experiences and traditions of their lives.
Over the course of the years, the trip grows to include their other friends, Daniel and Alec. The book spans fifteen years – fifteen Man Mission trips. During these fifteen years, the characters go through a lot. They are essentially growing up. We start off with them at the beginning of their careers and relationships. As the years go by they become more settled in their careers, they become directors of companies, start their own businesses, and are headhunted by companies. We see their relationships grow from dating to being engaged, to marriage and having children.
Each trip has a dedicated chapter. Within each chapter the author shifts between the current trip and the concurrent events in each character’s life. I liked this because we get to see a glimpse into their real lives and not just their shenanigans on the trip. There are times when their regular lives were so full of promise and excitement and we get to enjoy those moments with them. At other times they are dealing with decisions, like whether to change career paths or not and we get to be privy to those inner thoughts. They experience difficulty finding a work-life balance, maintaining a family and marriage, and just understanding their purpose in life. They battle depression, infidelity, failed jobs, and failed relationships. We see how everything they are going through somehow has an effect on them during each trip. Often times the trip is an escape for them and many times it proves to be a therapeutic journey. It is interesting to see a man’s perspective on all these situations. This is something that I have not often seen and it has been very revealing and informative. We are generally given the women’s perspective and we just assume the man is wrong without understanding his side of the story. In Man Mission, we are given his side of the story.
As someone who loves to explore all parts of the world, from the most popular to the least known places, (but doesn’t get to actually do it), Man Mission is a treasure. The trips take them to New Zealand, hiking the Otter Trail in South Africa, Vietnam, and some places I have never even heard of before. The author gives us such great detail on each place that it makes you wish you were there too. The descriptions, like the entire novel, are more conversational. It feels as if the narrator is talking to you personally which I find to be more engaging.
The only negative I have with the novel is that I would have liked for the author to go into greater detail about their personal lives. However, given that the focus is more on the travel aspect I do understand why he might not have done so.
I enjoyed this novel. It is not my usual cup of tea, but getting out of my comfort zone proved a pleasant reward. Understanding, not only a man’s point of view on issues of work, relationships, marriage, etc., but also understanding their complex emotions and how they feel they should deal with it versus coming to terms with actually dealing with it is refreshing. This has been an eye-opening read for me. This novel was exceptionally well edited as I didn’t find a single error. I, therefore, rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.
I recommend this book to people who enjoy adventure/travel stories as well as anyone who would enjoy a man’s perspective on life’s everyday battles. This book is not suitable for children as it does contain a lot of profanity and adult content.
******
Man Mission
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Man Mission by Eytan Uliel follows the lives of four friends as they navigate life and seek adventure. While still at university Sam and the unnamed protagonist bond over their love of food and decide that they should do an annual vacation. This vacation would essentially be an adventure trip to new locations each year including outdoor activities such as hiking, biking, or kayaking and sampling local delicacies. Years later our protagonist finds himself working his way up the corporate ladder, his youthful dreams forgotten, when he receives a call from Sam telling him to book the tickets, get on a plane, and just go. Thus ensues one of the greatest experiences and traditions of their lives.
Over the course of the years, the trip grows to include their other friends, Daniel and Alec. The book spans fifteen years – fifteen Man Mission trips. During these fifteen years, the characters go through a lot. They are essentially growing up. We start off with them at the beginning of their careers and relationships. As the years go by they become more settled in their careers, they become directors of companies, start their own businesses, and are headhunted by companies. We see their relationships grow from dating to being engaged, to marriage and having children.
Each trip has a dedicated chapter. Within each chapter the author shifts between the current trip and the concurrent events in each character’s life. I liked this because we get to see a glimpse into their real lives and not just their shenanigans on the trip. There are times when their regular lives were so full of promise and excitement and we get to enjoy those moments with them. At other times they are dealing with decisions, like whether to change career paths or not and we get to be privy to those inner thoughts. They experience difficulty finding a work-life balance, maintaining a family and marriage, and just understanding their purpose in life. They battle depression, infidelity, failed jobs, and failed relationships. We see how everything they are going through somehow has an effect on them during each trip. Often times the trip is an escape for them and many times it proves to be a therapeutic journey. It is interesting to see a man’s perspective on all these situations. This is something that I have not often seen and it has been very revealing and informative. We are generally given the women’s perspective and we just assume the man is wrong without understanding his side of the story. In Man Mission, we are given his side of the story.
As someone who loves to explore all parts of the world, from the most popular to the least known places, (but doesn’t get to actually do it), Man Mission is a treasure. The trips take them to New Zealand, hiking the Otter Trail in South Africa, Vietnam, and some places I have never even heard of before. The author gives us such great detail on each place that it makes you wish you were there too. The descriptions, like the entire novel, are more conversational. It feels as if the narrator is talking to you personally which I find to be more engaging.
The only negative I have with the novel is that I would have liked for the author to go into greater detail about their personal lives. However, given that the focus is more on the travel aspect I do understand why he might not have done so.
I enjoyed this novel. It is not my usual cup of tea, but getting out of my comfort zone proved a pleasant reward. Understanding, not only a man’s point of view on issues of work, relationships, marriage, etc., but also understanding their complex emotions and how they feel they should deal with it versus coming to terms with actually dealing with it is refreshing. This has been an eye-opening read for me. This novel was exceptionally well edited as I didn’t find a single error. I, therefore, rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.
I recommend this book to people who enjoy adventure/travel stories as well as anyone who would enjoy a man’s perspective on life’s everyday battles. This book is not suitable for children as it does contain a lot of profanity and adult content.
******
Man Mission
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Latest Review: Reconfigurement by E. Alan Fleischauer
