Review of Man Mission
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Maryam Newman
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Review of Man Mission
[Following is a volunteer review of "Man Mission" by Eytan Uliel.]
Man Mission: Four men, fifteen years, one epic journey by Eytan Uliel follows 15 years in the lives of four friends as they navigate the peaks, troughs, pleasures and perils of modern life. Told from the first-person perspective of one of the men, the story has two narratives: the first is the series of adventures that they go on; the second is that of their lives at home—how they cope with the socially expected progression from young, single professionals to (apparently) wealthy, successful family men. However, their adventures and home lives refuse to go smoothly or according to plan, and the narrator finds himself plagued with existential angst during his annual escapes from the drudgery of work and the stresses of home. What does it mean to be a man? What does it mean to be happy? How do you figure out what you really want, versus what you feel is expected? And, crucially, how do you express this to the people that matter? Man Mission follows one man’s quest to answer these all-too-familiar questions.
I loved reading Man Mission. It is mostly humorous, being a story about four guys doing “guy stuff”, governed by a ridiculous charter to ensure a “tough guy” attitude coupled with minimal planning and maximum expectation of physical suffering. The descriptions of the exotic locations and cultures that the men journeyed through felt vividly authentic, reflecting the author’s extensive travel experience, and I found them inspiring.
The emotional and psychological unease resulting from the stresses of work as well as attempting to maintain a fulfilling marital relationship while parenting young children is convincingly portrayed. The characters are easy to empathise with—real, ordinary men struggling to navigate the various demands of their lives with varying degrees of success (and failure).
Uliel’s writing style is fluid and easy to read and his language use is excellent. The editing is superb—I found no errors. Although the main characters are men, I believe the appeal of Man Mission transcends gender. As a woman reader, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
My only complaint about this novel is that the EPUB format was difficult to read. The pages didn’t scale up clearly, and there were 17 or so blank pages between every printed page.
I would recommend this book to anyone, of any gender, who enjoys humorous adventure stories coupled with impromptu soul-searching and sobering reality checks. It is an excellent novel and I’m thrilled to award it 5 out of 5 stars.
******
Man Mission
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Man Mission: Four men, fifteen years, one epic journey by Eytan Uliel follows 15 years in the lives of four friends as they navigate the peaks, troughs, pleasures and perils of modern life. Told from the first-person perspective of one of the men, the story has two narratives: the first is the series of adventures that they go on; the second is that of their lives at home—how they cope with the socially expected progression from young, single professionals to (apparently) wealthy, successful family men. However, their adventures and home lives refuse to go smoothly or according to plan, and the narrator finds himself plagued with existential angst during his annual escapes from the drudgery of work and the stresses of home. What does it mean to be a man? What does it mean to be happy? How do you figure out what you really want, versus what you feel is expected? And, crucially, how do you express this to the people that matter? Man Mission follows one man’s quest to answer these all-too-familiar questions.
I loved reading Man Mission. It is mostly humorous, being a story about four guys doing “guy stuff”, governed by a ridiculous charter to ensure a “tough guy” attitude coupled with minimal planning and maximum expectation of physical suffering. The descriptions of the exotic locations and cultures that the men journeyed through felt vividly authentic, reflecting the author’s extensive travel experience, and I found them inspiring.
The emotional and psychological unease resulting from the stresses of work as well as attempting to maintain a fulfilling marital relationship while parenting young children is convincingly portrayed. The characters are easy to empathise with—real, ordinary men struggling to navigate the various demands of their lives with varying degrees of success (and failure).
Uliel’s writing style is fluid and easy to read and his language use is excellent. The editing is superb—I found no errors. Although the main characters are men, I believe the appeal of Man Mission transcends gender. As a woman reader, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
My only complaint about this novel is that the EPUB format was difficult to read. The pages didn’t scale up clearly, and there were 17 or so blank pages between every printed page.
I would recommend this book to anyone, of any gender, who enjoys humorous adventure stories coupled with impromptu soul-searching and sobering reality checks. It is an excellent novel and I’m thrilled to award it 5 out of 5 stars.
******
Man Mission
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Latest Review: Original Wisdom by Donna Bond
