2 out of 4 stars
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Malta: The Ultimate Island, by Amit Offir, is an interesting mix of memoir, travelogue, and history lesson.
A friendly guide, the author invites readers to contact him with questions about his visit to Malta. He discusses his arrival, some of his meals, and many of the things he sees and experiences. He also attends and describes the Isle of MTV music festival held every summer since 2007. In his overview, the author includes information about European history, Greek mythology, and their connections to Malta. I found that all very interesting, as well as information about movies filmed there.
I like that Offir gives fresh advice about traveling. For instance, he suggests taking a sketchpad to draw some of the beauty of the places visited. He also recommends getting into a vacation mindset as soon as possible by taking a shower when you arrive, changing clothes, and listening to some of your favorite music.
Unfortunately, I found several weaknesses in this book. One is that a quarter of the book is about the author himself. He relates his history, describes his skills, and explains that his traveling comes from a desire to learn new things. Offir says he has made money on his trips by writing books, having pictures published, and leading coaching sessions in scenic locations. This all could have been done with a few paragraphs instead of several pages.
Something that puzzles me about the book is why the author begins every chapter with a quote from Napoleon. Not only does Offir not explain the importance of these quotes, but they all don't seem to align with the information in the chapters. A couple, like this one, could be applied to vacationing: “Do not wait…the time to act will never be perfect” (Loc 240). But there are more that seemed very out of place, like this one: “You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war” (Loc 342). I found both Napoleon and his quotes to be out of place in a book about a vacation spot.
The author is a published photographer, but he doesn’t use photos to their advantage in this book. He includes beautiful pictures, but they are grouped together on pages placed randomly throughout the book. None of them have captions, and a couple of them are used twice. I don't feel that the author thought through how to use pictures to enhance his writing. In addition to including uncaptioned photos, he describes some lovely places not photographed. One was the fountain in Valletta, lit up with different colors around statues of three gods. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a photo included.
I give Malta: The Ultimate Island 2 out of 4 stars. I considered a 1-star rating, but I am taking into consideration that the numerous punctuation issues might have come during the book’s translation from Hebrew to English. I can’t give 3 stars because I don’t recommend it. The book is more about the author than about Malta. And, the author misses many important things including discussing the price ranges of any part of his trip. The only thing he says about cost is that “prices for charter boats are very reasonable” (Loc 597). Considering the entirety of a vacation, that’s not helpful information.
Readers interested in Malta as a topic may want to pick this one up. People looking for a travel guide will need to keep looking.
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The Ultimate Island
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