Review by NetMassimo -- Man Mission by Eytan Uliel
Authors and publishers are not able to post replies in the review topics.
- NetMassimo
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 6636
- Joined: 24 Jul 2019, 06:37
- Currently Reading: Star Maker
- Bookshelf Size: 426
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-netmassimo.html
- Latest Review: The Ripsons by Joe Morrow
- 2024 Reading Goal: 60
- 2024 Goal Completion: 36%
Review by NetMassimo -- Man Mission by Eytan Uliel
Man Mission by Eytan Uliel is a story of a group of friends who decide to get together every year for what they call a Man Mission. It's a trip somewhere in the world where they can put themselves to the test choosing their own rules. Meanwhile, their lives go on, but their families and their jobs seem increasingly in contrast with their Man Missions.
This novel is centered around fifteen trips told in the first person by one of the friends who committed to what they called Man Missions, but it's far more than a travelogue. Those trips are used to develop a lot of introspection in which the narrator tells about his inner journey. For the protagonists, the goal is to be men, but what does that really mean?
Through the narrator, Eytan Uliel describes the Man Missions alternating bits of them with bits of the protagonists' everyday lives with their relationships and their jobs. The events are told out of sequence, and that stresses what quickly becomes a contrast between those parts of their lives.
The Man Missions become slightly repetitive, but there aren't many variations of hiking, biking, and kayaking stories, especially when each story is told in just a few pages. I think that Eytan Uliel did a good job at compensating those repetitions with different settings, different problems, and especially encounters with different types of people. Those encounters offer food for thought because they allow the protagonists to compare their lives with those of people who live in different countries with different cultures.
At the beginning, this novel can seem superficial, with friends being silly during a trip where things don't always go the way they wanted. There are hilarious moments, and the Man Missions are occasions for the protagonists to taunt each other mercilessly. However, under all the silliness and the machismo there are profound issues. You can see the details of the narrator's life with its changes and its problems. During the Man Missions he feels satisfaction even when he and his friends have to face unpredicted events because it's what they chose to do. On the contrary, during his normal life he does what he's supposed to do, and that becomes a burden. He grew up when there was a certain traditional idea of what being a man meant. Today that's far from enough for young men to have a full life.
Man Mission is an emotional rollercoaster and a story of lessons learned the hard way. I found it very interesting for the introspection developed through the protagonists' lives, and it's professionally edited. For these reasons, my rating is 4 out of 4 stars. Note that profanities are abundant throughout the novel, and there are several sexual references, so it's suitable for adults. If you feel your life looks like a cage or your want to make important changes to your life, this novel might give you some significant clues.
******
Man Mission
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Massimo
- Laura Lee
- Posts: 1074
- Joined: 18 Nov 2019, 08:12
- Currently Reading: Holiday in Death
- Bookshelf Size: 101
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-laura-lee.html
- Latest Review: My ABC "Chair" Book by Barbara H. Hartsfield
“Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.”
― Groucho Marx, The Essential Groucho: Writings For By And About Groucho Marx
- Nerea
- Posts: 2734
- Joined: 11 May 2018, 05:13
- Favorite Book: Diamond and Pearls
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 675
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-nerea.html
- Latest Review: Little White Lies by JC Anderson
- Reading Device: Laptop
- Signature Addition: No Wahala
- NetMassimo
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 6636
- Joined: 24 Jul 2019, 06:37
- Currently Reading: Star Maker
- Bookshelf Size: 426
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-netmassimo.html
- Latest Review: The Ripsons by Joe Morrow
- 2024 Reading Goal: 60
- 2024 Goal Completion: 36%
- NetMassimo
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 6636
- Joined: 24 Jul 2019, 06:37
- Currently Reading: Star Maker
- Bookshelf Size: 426
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-netmassimo.html
- Latest Review: The Ripsons by Joe Morrow
- 2024 Reading Goal: 60
- 2024 Goal Completion: 36%
Indeed it's a combination of trips and everyday life. You could say that the travelogue is a backbone and the author used it to build the story around it.
Massimo
- oshanl
- Posts: 1
- Joined: 21 Jan 2020, 04:22
- Bookshelf Size: 0
- Julius_
- In It Together VIP
- Posts: 730
- Joined: 17 May 2019, 01:15
- Favorite Book: Mythic Worlds and the One You Can Believe In
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 120
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-julius.html
- Latest Review: Dynomike: Pay It Forward by Frankie B. Rabbit
- NetMassimo
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 6636
- Joined: 24 Jul 2019, 06:37
- Currently Reading: Star Maker
- Bookshelf Size: 426
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-netmassimo.html
- Latest Review: The Ripsons by Joe Morrow
- 2024 Reading Goal: 60
- 2024 Goal Completion: 36%
Thank you for the appreciation. I agree about the book being great.
Massimo
- NetMassimo
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 6636
- Joined: 24 Jul 2019, 06:37
- Currently Reading: Star Maker
- Bookshelf Size: 426
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-netmassimo.html
- Latest Review: The Ripsons by Joe Morrow
- 2024 Reading Goal: 60
- 2024 Goal Completion: 36%
It's an adventure that had profound meanings. Thank you for the appreciation.
Massimo
- Diana Lowery
- Moderator
- Posts: 3131
- Joined: 11 Feb 2019, 07:39
- Currently Reading: The Exchange
- Bookshelf Size: 343
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-diana-lowery.html
- Latest Review: The Witchdoctor Paradox by Barry Tyrrell
- Reading Device: B00IKPYKWG
- NetMassimo
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 6636
- Joined: 24 Jul 2019, 06:37
- Currently Reading: Star Maker
- Bookshelf Size: 426
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-netmassimo.html
- Latest Review: The Ripsons by Joe Morrow
- 2024 Reading Goal: 60
- 2024 Goal Completion: 36%
Yes, I tried to stress the layers' connection because it's a crucial part of the novel.diana lowery wrote: ↑21 Jan 2020, 11:30 I appreciate how you tied all the layers of this novel together. It can be read on many different levels. Also good to know that it was professionally edited.
Massimo
- Maria Esposito
- Posts: 745
- Joined: 23 Nov 2019, 13:04
- Favorite Book: The Panhandler and the Professional
- Currently Reading: Live from Death Row
- Bookshelf Size: 438
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-maria-esposito.html
- Latest Review: WHY ARE THERE MONKEYS? (and other questions for God) by Brooke Jones
- Reading Device: B00JG8GOWU
- George Jackson, "Soledad Brother"
- NetMassimo
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 6636
- Joined: 24 Jul 2019, 06:37
- Currently Reading: Star Maker
- Bookshelf Size: 426
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-netmassimo.html
- Latest Review: The Ripsons by Joe Morrow
- 2024 Reading Goal: 60
- 2024 Goal Completion: 36%
Thank your for your appreciation. The author was great at blending so much in a short novel focusing on what was significant.espo wrote: ↑22 Jan 2020, 06:50 I enjoyed reading your review, Massimo! I agree with you that there's only so much you can say about kayaking, biking and hiking, but the author did a good job at including as much variety as he could. I read and reviewed this book too, and I'm also with you on the fact that although it might seem like a celebration of machismo, it's much deeper than that. Thank you for a great review!
Massimo
- Bigwig1973
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 1007
- Joined: 16 Apr 2020, 19:57
- Favorite Book: Notes from Underground
- Currently Reading: The Elements of Style
- Bookshelf Size: 503
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-bigwig1973.html
- Latest Review: You, This Is Me...OVER?! by Clinton Beaudel Dooley
La Belle Dame Sans Mercy, Merci, Maria - Chartier, Keats, Hamik?
- Laura Ungureanu
- Posts: 2018
- Joined: 25 Mar 2018, 11:32
- Favorite Book: The Book Thief
- Currently Reading: The Guardians of Erum and the Calamitous Child of Socotra
- Bookshelf Size: 1392
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-laura-ungureanu.html
- Latest Review: Love and Marriage by Arthur Hartz