What did you think of how this book constantly switched between the "present" action of the missions and flashbacks?

Use this forum to discuss the January 2020 Book of the month, "Man Mission: 4 men, 15 years, 1 epic journey", by Eytan Uliel.
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Melchi Asuma
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Re: What did you think of how this book constantly switched between the "present" action of the missions and flashbacks?

Post by Melchi Asuma »

It is quite difficult switching between present narration and flashbacks. That said, pulling them off, as has been done here, creates an awesome read.
MA
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Post by eastandalchemy »

Nerea wrote: 04 Jan 2020, 14:37 Personally I think the author did a diligent job switching the past and present events. He was careful to make sure that the reader does not lose track of the story line.
I agree that the switchbacks were done seamlessly. It's tricky business to move back and forth between tenses and scenarios but I never felt lost or confused within the multiple storylines.
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Post by Laura Lee »

eastandalchemy wrote: 10 Feb 2020, 13:56 I agree that the switchbacks were done seamlessly. It's tricky business to move back and forth between tenses and scenarios but I never felt lost or confused within the multiple storylines.
That's a large part of what makes it an enjoyable read, isn't it? I really dislike books where I lose the train of the storyline of the disparate threads.
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Post by nefitzgerald »

The switches were fairly effortless and quite incredibly, not at all confusing, with the past events mostly bearing relevance to the present.
My only criticism is that sometimes, the past events seemed to come to an abrupt end where it felt something else needed to be added to conclude the event or make some sort of point.
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Post by Laura Lee »

nefitzgerald wrote: 11 Feb 2020, 11:20 The switches were fairly effortless and quite incredibly, not at all confusing, with the past events mostly bearing relevance to the present.
My only criticism is that sometimes, the past events seemed to come to an abrupt end where it felt something else needed to be added to conclude the event or make some sort of point.
That's a good point. Over all, though, it truly was amazing how seamlessly the past and the present were woven together in the book. He's truly a skilled writer.
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Post by Anonymus »

I think that the author was able to maintain this quite well. Just a personal preference, but even though the author wrote it quite well, I would rather have it be just present. The book was still very good though!
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Post by Sophy Chunge »

I enjoyed the flashbacks. Most of the plot was told through flashbacks, and it was great. The missions seemed like times to reflect about their lives.
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Post by Ogoskino »

Switching between reality and flashbacks is always a tough task when writing a book. I felt that the author executed it with a touch of class. I didn't have any difficulty following the story.
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Post by siusantos »

I would not mind flashbacks, especially if it helps to build a character or to develop the story. But I find frequent jumps from the current scenes to the pasts a bit confusing. I have to constantly check where the story actually is.
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Post by TXwriter56 »

While Uliel was very skilled at switching between the present and mini-flashbacks, I was more impressed with the way he wove together the story of physical challenges with mental and life challenges. I believe the Man Mission was truly a life mission more than a travelogue.

That said, his primary focus was on the trips and boys, not on their broader lives. I would have enjoyed the novel more if they'd been more balanced, especially as the descriptions of the fifteen trips started to drag and blur.
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Post by Laura Lee »

TXwriter56 wrote: 24 Feb 2020, 20:27 While Uliel was very skilled at switching between the present and mini-flashbacks, I was more impressed with the way he wove together the story of physical challenges with mental and life challenges. I believe the Man Mission was truly a life mission more than a travelogue.

That said, his primary focus was on the trips and boys, not on their broader lives. I would have enjoyed the novel more if they'd been more balanced, especially as the descriptions of the fifteen trips started to drag and blur.
Hmmm. Very intriguing and insightful comment. Thanks for sharing!! :tiphat:
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Post by Carolreads30 »

The author was able to show the flashbacks in a flawless way. I normally find books that jump back and forth like this rather hard to read and stay with the story, but in this case, I was able to follow the story without any problems as all and now what was a flashback and what was not. Wonderfully written!
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Post by Lexiem »

I normally do not like this type of writing and think the switching from past to present is confusing, but I think this author did a very good job when writing this book and using this style made the book even better.
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Post by Avoclaw »

As with any book jumping constantly between past and present, there's always the risk of confusion, though as you've put it, Uliel does it skillfully enough such that I felt that the continuity of the story is more enhanced rather than diminished by his choice of this constant "time jumping".
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Post by mishkaat »

It was a bit difficult to go backward and forward .
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