The Martian: The New Writing Frontier

  This will be my final blog. It’s also a review of the book. Surprise, Surprise!! I loved the book. There is so much to digest. First off I love space and finding things out about space, so the first check for that was before I even started the book. This book is perfect for me. I cannot sit still unless reading an interesting book. Weir never lost my attention for a second. He explains things with just enough detail and depth to make it easy to understand Watney’s process and thought, but not overexplaining to make it sound like a math lecture (blegh). Speaking of depth, this book is overloaded with depth. The general idea is still there, what with Watney being stranded and trying to survive and all. But then there’s more. The executives find out he is alive, and try to guess his move before the establishment of communication. The moral dilemma of whether or not to tell the crew, which I personally side with Mitch, and think the crew should be told and make their own decision. Th...

  I’m gonna come out with a little honesty to start this blog. I… don’t mind romance in a book. Most guys at my age of 17 want to tell you they’re so macho and they can’t be bothered with feelings. I am not a normal guy apparently. I don’t mind romance in a book. In fact, I believe it can increase the quality of the book if it’s a little side story. Now I won’t read a straight romance book, but having a side love story that isn’t the main idea is just fine. Such is the case in this book, and it is buried deep into the book and isn’t referenced much at all. I, however, think it’s kind of cute and will thus be talking about it. Real quick, though, I haven’t mentioned the people that are part of this fun side story. It’ll be quick, I promise. Chris Beck and Beth Johanssen are two of the members for Ares 3. Johanssen is what is called the “sysop” which, from context clues of her prowess with electronics and programming, I can only assume means systems operator. Beck is a doctor on the ...

  Watney is an animal. I cannot fathom the way he goes through this crap and never really bats an eye. Examples anyone? Fine. First off, his Hab rips. What. The. HECK!!! THIS IS QUITE POSSIBLY THE WORST PATH THE BOOK COULD TAKE!!!! This is so bad and honestly to me insanely unexpected! Watney is sooooo lucky he was in an EVA and depressurizing the airlock as the Hab ripped. He seriously could have immediately died in the Martian atmosphere. Basically, he’s now even more homeless than he was, and he has to figure it out. “Turning his head to the side, he looked through the back door’s window. The collapsed Hab rippled in the distance, a junkyard of debris strewn across the landscape in front of it. Then, a hissing sound reached his ears. Listening carefully, he realized it was not coming from his suit. Somewhere in the phone booth-sized air-lock, a small breach was letting air escape.” (Weir 157) On top of that his faceplate is broken. And he reacts near to how I did, which makes se...

  Mark reminds me a little of my own personality. I know, you hardly know me and there’s little to no evidence that I am even close to this person who has basically become legend as the conqueror of Mars. This martian god doesn’t remind me of me in most ways. I’m sarcastic. He’s sarcastic. End of story. No other similarity exists. I’ll even prove it to you. My first response to somebody asking a dumb question is usually saying an extremely exaggerated version of no, and then saying the exact opposite. For argument’s sake, “Random stranger: ‘Is the sky blue?’ Me: ‘NOOOOOOO!! It’s blood red!’” Mark embodies that pretty much exactly, which makes him very much more relatable as a character. Who doesn’t love a character making fun of his situation? Scratch that, because some people don’t find it funny, but you get it. I feel like Mark’s situation and the attitude of which he approaches it is so hilarious. Here’s an example. “I’m finally through the blank areas of the map. Tomorrow, I’ll...

  Another entry coming at you! Here we go. I want to talk about the stuff the astronauts brought on the trip. More specifically, how Andy Weir uses these and references them to create a human commentary. I’ve thrown in a couple references already, with the Cubs (See entry 1) and Aquaman (See entry 2). The other reference he also can bring up is seventies TV. He doesn’t seem to not like it, but then he ends up referencing it and putting it into his log. “But this time I had to hang around for a photo op. I gave the camera a thumbs-up to go along with my note, which said, ayyyyyy ! Blame the seventies TV.” (Weir 126) I love the fact that Weir uses these things to create comedy. This book should be more serious and grave. It should convey the sense that Mark is stranded and there is a statistical probability that he will die far away from Earth and the comfort of home. No! Instead he uses this comedy to create a fun atmosphere that just conveys easier feelings than there should be. Ma...

  Hey, hey! I divided the book into nine parts to help me write some good blogs, but to be completely honest, I read the entire book a couple days ago. So I’ll be talking about the whole book for the next 7 blogs. Cool? Cool. The book was awesome though! I can’t wait to give y’all all the juicy details. The topic for today? Omission. I know, right? Weird topic to talk about, but it makes the book so much better. When a book can leave you wondering just enough to the point where you keep reading, you know it's a good book. Case in point. The Pathfinder . Mark journeys for twenty days to get to the Pathfinder and find a way to communicate to Earth. But Weir doesn’t tell you this. Mindy Park only says over and over that he’s been going in a straight line. Then he goes through the arduous read of having Venkat and Mindy figure out where he is going. Genius! Also, speaking of the Pathfinder and Sojourner rover, they outlived their expected lifespan, but in the book it says “Venkat pull...

  The second section of the book is history. I can’t seem to lose interest in this story. It’s so much to process and to realize that this man has endured so much already, but that it is only the beginning of his trials. A new revelation has hit me during pages 42-84. I say “pages” because I found out the book is not just the entries of Mark Watney. They also follow NASA. NASA figured out that Mark is alive!! That’s huge! It means that the rescue could happen sooner, because they want to get him home. So far plans have been discussed but nothing has been accomplished. These directors seem quite a bit oriented toward controlling press and less about the physical action. Who knows if that may change. Weir is a master of giving information. He talks through all the steps that Watney uses to trick out the second rover for extended overland travel. He also details the steps that are used to find and suggest ideas for rescuing him. They are watching through satellite pictures and are par...

  I have now read from the entry on Sol 6 to Sol 33. This book is so good so far. For this entry, I want to talk about the entries in this book! The formatting of this book makes it so much better than your average “and then he” books. I keep a journal personally, and the fact that he is keeping a journal or a “log” as he calls it, makes it so much more relatable. His journal is an amazing addition. I specifically like the entry for sol 11. All he has for that entry is one single sentence, which adds so much to the book. “I wonder how the Cubs are doing.” (Weir 13)This entry adds so much humanity to this character. Mark is shown as some roughneck survivor on a planet that isn’t meant to be survived on. But he’s not. He is just another person who wants to get out of a bad situation. This entry sums that up in one simple sentence. Our brains wander, and so does his.  Sometimes we have nothing to say, and neither does he. It does make me wonder however. Is he from Chicago? Andy W...