When talking about a story was mentioned in class, I instantly thought of my favourite book I read over the summer, The Martian by Andy Weir. The story is realistic science fiction, but felt different than the typical realistic fiction or sci fi novel. It follows a man named Mark Watney, who in a freak accident, is abandoned on Mars and left with nothing but one year of food and his wits to survive. Some way into the book, NASA sees signs of Watney’s life on Mars, and desperately begins to do everything they can to save him. A few things drew me into this book, but the first thing that really hooked me from page one was Watney’s attitude toward his situation. Ever since he woke up on Mars, impaled with a radio antenna, half buried into sand, he somehow kept it positive, with nerdy jokes and changing attitudes. The book is written like Watney’s diary, where it tells you what SOL(day on mars) Watney entered it on as well. This leads to mood swings or rapid change in attitude, such as one day, all was going great for Watney, and he says “I’m doing great and going to be rescued!”, only to have the very next sentence written to be “I’m fucked and going to die!” This book is one of the few I have actually laughed out loud at, and for good reason.
The second thing that drew me in was the incredibly accurate scientific aspects of the book, and the reasons they were so spot on. While The Martian was being written, Andy Weir posted it on a blog run by retired and on duty NASA employees(mostly engineers). They then edited all of the scientific aspects of the book to be as on par with NASA’s potential future projects, up to and including having an inflatable base of operations, to having space suits that seal themselves using the congealing of blood. This book was the most scientifically accurate fiction novel of the year, and for good reason too.
This book taught me a lot about myself and who I am. As I read, I noticed a few very interesting things about Mark. Firstly, he mostly stayed positive no matter what happened. He knew everything within his limits, but he pushed the boundaries of what was possible at the same time, such as when He grew plants on Mars, but did so as methodically and carefully as possible. All problems that he faced seemed to only be annoyances and setbacks, as the only person he could be angry at was himself for not being attentive or thorough. Everything Mark Watney did taught me that no matter wherever you are, how bleak the situation, focusing on the positives and trusting yourself will give you the ability to succeed.
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