By Andy Weir
LOG ENTRY: August 22, 2016
If you are thinking that this is a book about an alien, you are wrong. This is about a human being named Mark Watney who gets stranded on Mars (Mars? That’s another planet and help is only 140 million miles away? Super!) and is trying to survive (Obviously). The story is usually told from Mark’s perspective: through his log entries. And I have to admit, his log entries are the best thing I’ve ever read in my entire life. They are filled with humor, and that’s one of the reasons I couldn’t stop reading the book. I also give a huge shout-out to the author, Andy Weir, because I felt like I was Mark Watney, just by reading his log entries. That’s something you don’t feel every time you read a book.
While you are reading the book, you would probably notice that he swears a LOT. By a LOT, I mean at least one curse word every log entry or two. And how long are his log entries? They are different every time, but at most a page or two. So yeah, just deal with his swearing. He is stranded on Mars, with limited supplies, and there are endless ways for him to die. Did I mention that Mars wants him dead? I think I would be swearing as much as Mark if I was in his situation. At first, I thought it was going to bother me a lot, but it ended up being one thing I enjoyed because the swearing blends with humor so well.
Whenever I read a survival story, I always wonder if I could do stuff like that to survive. The answer I come to is: no. I would probably die within a short amount of time because I’m not a science genius like Mark and I don’t have outdoor skills. So, I am always amazed by what a character is capable of. Especially Mark, because in the beginning, the chance of his survival was below zero percent. No one would’ve had known that he was still alive until Mark used his brains. You might not think Mark is really smart at this point, but no stupid (by stupid I mean not a science genius) person can survive 717 days without direct help. I would just cry, cry, cry, cry, and cry. Especially when Mars is against my odds.
Anyway, after reading the book, I am suddenly interested in space exploration. I still don’t want to be an astronaut (I don’t want to end up in space by myself like Mark Watney) but I want to work in NASA and be a researcher. Space engineering would fit me. I have to thank Mr. Mark Watney for finding me a possible future that I never would’ve thought of. If it wasn’t for his humor and his knowledge about engineering, I might be still considering journalism. I still want to be a journalist, but now I have a backup. Or both. Andy Weir did both, maybe so can I. We will see in 10 years if I become an engineer or a journalist. Or something else. Either way, I would still be thanking Mark for many years because now I am interested in science. And I don’t think it’s going to go away for a long, long time. And that’s something my parents have been trying to get me to do (get me into some kind of engineering) but I have always said no because I wanted get into journalism. I think I can make my parents happy now. Yay for them. Thanks again, Mark Watney.
One more thing. For those who don’t think Mark Watney can be serious for a second unless he is in a life-or-death situation, here’s what he said:
“Every human being has a basic instinct: to help each other out. If a hiker gets lost in the mountains, people will coordinate a search. If a train crashes, people will line up to give blood. If an earthquake levels a city, people all over the world will send emergency supplies. This is so fundamentally human that it’s found in every culture without exception. Yes, there are a**holes who just don’t care, but they’re massively outnumbered by the people who do.” -Mark Watney
Mark Watney’s words hit me. He helped me realize what is to be a human on planet Earth. There are lots of differences between humans and animals, but the biggest difference that cannot be proven by science is human nature. As Watney said, we help each other out during our difficult times. That’s why we are humans.
I wish Mark Watney could be a real person. He’s just too smart and funny to be trapped inside a book. Maybe he could get us to Mars and NOT leave someone behind. Because, well, he is THE MARTIAN.