I don’t have much to say about this book except that I thought it was fun. Mark Watney was a quick whitted, humorous and exceptionally intelligent character. This book definitely had me googling if some things Watney did was possible (like growing potatoes on Mars). I’m currently trying to be more fit so couldn’t understand how Watney was able to be physically and mentally strong enough to survive like he did. He regularely partook in physically laborious tasks while eating less than half the amount of food he should’ve been consuming.
I wonder how the China/US relationship will be like in the future. I don’t really know if what Weir is commenting on is optimistic.
In times like this, sometimes you just want to read a happy story. That is what The Martian is. The book starts as a singular stranded man trying to survive and ends with a successful partnership between China and the U.S. , two NASA geeks on Earth successfully betting on optimism and a Martian crew being reunited. It’s a story about humanity’s hope, and about transcending beyond being individuals to rise up to momentious occasions. And ya know what? Cool.