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Spare me. /The Martian/ is certainly not literary fiction -- it's pure genre fantasy, hard sci-fi. Of course Watney isn't going to bloviate on the nature of be

by CamTin 11y ago

Spare me. /The Martian/ is certainly not literary fiction -- it's pure genre fantasy, hard sci-fi. Of course Watney isn't going to bloviate on the nature of being human. We have plenty of masturbatory novelists doing that to death. Weir doesn't have to be one of them. The inspiring thing about Mark's story is that he doesn't despair. He doesn't need to because he thinks about the problem and realizes that there is a way out. He works instead of weeping. This is hugely inspiring, especially as someone who struggles with depression. Watney even mentions suicide, but only as something he'll do in preference to starving to death. In other words, one needn't give up just because things seem hopeless, but go ahead and give up if they actually are. Don't assume -- do the math and figure it out. If Mark Watney can find a way out of his situation, you can probably find a way out of yours. Most of all, remember that there are others pulling for you, and that they'll probably do anything in their power to help. Maybe they're not NASA, but they're there. They can't violate the laws of physics, but they can do a tremendous amount, and there's no shame in asking them for help.

teh_klev 11y ago
Dunno why your post was tagged as [dead], I vouched for it to un-[dead] it. You make some reasonable points. Indeed the book isn't going to win the Man Booker Prize or a Nobel Prize for literature, but it's a fun fast read. At least that was the case for me and that was back when the story was available free on Weir's website and as a 99p download for the Kindle in early 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130115160130/http://www.galactanet.com/writing.html https://web.archive.org/web/20130115160130/http://www.galact... I was very pleased for Andy when he got picked up by a publisher, it's nice to see an amateur author get some recognition for their writing passion, and even more pleased when I found out Ridley Scott was going to make a movie. I've read a lot of SciFi over the years (including many 600-1000 page tomes by popular authors where I wished I could get the time back) and whilst Andy Weir isn't quite in the same league as Iain Banks or Alastair Reynolds (who incidentally have a a few duffers in print), there's space for The Martian, even if the character of Mark Watney is a wee bit two dimensional. Not everyone might like the diary/blog style of the writing, but I think it works fine, and is a good enough way of writing up Watney's challenges and solutions. The Martian is an ok fun read and I don't think reviewers really need to come over all "literary critic" because it is what it is, a "Boy's Own" adventure on Mars solving problems with sticky tape, human poo, potatoes and other odds and ends.

by CamTin 11y ago

teh_klev 11y ago

Dunno why your post was tagged as [dead], I vouched for it to un-[dead] it. You make some reasonable points. Indeed the book isn't going to win the Man Booker Prize or a Nobel Prize for literature, but it's a fun fast read. At least that was the case for me and that was back when the story was available free on Weir's website and as a 99p download for the Kindle in early 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130115160130/http://www.galactanet.com/writing.html https://web.archive.org/web/20130115160130/http://www.galact... I was very pleased for Andy when he got picked up by a publisher, it's nice to see an amateur author get some recognition for their writing passion, and even more pleased when I found out Ridley Scott was going to make a movie. I've read a lot of SciFi over the years (including many 600-1000 page tomes by popular authors where I wished I could get the time back) and whilst Andy Weir isn't quite in the same league as Iain Banks or Alastair Reynolds (who incidentally have a a few duffers in print), there's space for The Martian, even if the character of Mark Watney is a wee bit two dimensional. Not everyone might like the diary/blog style of the writing, but I think it works fine, and is a good enough way of writing up Watney's challenges and solutions. The Martian is an ok fun read and I don't think reviewers really need to come over all "literary critic" because it is what it is, a "Boy's Own" adventure on Mars solving problems with sticky tape, human poo, potatoes and other odds and ends.