Center for Teaching & Learning

Katie's Perspective:
When an intense dust storm with high winds on Mars overwhelms a team of NASA astronauts and causes an emergency evacuation, Mark Watney waits, impaled by an antenna. He is left behind for dead. Once he wakes up, he realizes his team has left for their year-long journey back to Earth. He travels to the Hab (short for “habitat”) to sew himself up and scavenge for food, water, and any means of communication with Earth. This comedic botanist must use his own genius resourcefulness to survive for the next four years until the Ares 4n mission lands, 3,200 km from Watney’s current location.
This novel is formatted with “sol entries” recorded by Watney to document his recent accomplishments and stability in the Hab. In case anyone ever finds it, he wants him or her to know how he lived as a Martian. Including these entries is an effective plot device of Andy Weir’s because it speeds up possible drag-on from explaining every single detail. It is also a nice recap of any material a reader may have missed from before and makes accessible any scientific information that didn’t make sense.
In The Martian, Weir explores a great theme that is important for young adults: believing in yourself. Throughout this book, the number and difficulty of the adventures Mark Watney attempts are risky, but important. I enjoyed reading from the narration of Watney because the small but powerful elements of humor were a nice balance among the drama and seriousness of the plot. He was a strong, optimistic protagonist who never gave up, even in the hardest situations.
As a lover of both science and action-adventure, this book immediately sucked me in. Each chapter held a new surprise or problem that you knew Mark Watney could find an incredible, ingenious way to solve—from making water by burning hydrazine and growing potatoes from soil, to driving a rover two thousand miles and contacting Earth.
I recommend this book to anyone who can read— seriously. No matter what type of reader you are, you’ll love it. I, of course, gave this book a perfect ten. I also recently saw the film based on this novel and loved it just as much. I would suggest reading the book first, but definitely watch the movie after. Overall, I loved this fast-paced novel and the sense of excitement it gave me while reading. I hope you take my advice, and love this New York Times best seller as much as I did.
Katie
 
Kaleb's Perspective:
In a future world not far beyond civilization today, teams of astronauts visit Mars to search for life and to research scientific data. As a dust storm forces the Ares III team to flee and return to earth, a satellite antenna impales the botanist Mark Watney. Fearing that Watney has died, the remaining astronauts leave Mars as soon as possible.
A few hours later, Watney wakes up looking into a bright sky; that’s when the shock sets in. He looks down to see a metal rod protruding from his side. Watney stumbles back to the HAB (Mars Lander Habitat) with no way to contact Earth. At the same time, the horror-struck astronauts entering the Mars orbit in the MAV (Mars Ascent Vehicle) sit in silence, thinking their best friend has died.
This captivating novel is a prime example of modern day sci-fi. It’s written from two point of views: Watney’s and NASA’s. While reading Watney’s portion, readers soon find out that it’s written in diary entries recorded through the HAB.
The Martian reminded me of classic Michael Crichton; the narrative voice is constantly feeding readers information, from detailed machines to chemical analysis. Watney is a funny protagonist who makes little jokes all the time, about the captain’s disco music or messages to and from NASA. He is also extremely smart: not only is he a botanist, he’s also a mechanical engineer. With these skills he is able to fix and avoid major complications. When reading, one of the problems to occur to me was food. Planning for a space expedition means astronauts plan for what they need, and avoid any extra weight. Luckily potatoes will soon inhabit Mars. His expertise as a botanist gives Watney the knowledge of plants, seeds, and sunlight.
The NASA ground team supplies media and newscasts with as much data they can. A young woman by the name of Mindy Park, who takes and observes satellite photos, reveals something game-changing for the people on Earth: Watney is still alive. Keeping the information from his fellow astronauts, NASA and other space organizations formulate ideas to get Watney home. After much controversy, a Chinese space station offers to launch supplies and food to help Watney survive until the Ares IV team arrives. The problem with this is that Ares IV is hundreds of kilometers away and lands in a few years.
Weir engages the reader with many plot twists. As soon as I thought events were unfolding as planned, an explosion or some catastrophic event proved me wrong. Strangely, I was disappointed that any time there was a problem, Watney was able to fix it or find an alternate solution. This was unrealistic and made it seem that anyone can live on Mars with a little training.
The Martian has been turned into a movie and has had thousands of great reviews. The actor Matt Damon, who portrayed Mark Watney, won a Golden Globe for Best performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical. He was able to show more emotion in the movie with body expressions, which made it even more captivating. All in all, I would give this book a five-star rating. I would also recommend this novel to any reader—young or old, boy or girl. I was placed in “the zone” any time I picked up the book and didn’t ever feel weary.
Kaleb
Crown Publishing Group, 385 pages