The Martian — An Unexpectedly Emasculating Book Review

The Martian by Andy Weir is the type of book that should make one feel smarter after reading. Yet strangely enough, I only felt depressingly dumber. Throughout the course of this book, I couldn’t help but let my mind wander over my own chances if I were in the midst of similar circumstances. If I woke up stranded on Mars, with a metal pole sticking through me, with a space suit low on oxygen, I would probably be throwing up my hands, sighing regretfully, “well… life was fun.” Of course, I’d first recite the pledge of allegiance, pray my last prayers, and, if I had time, maybe deliver my eulogy to vast space. (I wouldn’t go down without dignity, mind you.) But that would be immediately followed by my abrupt bleh (death) as I collapse to the martian floor in a display of drama accurate to the adjusted gravity for Mars. On the other end of the spectrum, however, there’s Mark Watney who rebuilt a space system, created water by repurposing complex machines, and traveled 3200km across an unsurvivable Martian wilderness. It’s rather emasculating to be honest.

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Hello, it’s me world

As the headline suggests, this is my first hurrah on the internet. So, hello. We shall see how this goes with days to come. Hopefully, this is going to be something remarkable. Something that people will marvel at for generations to come. Something that will be taught in schools as an example of outrageous entrepreneurship and out-of-this-world wit and philosophic originality. Something that will define twenty-first-century society. Or maybe I will get two subscribers and lose my voice in the abyss of online hubbub.

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