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“I’m pretty much fucked.”

That first line pulled me in and got my attention. I didn’t let go until the very end and boy was it hard to let go.

The Martian, Andy Weir’s first book, was phenomenal! In just under four days, I read it faster than any book I’ve ever read. It’s just that good. Image

Weir’s engineer background and lifetime love of all things space helped make The Martian an impressively accurate representation of life on Mars….especially when things go wrong.

The story revolves around Mark Watney, a botanist/engineer, who gets stranded on Mars after a disaster forces his crew to leave him behind. Upon realizing his situation, he declares himself “fucked,” but using his engineering skills and innate drive to stay alive, he does his best to find a way off the planet.

The reason this narrative is so captivating is that Watney is able to find quick solutions to his problems and crack jokes throughout the whole thing. No matter what predicament he finds himself in, he does his best to remain calm, find humor in his hopeless situation, and then start to devise a plan of action. His detailed explanations of how to fix an oxygen tank, drive out out in a rover, or fix the “HAB” unit he has to live in is fascinating. When sprinkled with his own dark humor, though, it makes the story that much more captivating.

The main lesson I got from this book was how to properly problem solve. Watney took every challenge and laid out what he had to do in order to survive. He remained calm, looked at his options, started to think out loud, cracked a joke here or there, and got to work. What was most impressive was how he was forced to calculate the time it would take to complete each task. Life on Mars is hard. When you’re stranded there with little food, water, and oxygen, it gets even harder. Every aspect of his life had to be calculated.

If I took anything from this book it’s that we should all start living our lives a little more calculated. Maybe not down to food rations, but at least to our own time. Every step we make costs us valuable time. Doing what is most important now will help in the long run.

It’s a blast of fun! I’ve never read a book that’s made me laugh and tense up at the same time. Watney is a riot and this book is a perfect example of how to get your readers laughing the whole way through. If you’re looking for a wonderfully compelling story I highly recommend The Martian.

~Nick