The Martian by Andy Weir

Something in the American spirit drives us to the frontiers. Even for the generation who came of age during the recent recession, frontiers draw them. For my generation that came of age during the Clinton era and landed in a jobless pit upon graduation, we still claim as our birthright the discovery of something new under the sun. But the sun is only the closest in a universe of stars, and discovery may happen under the sun or many moons away.

The Martian starts out as a journey of discovery into the heart of the unknown and turns into one man’s fight for survival on another planet with his own ingenuity, limited supplies, and no communication to his colleagues at NASA. His sense of humor keeps the reader entertained, but there’s a sense in which you know it’s also partly what’s keeping him alive. Beyond the survival instinct innate to all creatures, Mark Watney loves living, solving problems, and pulling off the impossible. He’s incredibly funny and likeable. He kind of makes you want to launch a startup and hire like 10 of this guy! A cool dude all around and a great hero for the kind of story where you need to be rooting for the man stranded on Mars for it to work.

Weir writes with incredible detail about the issues Watney encounters just trying to keep himself alive on Mars with what remains of the mission’s supplies, and deal with the boredom and daily mishaps – either one of which could kill him at any time. Tension builds throughout as the story shifts from Watney to NASA and back to Watney again. It builds in a way that isn’t forced and there’s enough movement to the plot that the “daily journal” format doesn’t get tiresome. In addition to the likeability of the characters and the author’s command of scientific detail, there’s something so authentic about the frontier spirit of this book. It harkens back to the days of Apollo when America did genuine space exploration that mattered and the American public felt captivated by it. As it continued, I couldn’t help but wish we could recover some of that spirit today. Instead of discretionary wars that accomplish little, as a country we could be expanding the horizons of our species by searching the wonders of the galaxy. Instead of bickering over budgetary minutia or hijacking antiquated parliamentary rules to grind politics to a halt, we could find purpose and pride in putting the best minds available to tasks that may one day lead to the first space colonies and a future for mankind among the stars.

Frontiers aren’t always boundaries we cross because there’s personal or political benefit. Sometimes we blaze trails into new territory because we have hope it will lead to a better world for our grandchildren, or simply because there was a mountain there that we felt in our bones needed climbing. It isn’t that we’ve set our sights too high in the 21st century that is the cause of our failure to thrive. It’s that we haven’t set them high enough. We’ve looked too long and too low at the quickest ways to make a quick buck and the fastest ways to make fast money. What we’ve left unattended is the worthwhile. We have neglected the old American staple – the impossible, irresistible dream of tomorrow. Watney’s genius – apart from mere intellect – is to be a pioneer every day with the confidence a new tomorrow will be there to greet him. That is his reward and the only prize he seeks. Like he and his fellow explorers, we are a frontier people. We can be one again.