The Martian - #Discussion

[wanderingheart]

It's the 22nd! Let's discuss The Martian!! How many of you guys have read the book and seen the movie? How true to the book is the movie? I really want to see the movie, so this is just for my own curiosity.

1. What makes us root for a character to live in a survival story? In what ways do you identify with Mark? How does the author get you to care about him?

2. Do you believe the crew did the right thing in abandoning the search for Mark? Was there an alternative choice?

3. Who knew potatoes, duct tape, and seventies reruns were the key to space survival? How does each of these items represent aspects of Mark's character that help him survive?

4. How is Mark's sense of humor as much a survival skill as his knowledge of botany? Do you have a favorite funny line of his?

5. To what extent does Mark's log serve as his companion? Do you think it's implicit in the narrative that maintaining a log keeps him sane?

6. The author provides almost no back story regarding Mark's life on Earth. Why do you think he made this choice? What do you imagine Mark's past life was like?

7. Were there points in the novel when you became convinced Mark couldn't survive? What were they, and what made those situations seem so dire?

8. To what extent do you think guilt played a part in the crew's choice to go back to Mark? To what extent loyalty? How would you explain the difference?


As always, feel free to discuss past these questions. Hopefully these will just get the ball rolling!

[onesweetworld]

I read the book. I need to see the movie. I should have done that today.

[ceejay]

Discussion time already!? Dang it, I still have 100 pages to go. I'll try to finish tonight. I love it though and have been up late reading every night this week!

[joy]

Bah!! I'll need to answer this tomorrow when I'm not mobile.

[ellabee]

Oct 22, 2015 18:56:24 GMT -5 joy said:

Bah!! I'll need to answer this tomorrow when I'm not mobile.

Ditto. Too much to say with just my thumbs!

[LadyNymeria]

Skipping over all posts to say I fail. I haven't finished yet. Almost done!

[ceejay]

I just finished! Will comment on the questions tomorrow.

[butlerfan]

I'm still on the wait list for it.

[mosdub]

1. What makes us root for a character to live in a survival story? In what ways do you identify with Mark? How does the author get you to care about him?
     I think the first-person perspective of the logs helped a lot.  He was hilarious and explained things in layman's terms. 

2. Do you believe the crew did the right thing in abandoning the search for Mark? Was there an alternative choice?
     I think they did the right thing.  Mark made sure to say that several times too.  Given the circumstances they had absolutely no reason to believe he was alive.  

3. Who knew potatoes, duct tape, and seventies reruns were the key to space survival? How does each of these items represent aspects of Mark's character that help him survive?
     In such a sterile and isolating place these 3 things were more tangible connections to the normalcy of "home".  You'd have fresh potatoes at home (as opposed to freeze-dried food) and some duct tape lying around and some dumb TV re-runs on in the background.
     Obviously the potatoes are significant due to his botany expertise, but I think also because there is some metaphor in there as they are a hearty  and resilient plant that can continue growing and succeeding even after getting cut into pieces.  NASA could have sent them with some ears of corn or cranberries but the writer chose potatoes.  I guess he couldn't have grown the corn or cranberries so that would have changed the whole story just for that reason.
      Duct tape is known for being a fix-all so I guess that could represent his ability to fix/repair/adapt in order to survive.
      The seventies re-runs...I think may have just been a comedic relief thing.       

4. How is Mark's sense of humor as much a survival skill as his knowledge of botany? Do you have a favorite funny line of his?
    Definitely the space pirate quote!  

SPOILER: Click to show

{Click here to see more.}
“LOG ENTRY: SOL 381 I’ve been thinking about laws on Mars.

Yeah, I know, it’s a stupid thing to think about, but I have a lot of free time.

There’s an international treaty saying no country can lay claim to anything that’s not on Earth. And by another treaty, if you’re not in any country’s territory, maritime law applies.

So Mars is “international waters.”

NASA is an American nonmilitary organization, and it owns the Hab. So while I’m in the Hab, American law applies. As soon as I step outside, I’m in international waters. Then when I get in the rover, I’m back to American law.

Here’s the cool part: I will eventually go to Schiaparelli and commandeer the Ares 4 lander. Nobody explicitly gave me permission to do this, and they can’t until I’m aboard Ares 4 and operating the comm system. After I board Ares 4, before talking to NASA, I will take control of a craft in international waters without permission.

That makes me a pirate!

A space pirate!”

5. To what extent does Mark's log serve as his companion? Do you think it's implicit in the narrative that maintaining a log keeps him sane?
     I think journaling is known to be a healthy thing emotionally/mentally.  I think it probably felt like he was having a conversation even if it was one-sided.  He imagined a crew reading his logs years later after he died and could speak to them in a way.  

6. The author provides almost no back story regarding Mark's life on Earth. Why do you think he made this choice? What do you imagine Mark's past life was like?
     I kind of liked that we didn't know much about his time on Earth and that there wasn't a strong love story about getting back to his wife/kids.  It was completely about survival and the relationships of the people trying to save him.  I personally imagine Mark's life on Earth was full of adventure and education.  I doubt he vegged out at home much - his idea of a day off was probably fixing things around the house or going hiking somewhere.

7. Were there points in the novel when you became convinced Mark couldn't survive? What were they, and what made those situations seem so dire?
      When the airlock blew and he cracked his helmet I did not see how he could possibly survive.  You got the feeling that the Hab was his safe place and to know that all of his potatoes and all of his stuff was exposed to the Martian atmosphere was devastating.  Also being stuck in the airlock with a leak in his helmet was ridiculous.  Where could he go and what could he do?  

8. To what extent do you think guilt played a part in the crew's choice to go back to Mark? To what extent loyalty? How would you explain the difference?
       Good question!  I think loyalty played the biggest part, but I'm struggling to define the difference between loyalty and guilt in this situation.  Maybe someone else can answer this one better! 

[ellabee]

Answering some of the questions. Will add more later.

2. Do you believe the crew did the right thing in abandoning the search for Mark? Was there an alternative choice?
I think they did. They got the official mission scrub from NASA, they had readings from Mark's suit that said he didn't have life signs and that his suit depressurized. Lewis had to make the tough decision to keep searching and risk her whole crew, or accept that Mark was lost and save the 5 others.

4. How is Mark's sense of humor as much a survival skill as his knowledge of botany? Do you have a favorite funny line of his?
"Hey, look! Boobs! (.Y.)"

5. To what extent does Mark's log serve as his companion? Do you think it's implicit in the narrative that maintaining a log keeps him sane?
Totally agree with ******, the log is like his Wilson in Cast Away. At one point in the book, before he gets Pathfinder, he does say that he'd give anything to have a conversation with anyone. Then he says that actually the log is a conversation with anyone who reads it, so it is a conversation, albeit a lopsided one. I think that mentality helps him feel like his journey and efforts to survive will be heard and recognized by someone, even if it's after he's dead. 

7. Were there points in the novel when you became convinced Mark couldn't survive? What were they, and what made those situations seem so dire?
I thought he was totally screwed when the HAB airlock blew off. I probably felt that his situation was most dire after that happened. His crops were gone and the airlock and EVA suit were leaking. 


Extra questions:

How did you feel when Johannsen told her dad about the crew's plan to have her cannibalize them if they missed the supply probe? This was probably the most shocking part of the book for me.

***Movie spoiler question***

SPOILER: Click to show

For anyone who saw the movie - when Mark reaches Ares 4, we see his emaciated body as he takes off/re-suits for liftoff in the MAV. What are the lesions covering his skin? I don't remember anything from the book explaining this and they don't say anything about it in the movie. The result of not being able to bathe for over a year? Vitamin deficiency (although the book says he has multi-vitamins)?

[mosdub]

Movie spoiler/question:

SPOILER: Click to show

{Click here to see more.}I was REALLY bummed about one thing - when they show Watney in the classroom at the end of the movie I really hoped they would have him say that quote about people pulling together and helping - that the good outweigh the bad in this world. I thought that was such a wonderful quote and integral to his experience, why didn't they include it?

[joy]

1. What makes us root for a character to live in a survival story? In what ways do you identify with Mark? How does the author get you to care about him? I rooted for him for two reasons: I'd root for nearly anyone abandoned on Mars and I related to him as a scientist so I felt for his struggles. The author helps us care about Mark by his attitude. He never loses his sense of humor, which makes us laugh, diffuses the seriousness of the situation, and helps us relate to this guy in a situation that we've never been in.

2. Do you believe the crew did the right thing in abandoning the search for Mark? Was there an alternative choice? Yes, of course they did. Sometimes you need make a choice between survival of the whole crew versus survival of one crew member. Within all reason, you fight for the whole crew, but Mark was "dead" and getting his body would help nothing. If they did try, it put the entire crew in danger. Their later choice to go back and get him was made under very different circumstances - enough life support and help from NASA. The chance of losing the crew was so much smaller.

3. Who knew potatoes, duct tape, and seventies reruns were the key to space survival? How does each of these items represent aspects of Mark's character that help him survive?

4. How is Mark's sense of humor as much a survival skill as his knowledge of botany? Do you have a favorite funny line of his? "Space pirate!!!!" His sense of humor is his stand in for hope. You need something to keep the feelings light or you'll fall into a pit of despair. His sense of humor saved his life as much as his knowledge of botany.

5. To what extent does Mark's log serve as his companion? Do you think it's implicit in the narrative that maintaining a log keeps him sane? Yes. The log is his Wilson.

6. The author provides almost no back story regarding Mark's life on Earth. Why do you think he made this choice? What do you imagine Mark's past life was like? The story isn't about the Mark before; the story is about the Mark trapped on Mars.

7. Were there points in the novel when you became convinced Mark couldn't survive? What were they, and what made those situations seem so dire? Honestly, the car crash was the most devastating situation to me. In the end, it was probably the most meaningless accident, but had it gone even slightly more wrong, it would've been so over. No hope of getting to the Hab, no hope of getting anywhere.

8. To what extent do you think guilt played a part in the crew's choice to go back to Mark? To what extent loyalty? How would you explain the difference? The crew's choice to go back was about loyalty, not guilt. Going into any huge scenario like this, you know full well what the stakes are and what has to happen when. These guys were trained and mentally prepared. Wanting to get Mark wasn't about guilt - it was about reuniting their crew and making sure that everyone who went out comes back. I think - in the end - that is what keeps these crews together - intense loyalty to each other.

Guilt would imply that they did something wrong. I don't believe that they did anything wrong. Loyalty implies that - against crazy odds - you are bound to another person. Against bad odds (but not super bad), loyalty drove that crew away from Earth and back to their teammate.

[joy]

Oct 23, 2015 8:05:00 GMT -5 ellabee said:

Extra questions:

How did you feel when Johannsen told her dad about the crew's plan to have her cannibalize them if they missed the supply probe? This was probably the most shocking part of the book for me.

I was surprised for about a split second and then realized that people have done much worse in the name of survival.

I think the real question was whether Johannsen would have gone through with it, but then that would be a look into her character, which was a bit beyond the scope of the book.

[thelittleredm]

Omg, how is it already the 22nd??? I'm only half way through the book -.-

[rablissful]

I giving loved this book. I laughed so much. I couldn't put it down! Read it in two days.

My only beef was that I wanted an epilogue to go over what happened when he got back to Earth.

rablissful didn't like the ending, surprise surprise.

I haven't seen the movie yet but I think we're going to go next week. We shall see.

1. What makes us root for a character to live in a survival story? In what ways do you identify with Mark? How does the author get you to care about him? It's human nature to try and help fellow man (which they talked about in the book). Any time someone is missing search potatoes are made. Hurricane? We send money for repairs and relief. We inherently want each other to survive.

Mark is fucking hilarious. And he's a bad ass scientist. I was geeking out so hard when he was talking about how to start his farm.

Watney was a good guy. Stranded on a planet. I think you'd have to be pretty heartless to NOT root for him. Plus it helps he keeps you laughing with his running commentary.

2. Do you believe the crew did the right thing in abandoning the search for Mark? Was there an alternative choice? Yes, they did the right thing. Their only other choice would have been to abandon their commander, but then they would have been fucked because that's twice as many mouths to feed while stranded on a planet.

Mark agreed it was their only viable option. He understood.

3. Who knew potatoes, duct tape, and seventies reruns were the key to space survival? How does each of these items represent aspects of Mark's character that help him survive? As a PO said (I think mosdub?) each item represents something tangible from home. It's nice to have those little reminders on another planet.

Potatoes simultaneously kept him busy and feeling productive by using his botany background and allowed him to survive long enough to get rescued. I'm embarrassed to admit that I gasped when the HAB blew because my first thought was OMG THE POTATOES!!

Duct tape is duct tape. It can fix everything. Even Mark says "Also, I have duct tape. Ordinary duct tape, like you buy at a hardware store. Turns out even NASA can't improve on duct tape."

70s reruns allowed him to connect with humans when he was literally alone on a planet. It was more than just "passing the time" it was about not losing his humanity.

4. How is Mark's sense of humor as much a survival skill as his knowledge of botany? Do you have a favorite funny line of his? I believe his sense of humor is the main reason that he didn't get depressed or give up. If you're always looking at the funny side of things, it's hard to say fuck it and throw in the towel.

Anytime he talked to NASA was hilarious. My fav though was when they were talking about Iris.

SPOILER: Click to show

"JPL: Good, keep us posted on any mechanical or electronic problems. By the way, the name of the probe we're sending is Iris. Named after the Greek goddess who traveled the heavens with the speed of wind. She's also the goddess of rainbows.
WATNEY: Gay probe coming to save me. Got it."

Oh and...

SPOILER: Click to show

He turned back to Venkat. "I wonder what he's thinking right now."

LOG ENTRY: SOL 61
How come Aquaman can control whales? They're mammals! Makes no sense.

Also, when he drew boobs. I almost died.

Andplusalso

SPOILER: Click to show

"If ruining the only religious icon I have leaves me vulnerable to Martian vampires, I'll have to risk it.

5. To what extent does Mark's log serve as his companion? Do you think it's implicit in the narrative that maintaining a log keeps him sane? His log allows him to get out his thoughts, all of them, even if he doesn't have another person to talk to about it. It also ensures that he has done sorry of legacy if he doesn't make it, people would know what happened. Both of those things would help anyone stay sane.

6. The author provides almost no back story regarding Mark's life on Earth. Why do you think he made this choice? What do you imagine Mark's past life was like? I honestly didn't even notice this.

That being said, it was probably to keep the reader rooting for Mark and to keep us concentrated on the situation at hand. If the author decided he was an asshole on Earth, we wouldn't root for him nearly as hard.

That being said, I don't think he was the asshole. I think he was the extremely intelligent class clown that wanted to make everyone happy.

7. Were there points in the novel when you became convinced Mark couldn't survive? What were they, and what made those situations seem so dire? After the farm was ruined and the protein bars on Iris went to shit (Yes, before it even blew) I was just like "awww fuck, this isn't going to have a happy ending is it."

Without the probe and potatoes he would have starved. Everyone was helpless, including Mark.

8. To what extent do you think guilt played a part in the crew's choice to go back to Mark? To what extent loyalty? How would you explain the difference? I think the only one who really went back out of guilt was the commander, everyone else seemed to be on the loyal side of things.

The difference between guilt and loyalty is that if the party who feels guilty didn't, they would never make that decision whereas if you are loyal you will choose your companion no matter what the circumstances are.

[rablissful]

Where the eff is pippacricket?! You are slacking!

[rablissful]

Oct 23, 2015 15:01:41 GMT -5 pippacricket said:

Oct 23, 2015 12:39:33 GMT -5 rablissful said:

Where the eff is pippacricket?! You are slacking!

Way to throw me under the bus!! I was on track to finish the book yesterday but I didn't have time to read after my RE appointment. And I didn't want to come in here in case there were spoilers!!!! GET OFF MY BACK WOMAN!!!

In my defense I totally thought you finished it since you had asked if I had the other day.

[risscaboobs]

Oct 22, 2015 16:45:38 GMT -5 wanderingheart said:

It's the 22nd! Let's discuss The Martian!! How many of you guys have read the book and seen the movie? How true to the book is the movie? I really want to see the movie, so this is just for my own curiosity.

1. What makes us root for a character to live in a survival story? In what ways do you identify with Mark? How does the author get you to care about him? I just loved this guy's personality. He reminded me so much of my dad. I laughed out loud quite a few times.

2. Do you believe the crew did the right thing in abandoning the search for Mark? Was there an alternative choice? I do. They truly believed he was dead, and they were endangering themselves by remaining there. They did what they had to do knowing what they did.

3. Who knew potatoes, duct tape, and seventies reruns were the key to space survival? How does each of these items represent aspects of Mark's character that help him survive?

4. How is Mark's sense of humor as much a survival skill as his knowledge of botany? Do you have a favorite funny line of his?

5. To what extent does Mark's log serve as his companion? Do you think it's implicit in the narrative that maintaining a log keeps him sane?

6. The author provides almost no back story regarding Mark's life on Earth. Why do you think he made this choice? What do you imagine Mark's past life was like?

7. Were there points in the novel when you became convinced Mark couldn't survive? What were they, and what made those situations seem so dire?

8. To what extent do you think guilt played a part in the crew's choice to go back to Mark? To what extent loyalty? How would you explain the difference?


As always, feel free to discuss past these questions. Hopefully these will just get the ball rolling!

Welp, works over!!! I'll finish the rest of my review another time haha.

[LadyNymeria]

Finished!! I'll try to come respond to posts here this weekend sometime.

[ceejay]

I don't have much to add about the discussion questions because most of my answers would be the same as what has been said already.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Mark's personality and sense of humor made the story compelling and so enjoyable to read. I was laughing out loud frequently while reading. I really appreciated the science throughout the book and the creative ways that Mark used botany/chemistry/physics/engineering to keep himself alive.

The whole idea of space travel has always intrigued and terrified me. I love learning about space and the fact that humans could visit Mars in my lifetime is so exciting to me. But at the same time, I would never, ever, EVER want to be an astronaut myself, and I actually have nightmares about being lost in space. In many ways, what happened to Mark would literally be my worst nightmare, and I know I'd never be able to keep the same positive attitude that he had. His personality/sense of humor was just as important of a survival skill as his botany and engineering abilities. To be stranded alone on a planet with no guarantee of rescue would be so scary, but he kept a good attitude through it all.


My favorite "quotes" were when he typed boobs... that whole set up was hilarious:
JPL: "... Also, please watch your language. Everything you type is being broadcast live all over the world."
Watney: "Look! A pair of boobs! -> (.Y.)"

Also the "goddess of rainbows" probe quote that rablissful mentioned.

And when he decides to rename "kilowatt-hour per sol" as the new scientific unit "pirate-ninja."

[LadyNymeria]

I agree with what others have already responded for the discussion points, so I'll just say that I loved the book and can't wait to see the movie.

I think my favorite line of the whole book was the boobs comment. I think keeping up the comedic aspect of his personality really helped him get through the ordeal. When things went wrong, he seemed to laugh them off for the most part rather than panicking.

The only part of the book I wasn't thrilled with was when the hab canvas on the MAV ripped during the launch. I understand that due to the force of the launch it probably would have really ripped, so of course they had it happen in the book, but by then I just wanted him to get to Hermes. Just felt like "did they really need to throw another potentially fatal issue at him?"

But overall I loved the book and I'm really excited to see the movie now.