Read Runners discussion

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first men to walk on the surface of Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first man to die there.

It started with the dust storm that holed his suit and nearly killed him, and that forced his crew to leave him behind, sure he was already dead. Now he's stranded millions of miles from the nearest human being, with no way to even signal Earth that he's alive--and even if he could get word out, his food would be gone years before a rescue mission could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to get him first.

But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills--and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit--he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. But will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?


This Buddy read is an initiative by me and dear Sourabh (who is practically useless, as all of you know already), but anyone and everyone is invited to join us in this journey through space. :P

Sourabh wrote: "ah! finally!

but the thing is..umm..how shall I put it..I finished it this morning. :P"

Seriously? :|

You are going to pay for this. Eating up my head to make up a thread and finishing the book before its created. -_-

Of course, you HAVE to discuss it. I'm not buddy-reading with walls. -_-

It's a nice book, fun to read.

I don't pick up a book solely based on its goodreads ratings, but then a score of 4.36 after 4 years of publishing is too good to resist.Picking this up after completing my current read, Girl on the train.

I don't think you should complain about him completing a book, Polo! I mean, it's not everyday that he finishes a book in such a short time. Being as lazy and as vigorous procrastinator as he is :P

Which reminds me, what's the status on India After Gandhi, Sou? :P

Woah. I never thought Sou could be such a fast reader :P

Ipshi- neither can I XD

Sou- on hold indefinitely? :P
No, of course- not lazy at all! :P

Well since you've already finished the book, are you interested in the ATOTC buddy read?

Sourabh wrote: "ATOTC? I have no idea what that is."

Of course you don't! You're not half as smart as we are :P
It's A Tale of Two Cities. Me and Ipshi start it tomorrow. I'll start A Clockwork Orange tonight. I don't have The Professor tonight *wails*

Sourabh wrote: "ah! nah! not in the mood for classics.

Clockwork Orange is disturbing! :|"

Precisely why I'm reading the two :P

Sourabh wrote: "You'll have language issues with both. :P"

And why do you say that?

Acha you mean with all those Nadsat language words? Yeah, I knew that. I downloaded a copy with Glossary for them :P

I can manage with Dickens. It's juts, he uses a lot of really really old slash mythical references! :P

LOL! Yeah, I heard it was difficult. How's it so far? And how far in are you? I'll start a little late!

Sourabh wrote: "20% done. Its.. weird. Lets see how it goes."

So much for not rushing into it! -_-

yeah :P
this just might be the second book you finish in record time :P

Still! That's all the number of books. You can count it on one hand :P

1 chapter in. Will try to read a little more tonight.
Stop gloating now that you've finished some books in such a short time :P

Oh sorry XD

Finished till Chapter 3.
(view spoiler)[I hope this is not going to be another Life Of Pi thing. I disliked that book so much. -_-

I like the Chemistry part. That was one of my favorite subjects before. And I like Mark's positive attitude. The way he talks, its like he is lost on an island and some ship will come up soon to help him out here. :P
The fact that he's waiting for Ares 4 reflects his optimism.

So far going good. (hide spoiler)]

Sourabh wrote: "I liked the chemistry part too. But it does seem far fetched sometimes. Making water out of burning hydrogen sounds well and good on paper, but my hundreds of hours spent in the chemistry lab have ..."

I have heard of that too. My friends in Engg also say many things are more theoretical than practical.
Maybe things are different with all that space equipment.

About his log, I think surviving 4 years on Mars is hoping a bit too much, but I do like the fact that he is optimistic nevertheless, as he writes it. Though his situation is no less fucked up.
I'm looking forward to how he manages to live on amidst such adverse atmospheric conditions. All those schemes he planned out (Crops etc.) seem good though.

The manure idea was pretty intelligent. :P

(view spoiler)[And the Earthlings finally learnt of The Martian. Thank God.

And Mark has begun reading Agatha Christie. :P
(hide spoiler)]

Sourabh wrote: "At least add it to your current reads. I don't know how far you have read.

And what I meant was that his writing seems a bit childish sometimes..borderline pretentious even (:P). I mean, it doesn'..."

More than him, I'd be bored to death if it were to be an autobiography.
Yeah, as I said, it feels like he's stranded on an island instead of a planet. Childish would be the word, exactly.

And thanks for reminding. I totally forgot about adding it to my current reads. ;)

Sourabh wrote: "Yeah, then i guess whether you like the book or not depends on what you were looking for in it. I was expecting some kind of psychoanalysis of the guy. :P

Someone told me that George R. R. Martin ..."

Hmm.. Probably. His therapist says he's a funny kind of a person, so probably that tone reflects that. But sometimes it gets too juvenile.

If you find anything Martin-ish, don't forget to give it to me. :P

Chapter 9 ongoing.
(view spoiler)[ Wasn't he planning for Ares 4? When did Pathfinder enter the scene? I'm confused now.

The satellites from Earth that were recording his movements, they discovered the fact that he wasn't aiming for Ares 4, but instead going for Pathfinder. But he just jumps to that, without mentioning any reason why he abandoned Ares 4 mission.
Or did he mention and it went over my head? o_O (hide spoiler)]

Sourabh wrote: "He didn't mention it . It's meant to be a plot twist. And yeah, funny is one thing, if but if he's still not scared, he probably has some kind of a mental disorder."

Oh hmm.. I think the reason behind his trek to Pathfinder was only to try communicating with Earth.

Yeah, he's so casual about it. How? :O

Done till Chapter 11.

(view spoiler)[Seriously this Annie girl wants a pic? When a guy's life is at such a vulnerable position, all she wants is a goddamn pic. I love Mark's reply... "Ayyyyyyyy!!!!"

:D (hide spoiler)]

Halfway through the book now, and liked it all the way. My knowledge of space exploration is limited to magazines and newspapers, so I'm finding the book informative. But since the book is an interplay of astrophysics and chemistry and geology and even botany, I had to re-read the passages at several places, to understand what exactly was happening. And Mark's wry wit is a real entertainer, and I don't find it too bizarre for his situation, coz there r ppl like that.

@Poulomi, You might've found the pace slackening a bit around chapter 11. But it'll change dramatically at Sol 119. Without spoiling it for you, I can say that I was stuck for a really long time at sol 119 to understand wat exactly was happening n how Mark was responding. To me, he was at his most ingenious at sol 119.

Vimal - I take it that you are re-reading? :)

I don't know about later, but I am surprised at how Mark is so easy about everything. If I were to be stranded like him, I might have found out a way eventually, but I would've been a mixed bag of emotions. So far I have found him moping only once or twice.

Mark's humor strikes me when he starts communicating. I've heard a lot about his witty remarks being a great entertainment throughout, but that remains to be seen as yet. Its going okay-ish for me, till now.

Lets see what lies ahead. :)

(view spoiler)["Venkat, tell the investigation committee they'll have to do their witch-hunt without me. And when they inevitably blame Commader Lewis, be advised I'll publicly refute it.
Also please tell them that each and every one of their mothers are prostitutes.
- Watney

PS : Their sisters, too.

Hahaha!XD (hide spoiler)]

Wait, How is he so bold? Aren't they his superiors? The whole NASA group and the JPL as well?
Some nerve he got. :O

@Saurabh and Polo - I'm reading it for the first time. I hadn't heard about this book before I stumbled on this thread. Sounded interesting, so took it up. Glad so far!

~~Poulomi Nymphadora Tonk$~~ wrote: "Vimal - I take it that you are re-reading? :)

I don't know about later, but I am surprised at how Mark is so easy about everything. If I were to be stranded like him, I might have found out a way ..."

By re-reading I meant that I had to re-read some passages and Google them to understand some of the concepts better.. For example the innovation in potato farming, the hydrazine reaction etc.

If I were stranded like that I wouldn't've been that positive for sure.Might not have taken up potato farming. I might've left it to fate and concentrated on completing all the poirot books and other digital books in the pen drive :) And that is why I like Mark's characterization. So unlike me that it's very interesting to read. His mechanical and botanical background and the Nasa training surely helped, but out-and-out positivity is not everybody's game. It's very rare to meet such characters in real life, so I tend to really enjoy them in fiction

Yep, with that expectation, you wouldn't've enjoyed this book.

We are not seeing what Mark actually feels. We are reading his account of what happened. Think of it as if he is maintaining a brave face, his logbook could be the Last thing people remember about him. Nobody would want to show their weakness in that case. He is behaving like he would in normal conditions. The way he wants to remember by.
Cheerful even though he might be scared like shit.

Yep, that's a good point. To make it seem like one is not afraid is a more common psychology than to actually not be afraid.He does record those tantrums in between, especially in sol 119, before he composes himself and ingeniously escapes from the air lock. I guess there might be more to come as I read on.

I think Utkarsh does have a point. It might be because he wanted the log book to be what remained of him, in case he died on Mars. But that makes the tone pretentious, like Sou said.

Its not that I dislike Mark, but I don't completely like him either as yet. Its too early to judge, I suppose.

Vimal wrote: "@Saurabh and Polo - I'm reading it for the first time. I hadn't heard about this book before I stumbled on this thread. Sounded interesting, so took it up. Glad so far!"

Glad to see you aboard the same ship, Vimal. :)

~~Poulomi Nymphadora Tonk$~~ wrote: "I think Utkarsh does have a point. It might be because he wanted the log book to be what remained of him, in case he died on Mars. But that makes the tone pretentious, like Sou said.

Its not that..."

Exactly.. No more judgmental discussions on Mark until we complete the book.(I'm not going to do it after completion either :D, coz I'm loving the book anyways)

Wow, another twist at the end of chapter 17. This time there is some good electrical and electronics stuff.

I'm around Sol. 120.. Didn't get much done today. Have a couple of off classes tomorrow. planning to read then.

Vimal, you are way ahead. *sigh*
And I already see you headed for a five star on the meter board. :D

Sourabh wrote: "[off-topic] Polo, listen to Space Oddity by David Bowie..if you haven't already..it has a similar theme.."

The name seems familiar. Will download directly. One thing I have a bit of faith on are your song recs, when it comes to you. :P

~~Poulomi Nymphadora Tonk$~~ wrote: "I'm around Sol. 120.. Didn't get much done today. Have a couple of off classes tomorrow. planning to read then.

Vimal, you are way ahead. *sigh*
And I already see you headed for a five star on t..."

Cool.It got very taxing after chapter 17,since he was into designing lot of things and my visualization couldn't catch up at all. So I've given it a break and planning to resume Saturday night. In the interim I'll be re-reading some bookmarked bits in chapters 15-18 which I couldn't completely comprehend.Some pondering on cards :D .Plus, I've got 2 other books going in parallel too, so I guess I'll be finishing this only by Sunday night.

And regarding the stars, it has been an enjoyable read :D

So how was sol 119 for you?

Vimal - That's good, you know. Getting all those detailing parts clear. The thing is, there's so much of the same, if I sat to try and understand parts which I didn't quite latch on the first time, I'll never finish this book. :P

Sol 119? When he discovers that leak in the EVA suit? I think burning hair and using the smoke to discover that tiny leak was a very brilliant idea. Otherwise it was all the same. Repairing and replacing.

More than those parts which involve Mark's means of survival out there, I'm finding the measures taken by Earth to get food to him more interesting. I could imagine those parts better. Especially the Iris launch and its failure.


Honestly speaking, I hope something better turns up ahead, because so far it's been so-so for me. I usually like ample detailing and imagery in a book, but this is getting too complicated for me to build up my imagination.

Chapter 16 done.

(view spoiler)[Okay, finally some action. Hermes is going back to Mars. I think all the while it was a better option than the Iris 2 plan. Hurling something like that at 300 m/s speed could damage away everything, no matter how heat-proof they render the food.

I love the Hermes crew. There isn't the slightest hint of hesitation in their voice when they learnt of Rich's maneuver. That felt good.

Finally Mark appears a bit like a normal being. Seeing him so laid-back all the while, this is a welcome thing. The messages he was about to leave for each member of the crew gave an insight into how he was feeling at that point. He finally realized how dire a situation it had become after the Iris 1 launch failed. (hide spoiler)]

Finished the book. :)

(view spoiler)[What an ending!
I love the Ares crew. The way they tackled the situation after the problem with the MAV launch was awesome. The book just got unputdownable in the last 120 pages!
(hide spoiler)]

Too bad Poulomi, you'd been deceiving me with distress signals and suddenly leap-frogged me and got done with it :D

Regarding the lack of imagery, I'm with you completely and I share your pain. But If I don't latch on to parts of a book, I feel like my head Will burst if I don't stop by sometime and get it sorted out. So yesterday I spent some good time on those areas. Last 50 pages remaining now:D

Yeah the crew is a cool one. We knew they'd be in action sometime isn't it. The cannibalism plan was an uncomfortable fit though.And regarding Mark, yeah right and isn't he getting progressively wittier with his dialogues and monologues:D

I didn't read ur last spoiler, but going by ur smiley and lack of sighs I think u enjoyed the final lap. I'll be completing it tonight as planned

Vimal - Lol! :D
I didn't think I'll finish it that fast. Last 150 pages were a blur. Finished it in one go. :D

And yeah, by the end, Mark does become more likable than he had been before, though not much upto my expectations. He seemed superficial to an extent, with all that over-cheeriness and casual attitude. I couldn't quite connect with him throughout.

That ending was what really made me feel good. :)

Sourabh wrote: "@Polo nice! review coming up?"

Hopefully. Though I already posted most of what I felt throughout the book, when you were snoring away. :P

And you can rate it abhi.. :P

Sou - Now that I have finished it, tell me what were your favourite parts?

And use spoiler tags. Vimal's still reading it. :)