The Martian Response

This week, I decided to read, The Martian, by Andy Weir, mainly because I had seen the movie years ago. I thought it would be interesting to see how the original would be, considering I enjoyed the film so much. What I found so interesting in this story was Mark Watney’s survival along with how NASA and so many more on Earth got together to save Watney. I will admit, that this story was sometimes challenging to read and understand because of Watney’s engineering/mechanical descriptions and equations. However, while challenging it also made sense considering the story revolved around a man stuck on Mars trying to survive, which correlates to very intense and not so easy explanations for how he will get off this planet. I also think what made this story so intriguing was that all the information being given to the reader has already happened and you are reading his commentary. As I said before, it makes sense for the complicated detailing and even with his commentary he goes on to explain the importance of every single decision and how it is life threatening. I thought in the story there was a good mix between a complicated explanation of what is going on and the almost insanity of one man alone and trapped in the isolation of a planet. I thought Andy Weir did a perfect job at subtly showing this man’s intellect mixed with how one’s mind works after so long of being isolated. However, his commentary or what they are defined as, logs, in this story are intended to be read by those back on Earth in the event of his return or death. I think, because of overly detailed explanations and descriptions made this story very realistic. Sometimes when it comes to space focused stories it’s easy to make it very fictional and cheesy, however, in The Martian it was clear that this person knew what he was talking about and had that realistic thought process of “I might die, I better create logs to help those on Earth to understand how I lived so long on another Planet.” I thought this novel was great and the story was so intriguing because of the stressful atmosphere, Weir created.      

Anansi Boys/American Gods Response

As I read, Anansi Boys it was clear that there was some relation between Anansi Boys and American Gods. Gaiman tends to take the unknown or mysterious and relate it to the real world, combining two things that would fortunately create a whole new world. I felt as though I couldn’t write a response without comparing his two novels, Anansi Boys and American Gods. And, being that I had already read American Gods it helped me in terms of perspective when I read Anansi Boys. Both stories are very metaphorical, which is Gaiman’s style when it comes to writing his stories. It seems that Gaiman always strives to compare things to one another. Such as, when Shadow has his altercation with the god of technology, Gaiman is almost saying that “language is a virus” and that “religion is an operating system” and that “prayers are just so much fucking spam” (51). By doing this within his writing, it sets up who the character is to the reader, which I enjoy. Also, an example of this is when Spider and Charlie, in Anansi Boys, lose their father, he contrasts masculinity and being a physical island, stating that “no man is an island” (106). Also, by adding this, he is adding emphasis and emotion, saying that men can also show a weaker side, especially when something as drastic as losing a parent occurs. I’m a fan of Gaiman, I’ve only read two books from him but I can say that I enjoyed both stories equally. I believe that most other authors don’t really go into as much great detail as Gaiman. For Gaiman, he can describe something so little as, a cup of water, so greatly that it makes that cup of water interesting and intriguing. I enjoy that Gaiman creates a certain atmosphere in his novels, especially Anansi Boys and American Gods. I think I enjoy his writing style so much because in a way it relates to my own artwork. Gaiman can play with phrasing and wording to speak to readers directly, whether that be emotionally or mentally. To me, his work is subtle while also sliding in important issues or discussions in his stories. For me, when I make photos I am always trying to show a narrative and trying to create something others can relate to and maybe see that other people are out there like them. I also, always try to be subtle because for me, making work that has whatever issue is being talked about thrown in viewers faces, it’s just tacky and cheesy.           

Night Circus Response

Night Circus is a book that in my opinion, you have to read twice. For me, the first time reading this story, I didn’t understand all of the nuances and characters, until it was too late. For me, that’s something very rare when it comes to good books. Most books you read today, you know the entire plot and how it’s going to end. So many stories nowadays are predictable and something you’ve probably read already. When reading, The Night Circus, I didn’t feel that way. The plot is so loosely written in the beginning that the only connection you can see is between Marco and Celia. As the story proceeds, one can get confused with the POV and time period jumps. But as the story goes on, Morgenstern, brings all of those jumps together and connects them to your two main connections, Marco and Celia. The book doesn’t really give you time to stop and think about what is happening and how Morgenstern is pulling so many plots together until the book is almost done.

What I appreciate so much about what the author does here is that she knew what she was doing with distracting you in the beginning making you think you knew the story between Marco and Celia, however, by the end of the book there’s so many different things happening and so many different people introduced and connected to one another.

My complaint about this book however, is the amount of POV characters. The first time reading this story, I was for sure lost and confused, there’s almost twelve POV’s if not more. Even at the beginning of the story the author makes you feel as though you’re the one walking through the circus but then is switched to another character. However, if you give it another read, and keeping the ending in mind you understand the characters more and why the author wrote them in at those specific times.

Other than that, I really did appreciate this book and it was a fun read!       

The Hobbit Response

When thinking about the hero’s journey in regards to literature, The Hobbit is a great story to look at. For me I think Thorin was a very strong character and leader. He was someone who demanded respect because of his royal blood. Although, his heroism is questionable, does doing the right thing make you a hero and fighting alongside the dwarves make you a hero? The movie no doubt portrays him as a hero, however, Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf are shown to do most of the problem solving and saving. Although. Majority of their journey Bilbo did have extra help with Gollum’s magic ring. Then, looking at Thorin, when he was cursed with dragon sickness, he was okay with the idea of many elves, humans and dwarves dying in battle as long as he didn’t have to part with a single coin. It took his companions to speak to him and clear his mind of the dragon sickness that he decided to lead the men into battle.

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