Ciao, Reader
Stories can be fun, escapism, or even fun escapism. I watched The Martian when it came out in theaters and again not long ago. Now I am finally into the book and almost finished. A question it brought is rolling around in my mind.
First, let me say I love a good survival story. I was rooting for Watney. The book exhausts a reader’s patience with science, but it’s Andy Weir’s thing, and it works. I know, I promised you a question, so here it is:
How many lives on Earth could have been saved for all the time and expense spent on saving just one on Mars?
Life is precious, and saving even one is a victory over death. We cheer. We celebrate. And while this was fiction, much of it is realistic to our society. I could not help thinking how many malnourished children could be saved with the millions (maybe billions) of dollars and brilliant minds that combined to execute the extraordinary rescue of Mark Watney.
I doubt this was one of the questions the author or filmmakers had in mind, but it’s relevant. And how the world got behind the efforts spoke to me about how narrow our worldview can be under certain circumstances. I think we can do better, remembering that life is precious and worth saving.
Recent Watch/Read/Recs
đź“ş My thoughts on The Boroughs
An odd little show that fell short of great. With some interesting twists and turns, it kept me until the end. The final reveals and how it ended felt a bit underwhelming.
đź“– Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Didn’t do it for me. (I stopped watching the show, it did a worse job keeping me invested than the book did). Given its popularity, it surprised me to find the book a bit less engaging than expected. I felt no connection to any of the characters. And then it just sort of ends.
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Thanks for being you,
Neil
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