Space Opera: The Martian (5 Points)

 Readings for this week emphasize works that use the genre markers of 19th-century popular fiction and place them in the context of an imagined future. Post a response to what you read this week discusses what elements from other genres have been used in the work you read. Remember to add a comment on another student's blog.

I know the whole point of this genre is that it’s a Space Opera, but while reading I couldn’t help but compare it to some of my favorite movies Alien and Aliens. The way we are taken on the journey of Mark Watney on his survival on Mars, even though not as threatening as being attacked by the Xenomorphs, but, still being stranded on your own without your crew to survive on a planet that isn’t necessarily suited for humans is still a terrifying experience. Comparing Mark’s experiences and Ellen Ripley’s experiences made the book more enjoyable to read personally. But observing Mark’s actions as he skillfully devises plans to aid his survival by creating a garden as his oxygen supply was just so interesting and smart, although I already knew a bit from the movie, just all the more makes you route for our main character’s survival. Being able to use whatever leftover scraps he had and using them to build his container and “bedroom” just astonishes the readers.

The pacing reminds me of Aliens, Get Out, Parasyte, and other horror movies where it has a really slow build-up and sound scary hump and then goes back down and then goes to the true climax, it like psyches you out with that first little hump but then it HITS you with the actual climax and lasts for a decent amount of time, forcing you to stay on your toes the whole time, not knowing the true outcome or knowing when this moment will pass. I surprisingly enjoy this format, I initially thought the slow build-up would lose a lot of people on the way, but if done right, it can make the payoff feel so satisfying. I think I would compare how this book made me feel was similar to how I felt while reading Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer.