The book's been on my radar (?) for a long time. I mean to say, it was a book I heard about, found interesting and added to the never-ending list of books that sound fascinating and you would love to read one day...hopefully. So when I saw the trailer for the movie come out (a good trailer, I have to say; its job was to increase curiosity for the movie and the story, and boy did it do its job), I picked the book up. What better time to read, right?
I said I picked it up, more like I tried to and then waited a long time for my turn. Long time. The library wait was gruelling. As usual, my idea was not so original, and plenty of people had the same idea (or wish?) and went to the same well to quench their thirst, hence the wait. Fascinating places, Libraries.
A few weeks later, I have finally read the book. I had been meaning to start writing something at least, hopefully as a way to understand my thoughts, or whatever comes out of it, so here we are. The trailer got me to pick up the book, why not let it be the one where I pick up a pen too? Well, a laptop really, but you get the point. Talking about writing, the book does it way better than me, obviously. First-time writer here, eh - not really first time, you sometimes wrote things for school, but it was not a big part of my education, nothing original really, everything was given to you. So in that way, the first time, as you can well see from all the meandering.
The writing in Project Hail Mary was not meandering, it drew me in immediately with its simple (not meant in a bad way at all, the opposite actually), easy-to-read, immersive prose. And now I am stuck on how to even describe...or talk about the book without spoilers. Genius. Two words that come to mind when I think of the book are Hope, Curiosity.
So Reviews, how does one write a review. What is a review? What do I want to tell with it? Well, for one, people would want to know if this book could be something they might like. That begs the question, how does one generally decide if they like a book? It must be different for everyone, naturally, given how diverse we all are. Let's turn our eyes to most common, or say widely loved parts that make a widely enjoyable story. That brings a question up, do people like to read science in their stories?.
Well suffice to just add a little disclaimer: If you don't like much science, problem solving in your books, then maybe this book might be less enjoyable for you, and for people who love science in their fiction, it is well done in this book, it doesn't over shadow the prose, and is not the only driving element. The story is as much about hope, humanity, perseverance, curiosity, as about science being a way to view the world, rather than a collection of facts. A sentiment I wholeheartedly agree with.
The story starts with a guy waking up from what he deduces was most likely a coma, in a sterile room, with no idea of who he is, where he is, what happened. He only has two more people in beds like his, and a distinct Quarantine feel. From there he questions his own thoughts, to understand who he is, and try to discover why he is hurtling through space.
Pretty bleak situation right? I thought so too, but Andy Weir infuse the story with hope, and curiosity, not merely for the sake of solving a problem, but to understand the world and the beings around us. The Protagonist was quite relatable, and I admired how self-aware he was of his thoughts, and kept a sense of humour in face of Uncertainty. After spending roughly 500 pages in his head, I miss him, and I completely understand why his chosen profession suits him. The character development only made him and the story more endearing.
Now over to the criticisms, because of course, nothing is perfect. We simply strive for perfection and get better along the way. Coming back to the book, one of my biggest complaints with the story was how characters of various nationalities were described, for example, Russia, so vodka is a must. Or a few attempts at humor by depicting a 'robot' scientist and a 'crazy' scientist announce they are having a certain kind of relationship. I also missed a little more exploring of the effect the situation was having and would have on earth. But the story as it is, is quite enjoyable, hopefully gives everyone some new ideas to think about, and show the beauty of curiosity.
To summarize, an endearing and flawed protagonist, a story of immense scale, of humanity fighting for it's survival together and individually too, each in their own way. A clear recommendation from me. I feel compelled to say these are all of course my opinions and thoughts, and don't necessarily have to reflect your experience. After all
Ideas change people they go to, and get changed by them.
A very ungracefully paraphrased Idea (Thought?) from another amazing book, Genesis by Bernard Beckett.
