The Martian

“I bought this on a drunken whim” is a sentence that has immediately preceded many a relationship breakup. Not this time, though. I purchased The Martian from Amazon after having read numerous glowing reviews of it on Goodreads and quite a few beers. I then polished it off on a train ride to… somewhere. I don't remember where, only that it probably wasn't Mars. I do remember that I was somewhat down in the dumps at the start of that train ride, and by the end of it I was not only chirpy but positively fired up to go do some science. This is a useful frame of mind for me, given that's my job.

Rather than go into the many merits of Andy Weir's book I'll finish the review using the medium of Mars-based webcomics. Immediately before reading The Martian I was sad. Just like I am every time I finish reading this xkcd. By the end I was happy. Just like I am when I read this comic. ( )

I came so late to "The Martian" party. Not because I wasn't interested in it. But I always get leery about hyped books because I end up not liking them except for a few select cases. After watching the movie (and loving it) I was worried the novel would tarnish my enjoyment of the movie. I am so happy that I was wrong.

Andy Weir in the character of Mark Watney makes such a memorable guy that you could see yourself sitting around having a beer with and watching the sunset. He is a jokester who ends up being the very heart of his crew that has a mission to Mars. When a dust storm pops up forcing the crew to evacuate Mars earlier than expected, Mark is hit with debris and is left for dead. Readers get that he is alive, but it takes a long time for anyone else to figure it out. Weir switches between Watney's perspective, those at NASA who realize he is alive, and then his crew members aboard Ares 3.

Besides my love of Mark. I totally fell in love with the NASA PR rep Annie who was funny and brutal with calling out cowardice that she saw in others.

The character of Venkat Kapoor I found to be pretty great too. Of course the real hero (besides Mark) of the hour in the book was Mitch Henderson. Mitch kicked butt.

Also though this book shows the love that Weir has for space travel and astronauts, and just science in general. This book had me outside at one point looking up. I think many of us think/dream about space because it holds so many possibilities.

I thought the writing was great and Weir does a good job of having Mark and others explain what they are thinking/doing without making it too technical. Though at times I can honestly say I was a bit lost. Look I don't want to think too hard about manure, ever, so I am just going to trust that proper research was done.

This book was also very funny. I don't even know how many times I laughed while reading, but I cracked up a lot. The nerdiness of some of the NASA people (The Lord of the Rings) cracked me up, and Mark's horror of having to watch 70s shows and listen to disco music made me snort laugh a few times.

The flow from beginning to end really did work. I think it's like Weir knew when people were ready for an update from NASA, wanted to get back to Mark, or wanted to check on the Ares crew.

The setting of Mars though is definitely lonely/hostile for Mark. For him to crave the HAB (where he had to stay) and then going between that and him having to work so hard in order to stay alive (growing potatoes) and how much energy he is expending to keep going was just jaw dropping. Since I saw the movie first, it was easier for me to picture things though. I think if I went into this without seeing the movie, I would have been a bit more confused about the setup of things that the book was referring to.

The ending in the movie I liked much better than this one. We get more of a wrap in in the movie. The book ends on a joke (of course it does), but the way it is left, I can now see why Weir is planning on a sequel.

I highly recommend this book! ( )

This was a fun yet very stressful read. Watney was an amusing narrator and turned a novel that could have been potentially bleak at times into something genuinely enjoyable. ( )

Mark made me laugh and cry. I was glad this wasnt super heavy on the science of things. I love the pop culture references too. ( )

This was great! It’s a nice thrill ride with something around every corner. It really encourages you to binge-read. The humor and science of the book are great, important elements—they keep it from getting too over dramatic or self-serious. ( )