The Martian
Ratings2,430
Average rating4.4
a bit unrealistic in the sense that a person left alone on Mars for over a year would probably go a little insane
I absolutely loved [b:Project Hail Mary 54493401 Project Hail Mary Andy Weir https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1597695864l/54493401.SY75.jpg 79106958] and, considering the hype around “The Martian”, I was very excited about this book.I've started the book convinced it was going to be a 5 star reading, decreased it to a 4 star and now I'm torn between 3 and 4 stars. Don't get me wrong, this is a very good book, Andy Weir does a brilliant job explaining science to non-scientists while keeping everyone engaged on the story and its characters. I just wished I have read this book before Hail Mary as the last one leaves the bar too high.What I liked:- Andy Weir writing is interesting and captivating and reaches a good compromise between simple and interesting - Watney - He is such a nice and funny guy that it is impossible not to cheer for himWhat I didn't like:- The remaining characters felt a bit one dimensional and I didn't care for most of them.- I would have enjoyed a more frequent change of POV/ location. I think the book was written this way to enhance how lonely Mark Watney was. However, more than lonely, sometimes I've felt a little bored as well and wanted to know more about what was going on on Hermes and earth. - Nothing can ever go right for Mark. Close to the 80% mark I was convinced the story was solving and then I've noticed I still had 2 hours of reading to do, which lead me to conclude that at least 5 more problems would occur, and 3 of them would be life threatening. Can´t you give the guy a break? Luckily Mark Sue is a very smart botanist and engineer, has quick reflexes and has a lot of tape and HAB canvas. Macgyver could not have done it better. This is an interesting book and deserves attention, I just prefered Hail Mary which is absolutely brilliant. I will now watch the movie as I can´t imagine a better choice for Mark as Matt Damon.
I'd seen the film so I knew how it was going to go, ergo no surprises. I don't like doing it that way, I always try to read the book first.
It was a fun read as our plucky young astronaut goes from disaster to disaster via DIY and disco.
Sure Watney is irritatingly optimistic, I understand that he got on several reviewers tits - and probably the crew's too! I found him a good diarist though, explaining the science and keeping me interested in his survival. He's nicely balanced by the parallel stories on Earth and the ship.
What stands out for me are the episodes where a cold, omniscient voice narrates Watney's activities on Mars - I actually found them pretty spooky, especially considering where in the story they appear!
Already planning on reading more of Weir's fiction and probably rewatching the film again!
4.5*
This book was a bit slow in the beginning, but definitely picked up its pace. Even though I would have loved to see Mark adjust to Earth again and see how the media treated him after he god back, this book still had an amazing ending!
An amazing book, sometimes there are things which are a bit complicated for me, but for the most part it was so fricking beautifully written.
Well that certainly lived up to all the hype! What a fantastic read! It was awesome following Mark's trials and tribulations on Mars and then what an exhilarating conclusion! Highly recommended.
Great story! Funny and interesting.
Loved this more than “Project Hail Mary”
Enjoyability: 3.5/5
Readability: 5/5
Recommendability: 2/5
3.5, roughly.
It doesn't take any effort to read, maybe I could say it's written approachably to a fault. It's often cheesy, and some characters are stereotypical and flat.
You could do worse, but this is far from a masterpiece, and sf is full of those.
Listened to the audiobook. Enthralling. That Mark Watney is a resourceful boi
Well apparently I'm a sucker for ‘stranded in space' stories - anything that reminds me of Apollo 13 just gets to me. Watney's monologue was too absurd for me with all the yay's, and he was such a bro sometimes it was painful. But I had fun with the overall story. The science was incorporated well and super easy to follow.
________________Reread #1: This is still super fun and addicting. I didn't even mean to read it again... I just couldn't stop listening to the audiobook after I put it on for background noise just before bed.________________
Reread #2 : Accidentally listened to the whole thing again in the minutes before bed over a few days. Look, it's just a fun book, and apparently I love it.
After listening to the audiobook I understand why the fans of the book were disappointed by the movie. Mark Watney of the book is so witty and funny compared to the Mark Watney of the movie. Maybe the first person humour that you enjoy as a reader is hard to convey in a movie. Regardless, I'm quite excited to watch the movie again
I felt the stress, the isolation, the tension and the relief. One of those books when you get close to the end there is absolutely no chance of you putting it down.
Loved the level of science geekery, the characters all felt real and the story was engaging all the way through.
Listened to the audiobook, don't know if that impacted things but I doubt it.
what can I say?
one of the very few times a movie was better than a book.
How did this make it into the book?
“...We have enough food left to feed six people for a month. If I was the only one, it would last six months. With a reduced diet I could stretch it to nine. But it'll be seventeen months before I get back.”
“So how would you survive?”
“The supplies wouldn't be the only source of food,” she said.
the book was painful. fiction is something that makes me relax, this book is a full-fledged science fiasco. even scientists have feelings. You're telling me a man on mars doesn't share his feelings? ... beyond him wanting to bond with a Martian goddess?
Venkat is a Hindu, as we're so often reminded when he refers to his gods. is that all that is there to him?
what's Annie's characteristics? she's dumb and she swears.
it's a pretty one-dimensional book, with the only dimension being all science, no substance.
Still fun as a re-read! Not quite as tight from an editing point of view as it could be, and it's hard to disagree with too many of the movie choices, but it still has plenty to offer!
This book was absolutely amazing! Best thing I've read this year. Perhaps the best sci-fi I've ever read. This kind of reading restores your faith in humanity.
Are you feeling isolated these days? Astronaut Mark Watney may give you a new perspective, because you can't get much more social distance than being alone on an entire planet. You may have seen the film adaptation of Andy Weir's The Martian. If you enjoyed the movie, you will absolutely adore the book. This was one of the rare cases in which I actually watched the movie first and picked up the book much later. Normally I'm a stickler for “book first, movie later!”. Here's the thing: even though I knew what was going to happen, this novel had me riveted. A freak storm on a mission to Mars leaves botanist/engineer/astronaut Mark Watney stranded on the red planet. His crew thinks he's dead, he has no way to communicate with NASA, and there's only so much food left. What follows is an edge-of-your-seat wilderness survival story, complete with mortal peril, incredible ingenuity, and lots of space.
Two things really surprised me about this book. I thought I would be put off by all of the “science stuff”. Wrong. Even if I didn't understand every science-hack Watney was trying to pull off, it never felt forced. It actually made me more invested in the novel and Watney's survival. The other surprise was how funny this book was! I was not expecting so much humor in a novel about being stranded on Mars. Watney is a sarcastic, joke-loving character, and I was laughing out loud while reading. The humor makes the novel more engaging, though it never takes away from the severity of his situation. I also really enjoyed the scenes back on Earth and in other parts of space. It just goes to show how one man's story can affect many people.
This book made me laugh, cry, freak out, and root for a fictional character so hard it could have been a real person. I highly recommend this novel if you have an interest in space travel, wilderness survival stories, and smart characters.
Story : Watney is stuck on Mars and he has to survive many days, so Ares 4 can come and pick him... a really interesting story that could be an amazing sci-fi thriller. So many explanations with technical stuff that I couldn't care ,,So, I did an EVA and then I put something in that thing called ... and then that didn't worked so I started a new technique using ... but it failed so [...]”. Repetition after repetition. I liked the parts on Ares 3 and on Earth... so many people working for the survival of one person (it's really heartwarming).
Characters : Oh boy, I didn't liked Watney that much. He was so unrealistic (using that word in a sci-fi is stupid, I know) because he always made jokes and he was acting like a child... Scooby Snacks, wtf? The other characters are whatever, I didn't really cared for them (tho, I liked the crew from Ares 3).
Overall : I expected something serious, but I didn't get that. The idea of the book is amazing, but I'm not a fan of the execution... this is like really overrated, in my opinion.
Easy to read and very accessible. Very funny, emotional and geeky.
Couldn't help but keep picturing Matt Damon though.
Great book for nerds, and also written with refreshing honesty, making the main character plausible and relatable. An amazing story.