The Martian

Geeky survival story, good humor and believable drama.
Enjoyed various problem solvings by Watney and NASA!

Space is fascinating. Space is fascinating because it is big and because it's filled with unknown stuff and it is fascinating because it is profoundly isolating. Most sci-fi can only handle at most two of those things. In fact, most sci-fi focuses on disposing of the isolation of space as quickly as possible. In contrast, The Martian dials up isolation and down exploration. This shouldn't work, but it does and it's awesome.

The whole book reads kind of like a merge of an escape the room game and an episode of MacGyver, except set on Mars. The entire first sequence is Mark trying to do the algebra and botany to figure out how to create a farm from his own stool and the provisions in his emergency kit. The utter solitude of Mark on Mars is omnipresent for the first third of the book, and I really enjoyed contemplating that. If your speed is more space opera, this runs slow and technical. There's a lot of math and a lot of science and a lot of facts about Mars.

It's also really novel and deeply enjoyable to read a book where the conflicts are people versus the environment. All of the characters in this book (and eventually, there is more than one) get along and work as a team. On the one hand, Weir cares little for his characters and most of them read flat, on the other hand, it really optimizes the exploration of what really smart people, working together at their best can accomplish. I have no freaking clue how they made this into an enjoyable movie, BTW, maybe watching that should go on to my to-do list.

This book was flawless beginning to end! I love all the characters, especially Mark. He was simply hilarious! The science was incredibly done and interesting. It was a wonderful and captivating audiobook

Incredible!! Loved the science and was ridiculously accurate!!!! Completely thrilling and captivating. Bravo!!

if this had been instead released as a theoretical ‘how to survive on Mars?' reader without the cardboard characters, stilted dialog, easily surmountable situations, lame attempts at humor and general lack of literary merit, i could understand that. F++++, never reading NASA fanfic by OCD programmers ever again

Short and to the point, it's a distracting and fun read. Never destined to be one of my favorite books– a little too dry– nonetheless diverting.

Oh my oh my oh my oh my.

I've certainly picked some good books recently. WHAT A READ. I mean I'd been told it was good. They made a goddam film out of it. No disappointment here. I went through so many emotions reading it, totally along for the journey.

I enjoyed the different perspectives of writing, the different people working on things. I love love loved Watney's humour, the way he writes had me laughing on lots of occasions.

Brilliant.

This was the second time I read this book. The first time, it was so exciting to read something so good. It was one of the best books I had read in a while. It's written in a casual voice, which pairs well with the scientific details throughout. I'm not a science geek by any means, but it was very interesting to read his problem solving steps in what felt like real time. I appreciated the humor as well.

Запись в журнале. 548-е марсианские сутки. На чтение книги ушло две недели. И это были интересные, но трудные две (земные недели). Все-таки то количество технической информации, которое свалилось мне на голову, удержать было сложно. Я даже плохо представлял себе ровер и МВМ и некоторых членов экипажа...

Очень понравилась часть про спасение. Первую треть книги мне казалось, что это история о том, как выращивать картошку на Марсе, но хороший юмор удержал меня от того, чтобы бросить изучение этого вопроса и я дочитал до конца.

Помните, я смотрел фильм, снятый по книге режиссера Ридли Скотта? Так вот, я мог бы на нем ограничиться, потому что как там в книге проходил гидролиз воды или перетаскивание оборудования, я так и не запомнил. Однако, теперь я хочу посмотреть фильм второй раз, чтобы как-то прекраснее представить себе картину.

Марк Уотни (тот редкий случай, когда запомнил имя главного героя и не забыл после чтения книги) как-то умудрился прожить на Марсе почти два марсианских года и не умереть, не заболеть, не сойти с ума. Это как-то неубедительно, но с другой стороны, если писать суперреалистичную историю, то Марк умер бы на Марсе в день, когда его бросили и это было бы неинтересно.

Если вы не ботан, нерд, гик, фанат фантастики, то читать книгу необязательно — много подробностей про науку. Но в целом, я скорее доволен, чем нет, потому что все-таки интересно представить как выжить одному на Марсе.

Great book - and quite funny.

First time reading a book after I saw the movie. It was still a great read. Geeky and thrilling to the last page.

The writing at time feels very rudimentary, but the story is engrossing. It only took two sittings for me to read it, if that's any indication.

I really really liked this book. I really really liked the movie, so felt compelled to read the book, too. I found it interesting how things that were adapted for the movie to add suspense actually took away from the victory in my mind. I mean, it was all awesome while watching, but seeing the difference while reading... There was just so much left out (understandably) that was edge-of-your-seat and nail-biting to keep it light and move the story along. Again, I get it, but then some of the adaptations detract from the abilities of the characters - from their intelligence, perseverance, sacrifices - that could've made it that much more believable AND fantastic.
Still, amazing read.

LOVED the main character! He's hilarious AND a smart-ass!

Holy crap. This was fantastic and quite possibly the most stressful book I've ever read. It was so nerve-wracking and intense, but so so good. It was surprisingly very funny and entertaining, despite the fact that it's such a depressing situation. I could not put this down and I was so immersed in Watney's little world that I was actually sad when it ended. I want more of Andy Weir's writing, it was amazing and this book was fantastic. Seriously highly recommended, it's way funnier and more entertaining than you'd ever expect. Gotta go watch the movie now!

I really liked this! I was afraid it'd be too techy for me, but it was well-written and well-pared-down and I could visualize most of it well enough to follow what he was doing. It had enough human-content (emotions and such), funny moments galore! Although I must admit I was a little irritated at the ending, I wanted to know about how much weight he'd lost and his crazy long hair...

Thanks Andy Weir for this amazing reading!! Really recommend!

L'uomo di Marte, in originale “The Martian” è un romanzo di fantascienza, inizialmente autopubblicato come ebook nel 2011 e quindi in edizione cartacea nel 2014. E' il primo romanzo dell'autore statunitense Andy Weir; Sempre nel 2014 è stato tradotto in italiano, dal romanzo nel 2015 è stato tratto il film “Sopravvissuto - The Martian” diretto da Ridley Scott con Matt Damon nel ruolo del protagonista, che ha avuto un successo spaventoso.

La trama è abbastanza articolata e complessa: appena sei giorni dopo l'inizio della missione su Marte, Ares3, i sei astronauti membri dell'equipaggio vengono travolti da una tempesta di sabbia con venti che sfiorano i 150 Km/h, troppi per il veicolo “MAV” che ha lo scopo di riportarli in orbita a fine missione dove li aspetta la navicella “Hermes” che li deve riportare a casa. Il comandante della spedizione e la NASA decidono di abortire la missione e si preparano a lasciare il pianeta rosso. Durante l'evacuazione, un membro dell'equipaggio, Mark Watney, ingegnere e botanico, rimane seriamente ferito e disperso sul suolo marziano, dopo un periodo breve di concitate ricerche il comandante, credendolo morto, da l'ordine di partire e la missione abbandona il pianeta; Mark si risveglierà a tempesta finita, ferito e nel mezzo dell'ambiente ostile di Marte: inizia in tal modo il singolare naufragio dell'astronauta in un ambiente alieno, dove dovrà affrontare le difficoltà dell'ambiente ostile marziano che ripetutamente minaccia di ucciderlo. Saranno la sua caparbietà e la sua competenza (oltre allo sua incredibile ottimismo) a tenerlo in vita e ad avvicinarlo sempre di più alla salvezza... ma tutto questo basterà a farlo tornare a casa?

Ho scritto che la trama è complessa non tanto per la storia in sé, infatti se portiamo tutto al minimo comun demitatore non c'è niente di nuovo dal Robinson Crusoe e di altri libri simili, ad eccezione del contesto (qui fantascientifico): un uomo solo, “naufragato” in condizioni estremamente avverse in luogo completamente ostile, farà di tutto per tornare a casa; la complessità sta nelle trovate e in quello che escogiterà Mark di volta in volta per sopravvivere: il romanzo è infarcito di formule ed enunciati di chimica, fisica e meccanica e viene per esempio spiegato come ottenere l'acqua dall'anidride carbonica, come si separa l'idrogeno dall'aria, come ottenere esplosioni controllate, come i batteri sopravvivono in condizioni estreme, etc...

Il libro è scritto in prima persona per molte parti della storia, infatti noi leggiamo il diario di missione che scrive Mark, anche se poi veniamo intervallati con la descrizione di quello che succede sulla Terra, con la NASA che cercherà in tutti i modi di salvarlo e con tutto il mondo che starà con il fiato sospeso a seguire il più grande salvataggio della storia spaziale.

Malgrado la sua complessità e sebbene molto realistico nella sua finzione, la lettura è facile, coinvolgente, avvincente, molto divertente e fila via spedita come un satellite in orbita. Una delle sensazioni migliori che si ha nel leggere questo libro è che ti sembra impossibile che a tutt'oggi l'uomo non sai ancora atterrato su Marte, il tutto diventa così reale che alzi gli occhi dalle pagine e pensi che tutto è avvenuto davvero e si sta leggendo il resoconto dei fatti. Beh, quando succede questo, sei a cavallo del tuo rover marziano e hasta la vista, baby!

Ne consiglio la lettura a tutti, per la sua impeccabile capacità di catalizzare l'attenzione del lettore fino all'ultima pagina, non si riesce a staccarsi dal romanzo e si fa il tifo per il naufrago spaziale per tutta la storia, rapiti dai dialoghi dell'eclettico Mark, dalle sue disavventure, dalla sua quotidianità. Ne godranno tutti, da chi è appassionato di scienza, chi di fantascienza e chi di semplice avventure che fanno sognare.

Da leggere guardando le stelle.

A lot like the movie but with more swearing

MARK WATNEY. I LOVE YOU TO MARS AND BACK .
THIS BOOK BLEW ME AWAY. I LOVED EVERYWORD .
THE SCIENCENESS ( is that a word ? will be now ) was explained easily and funnily too ( again not a read word buut ) i couldnt stop reading it and i laughed out loud so much and hung on to every word written .
oh and i love Beck a lot too .
fantastic story thats worth reading :)

I finally read The Martian, not really knowing what to expect. I had hear it was really good and knew the most basic bits of the premise, but went in cold other than that. And, honestly, I just didn't love it. I can absolutely see why others did. It did keep me on the edge of my seat for a while. After a bit, though, it just felt kind of repetitive and I kept wishing I was closer to the end. It was good and I'm glad I read it, but it just didn't hit me as hard as I thought it would.

Great book, humor, science !

Great homage to all the space exploration programs and the amazing people who make them possible.
Lot's of humor and really touching moments

Hands down one of the best books I've ever read. Roller coaster of emotions and an absolute page turner. If you ever have the chance, read this book. You will not be sorry.

It's a story about an astronaut on a planet, how good can it be?

Turns out, pretty darn good. I'm not a space or sci-fi buff, and I haven't yet seen the film, and I'm pretty good about shielding myself from spoilers, so I didn't really know what to expect. I found the story surprisingly thrilling and quite often chuckleworthy. The prose is simple—which I appreciated, having just read Dickens a few days ago.

The Martian is just...well, it's just a fast, fun read, well worth your time.

This is in some ways a delightful book. It's incredibly detailed in its technical aspects, and the inventiveness of the hero is quite wonderful to watch. There's a continual vein of sardonic humor running through, and a nice sense of suspense at the cascading disasters that occur.

That said, this is a nerd's book. It is driven almost entirely by the mastery of technical details, which are set forth more like engineering term papers (wait, were there even papers in Engineering? I was an English major...) than story narrative. There is a modicum of fairly one-dimensional characterization layered on top of it, and a plot that consists of an almost predictable chain of catastrophes. It fits a small niche of technically-driven science fiction but lacks any of the breadth and depth of much of the genre.

I have a friend who is reading this she feels like she should be taking notes for a test I tend to agree.