The Martian by Andy Weir
July 26, 2018
"The Martian" written by Andy Weir has been in my TBR list from a long time ago.; but didn’t get a chance to grab it so far, until I watched its adaption - Matt Damon starred Hollywood super hit movie of the same name.
I don’t have any regrets that I watched the movie first. Not only the movie is amusing, but it also helped me to get into the plot so quickly. With all the technical, engineering, and NASA terms that were thrown on the book, I would have taken a bit longer to finish this book if I had not watched the movie first😁.
"Films can bring whole worlds to life before our eyes, make characters into living, breathing flesh and blood, but books let you LIVE everything" - And that’s so true with this book too. Author Andy Weirs just takes you to Mars and let you live with the astronaut Mark Watney.
Here’s a short summary:
Mark Watney, an astronaut is on his Mars mission with his team. Unexpectedly, a massive dust storm strikes them, in which Mark got injured and lost in the dust storm. Eventually, his crew leaves him on Mars, believing him to be dead. But unfortunately(?😛), Mark wakes up alive and alone on the entire planet of Mars.
“I’m stranded on Mars. I have no way to communicate with Earth. I’m in a Habitat designed to last 31 days. If the Oxygenator breaks down, I’ll suffocate. If the Water Reclaimer breaks down, I’ll die of thirst. If the Hab breaches, I’ll just kind of explode. If none of those things happen, I’ll eventually run out of food and starve to death. So yeah. I’m screwed.”
It looks like a hopeless situation, a nightmare without the relief of human contact or the comfort of familiar surroundings. Rest of the story is all about how Mark survives alone in Mars, how he overcomes all the odds against - with his creative, determined and “will to live” attitude and with a lot of wit humour!. Below movie teaser may give a sneak preview for the book:
Though it's a really tense plot, Mark’s sense of humour had me chuckling and even laughing out loud, throughout, even at the climax rescue mission. Below are some of them:
Mark Watney, an astronaut is on his Mars mission with his team. Unexpectedly, a massive dust storm strikes them, in which Mark got injured and lost in the dust storm. Eventually, his crew leaves him on Mars, believing him to be dead. But unfortunately(?😛), Mark wakes up alive and alone on the entire planet of Mars.
“I’m stranded on Mars. I have no way to communicate with Earth. I’m in a Habitat designed to last 31 days. If the Oxygenator breaks down, I’ll suffocate. If the Water Reclaimer breaks down, I’ll die of thirst. If the Hab breaches, I’ll just kind of explode. If none of those things happen, I’ll eventually run out of food and starve to death. So yeah. I’m screwed.”
It looks like a hopeless situation, a nightmare without the relief of human contact or the comfort of familiar surroundings. Rest of the story is all about how Mark survives alone in Mars, how he overcomes all the odds against - with his creative, determined and “will to live” attitude and with a lot of wit humour!. Below movie teaser may give a sneak preview for the book:
Though it's a really tense plot, Mark’s sense of humour had me chuckling and even laughing out loud, throughout, even at the climax rescue mission. Below are some of them:
- “It’s true, you know. In space, no one can hear you scream like a little girl.”
- “Me(Mark): “This is obviously a clog. How about I take it apart and check the internal tubing?” NASA: (after five hours of deliberation) “No. You’ll fuck it up and die.” So I took it apart.”
- “Everything went great right up to the explosion.”
- “The screen went black before I was out of the airlock. Turns out the “L” in “LCD” stands for “Liquid.” I guess it either froze or boiled off. Maybe I’ll post a consumer review. “Brought product to surface of Mars. It stopped working. 0/10.”
- “I started the day with some nothin’ tea. Nothin’ tea is easy to make. First, get some hot water, then add nothin’.”
- “They say once you grow crops somewhere, you have officially ‘colonised’ it. So technically, I colonised Mars. In your face, Neil Armstrong!”
OVERALL: The story is really fascinating. It's not just a Sci-Fi, it has everything you’ll look for - humour, thrill, drama, romance, sentiment…just everything in right proportion. Mark Watney's sense of humour and survival instinct kept me entertained from the first page until the end, and I only wished the book was longer!
9 comments
I've heard so many good things about this book and the movie, glad you enjoyed it - great revie!
ReplyDeleteGreat review. Sci-fi is not my thing but there are a few sci-fi movies that I will watch (I love Fifth Element) so I may watch it at some point. I just struggle with sci-fi and don't know why.
ReplyDeleteThis has also been on my TBR for way too long and I can't watch the movie until I've read the book.
ReplyDeleteI have yet to read the book or watch the movie. Knowing that it doesn’t ruin the reading experience I think I may go watch the movie now!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read his work but my husband enjoyed the movie
ReplyDeleteMy husband loved the movie, and I think I may need to read the book - as I try not to watch the movie before the book.
ReplyDeleteGreat review!
I LOVE The Martian. I loved his Artemis book, too. He's just fantastic.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen the film nor read the book. Is there a bog difference between them? I know some adaptations leave massive parts of the book out.
ReplyDeleteGreat review, I've been dying to read this book for a very long time because I heard absolutely nothing but great things about it. Hopefully I can check this book out one day, thank you so much for sharing your awesome post.
ReplyDelete