Book Review: The Martian by Andy Weir

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him & forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded & completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—& even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—& a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

***** I WILL be using an excessive amount of gifs to properly express my emotions on this book. You’ve been warned!*****

Things I Learned From “The Martian”:

• I would definitely die on Mars because not only am I pretty lazy but I am also terrible at handling emergency situations and I’m horrible at math.
• Duct tape literally fixes everything.

Anyways, I have a lot of mixed feelings on this book. On one hand it got way too boring with all the math and science, which is expected because it’s about a guy surviving on Mars. On the other hand, Mark Watney is one of the greatest characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading about.

See the dilemma?

Great character, evil math and science.

Well as you probably very well know, it’s all about a guy surviving alone on Mars. Totally alone. Therefore he must use science to survive!

How about “No Science!”?

That’s right, I said it. This book is full of boring math and science. Now l completely understand why, Mark Watney HAS to use those to be able to survive on an inhospitable planet alone.

That, however, does not mean I have to enjoy the extensive use of math and science in the writing.

That is my number one complaint about this book, I was so close to DNFing it. Sorry, but reading about a guy calculating how he can grow potatoes using his own shit and how he can use rocket fuel to make water and so on is BORING. There are entire passages full of him calculating this crap.

I ended up skimming through a lot of those parts…….because of math.

But, I digress. Besides the excruciating amount of math I was force fed, the plot is very good. This guy has impossible odds against him, and rooting for him is the best part! And what way to make a math/science book more interesting than to make bad stuff happen to the protagonist constantly? The answer is nothing!

That’s right, Mars is always giving Mark Watney a big “fuck you”. Honestly I was so stressed out while reading this, but in a good way. It’s suspenseful, keeps you on the edge of your seat, and ultimately keeps you reading.

You name something that could possibly go wrong while being stranded on Mars and it probably happened to Mark Watney.

Basically I can sum up the ENTIRE plot with the use of one gif:

One good thing Mark had going for him? Duct tape.

“Yes, of course duct tape works in a near-vacuum. Duct tape works anywhere. Duct tape is magic and should be worshiped.”

Proof that duct tape can save your life even when you’re stranded on Mars!

Characters: Normally I would discuss a lot of the characters, but honestly who cares about them? Not me. I care about Mark Watney, he’s the only character you need to care about too.

Watney is such a GREAT narrator and protagonist. He never gives up on himself, he’s damn smart, and funny as hell. What’s not to like there? He was what drove the story on, he lightened the mood with humor, and handled every situation that was thrust on him. Also did I mention that he’s a sarcastic little shit?

“He’s stuck out there. He thinks he’s totally alone and that we all gave up on him. What kind of effect does that have on a man’s psychology?” He turned back to Venkat. “I wonder what he’s thinking right now.”

LOG ENTRY: SOL 61 How come Aquaman can control whales? They’re mammals! Makes no sense.”

See?  Hilarious, or maybe my sense of humor is weird in which case I am 100% okay with that.

 Also there were some NASA people and Mark’s crew in the story too. Meh.

 The book wasn’t really my cup of tea, I don’t particularly enjoy being forced through tedious pages of math and boring science. I did manage to finish the book with moderate enjoyment thanks to Mark Watney’s shining personality.

Would I recommend it? Meh, not really. Unless you really love math and science, then go crazy!

Links: Goodreads / Amazon