# The Martian by Andy Weir



## Vertigo (Jun 2, 2016)

This is right up there as one of the best books I’ve read this year. Extraordinary. Weir has managed to write at least half of the book in an environment where there is only one person – our hero, Mark Watney – so all the narrative has to come from him alone in the form of his mission log. And yet all those parts manage to have tension, amusement and pathos and still be page turners. Quite an accomplishment. The book is also scientifically very correct and detailed again without making it tedious; at least not for me, but then I do love hard science fiction.

Weir is a little harsh on Watney; it is quite obvious (and indeed Weir has more or less admitted as much) that he has tried to imagine everything that can possibly go wrong and then have it go wrong; at least everything for which a solution is possible. But the extraordinary thing is that although so many things do happen every problem and every solution is always both possible and plausible. Weir then combines all this hard science with good engaging writing and humour; this is a book that, for me (for once), actually lived up to all the hype and possibly exceeded it. It would be very interesting to get hold of a copy of the book before it was picked up by a publisher as I have heard it has been significantly improved by some good editorial polishing; it would be enlightening to see just how much.

There has clearly been a lot of very effective research done by Weir into the science (pretty much all on the internet I believe) and that science has been enthusiastically endorsed by NASA so he clearly researched well. He maintains great pace throughout the book and the writing is always easy to read even when delving deep into the science. Weir really does write well. Even though it’s obvious from the outset that Watney is going to survive (anything else would have made the book pointless) Weir still manages to create suspense and tension by working through the search for solutions in ways that draw the reader helplessly into the search. The only flaw I found in the writing is some of his characters are a little too stereotyped: nerdy socially handicapped software engineer, slightly (or maybe not so slightly) autistic astrodynamicist, slightly obsessive compulsive NASA manager (always organising his papers just so), stoic German, slightly gung-ho ex-military pilot and more. They are well drawn and the reader does get to know a surprisingly large number of them for such a small book but they are also mostly pretty stereotyped.

All in all a really great book. Now I must decide whether I dare watch the film!

PS: In all the marvellous science in the book there is only one bit I would pick Weir up on. He talks about freeze drying the potatoes by simply placing them outside; something that he describes as being possible on Mars but would not work on Earth. Actually this has been done by Quechua and Aymara peoples in the high Andes areas of South America since before the time of the Incas producing something know as Chuño which I came across in southern Peru and I’d have to say I found them something of a taste I struggled to acquire!

5/5 stars


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## ratsy (Jun 2, 2016)

Good post Vertigo. Yeah I really loved this book. Watney was a great, fun character. It didn't bore me for a minute. 

I did watch the movie a few months after I read it and it didn't really do anything for me. The book was far superior in every way. At least to me.


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## Vertigo (Jun 2, 2016)

Thanks, @ratsy. I think I will be watching the film (my lodger has the DVD) but I am a little apprehensive about it.


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## Juliana (Jun 2, 2016)

Nice review Vertigo! Like Ratsy, I read the book first. The movie was okay, but certainly didn't live up to the book.


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## biodroid (Jun 3, 2016)

So it wasn't me who thought the movie was a bit overrated? I think I should try the book, does the movie spoil the twists in the book?


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## Jo Zebedee (Jun 3, 2016)

I surprised myself by adoring the book. Like Vertigo I'm a bit worried that the movie will live up to it.


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## Brian G Turner (Jun 3, 2016)

Vertigo said:


> Now I must decide whether I dare watch the film!





Jo Zebedee said:


> Like Vertigo I'm a bit worried that the movie will live up to it.



Ridley Scott did cut some of the humour (ie, the Aquaman reference). He also shortened the final journey, to maintain pace. 

Aside from those issues, it's a very faithful adaptation and Matt Damon carries the part very well. Of course, the book remains better.


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## Vertigo (Jun 3, 2016)

biodroid said:


> So it wasn't me who thought the movie was a bit overrated? I think I should try the book, does the movie spoil the twists in the book?


Following on from Brian's comments I suspect the answer is yes but having discussed some bits of the book with a friend who saw the film I think there's a lot of detail inevitably missing from the film. That said the final outcome is, of course, never in doubt so I think I'd still recommend reading the book.


Jo Zebedee said:


> I surprised myself by adoring the book. Like Vertigo I'm a bit worried that the movie will live up to it.


Yes I can imagine a lot of people, who would normally be less keen on a hard SF book containing a lot of scientific detail, would be surprised by just how accessible Weir makes that science. He would probably make a good writer of non-fiction science for the layman. Usually when I'm reading hard SF I accept that at least the character development is going to suffer and probably a lot more besides. I've found it rare that a good writer of hard science facts can also do that magical character development bit and make the whole book light and enjoyable. Okay so most of his characters might have been stereotyped but he still developed them well (I loved Annie, the PR woman).


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## Juliana (Jun 3, 2016)

biodroid said:


> So it wasn't me who thought the movie was a bit overrated? I think I should try the book, does the movie spoil the twists in the book?



I think you'll find reading the book fills in some of the gaps in the movie very nicely. I wouldn't worry about spoilers, it's not really that sort of book. The end is a little bit different, a little less dramatic, but to be honest I much preferred the ending of the book.


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## Bugg (Jun 6, 2016)

I tried to read this book last year and gave up pretty quickly because I really disliked the narrative voice.  I'm determined to give it another go at some point, though.


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## Vertigo (Jun 6, 2016)

Bugg said:


> I tried to read this book last year and gave up pretty quickly because I really disliked the narrative voice.  I'm determined to give it another go at some point, though.


The sections set on Mars, of necessity, use a style that is rather unusual nowadays. I'm sure it has a formal name but essentially it is in the form of the story being narrated to the reader rather than the reader being inside the story. It often takes the form of a diary (his mission log in this case) and this is a form I have found a lot in books from around the turn of the last century; Wells used it in the Time Machine, Conrad used it in Lord Jim and Lovecraft used it in At the Mountains of Madness.

I've not seen it used so often in modern literature but in this case I thought it suited the setting here as there was no one else for Watney to interact with. Note that all the scenes set off Mars are in a much more normal 3rd person POV. I haven't yet seen the film so I don't know how they handled this in the film but there is a similar issue in the Tom Hanks film Castaway where they use a ball with a face painted on it for Hanks to talk to.

I think it's worth persisting with, and there is an amusing moment at one point where Watney is beginning to think he might actually survive and he thinks that maybe he should be a little more careful what he puts in the log (what we're reading) if he's going to be around when it is read; he even tries to edit it but can't.


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## Bugg (Jun 6, 2016)

Vertigo said:


> The sections set on Mars, of necessity, use a style that is rather unusual nowadays. I'm sure it has a formal name but essentially it is in the form of the story being narrated to the reader rather than the reader being inside the story. It often takes the form of a diary (his mission log in this case) and this is a form I have found a lot in books from around the turn of the last century; Wells used it in the Time Machine, Conrad used it in Lord Jim and Lovecraft used it in At the Mountains of Madness.



The Time Machine is one of my favourite books, so I'm surprised I didn't get on with this better.  It's likely it was just a mood thing - come to it in the right frame of mind and I'll hopefully enjoy it a lot more.  It's like the non-fiction book I'm reading at the moment - sometimes I'm completely in the mood for it and thoroughly enjoying it, at others it's just a jumble of names and places and it's whooshing over my head


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## Vertigo (Jun 6, 2016)

Bugg said:


> The Time Machine is one of my favourite books, so I'm surprised I didn't get on with this better.  It's likely it was just a mood thing - come to it in the right frame of mind and I'll hopefully enjoy it a lot more.  It's like the non-fiction book I'm reading at the moment - sometimes I'm completely in the mood for it and thoroughly enjoying it, at others it's just a jumble of names and places and it's whooshing over my head


I know what you mean and to be fair the narration in The Martian is filled with expletives (understandable given the circumstances) and geeky wisecracks and the Time Machine is certainly not!  So it really depends on what aspect of the voice you were unhappy with. If it was the geeky wisecracks, I'm afraid they continue throughout; being a bit of a geek myself I enjoyed them. If it was the expletives, well that doesn't really change, though there is a young reader edition available. However it may just be that Weir's voice simply grates with you in which case the book may never work for you


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## Bugg (Jun 6, 2016)

Vertigo said:


> I know what you mean and to be fair the narration in The Martian is filled with expletives (understandable given the circumstances) and geeky wisecracks and the Time Machine is certainly not!  So it really depends on what aspect of the voice you were unhappy with. If it was the geeky wisecracks, I'm afraid they continue throughout; being a bit of a geek myself I enjoyed them. If it was the expletives, well that doesn't really change, though there is a young reader edition available. However it may just be that Weir's voice simply grates with you in which case the book may never work for you



I wasn't bothered by the expletives, but the wisecracks did throw me out of it a little.  I'll definitely give it another go, though.


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## Vince W (Jun 6, 2016)

@Bugg I felt somewhat similar during the first part of the book when it was focused solely on Watney, but once the focus shifted away from him somewhat I felt it got better and by the end I quite enjoyed it.


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## Stephen Palmer (Jun 7, 2016)

Geeky wisecracks in American style are a total turn-off for me, so I'm never going to read the book. The film was really enjoyable though, I was surprised how much I liked the set-up. Certainly a clever piece of work.


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## mosaix (Oct 13, 2016)

Great review, Vertigo. Don't know how I missed this first time around.

And thanks for the recommendation. Great book. Impossible for the film to live up to it IMO although it didn't really disappoint.


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## Brian G Turner (Oct 13, 2016)

Stephen Palmer said:


> wisecracks in American style are a total turn-off for me, so I'm never going to read the book. The film was really enjoyable though



If the film made you smile, then the book should, too.


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## cyprus7 (Oct 14, 2016)

Brian G Turner said:


> If the film made you smile, then the book should, too.


The Watney character is really the 'best' aspects of Andy Weir if they could all be actualized in one human being... I think he said as much in various interviews.


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## Sir Vivor (Feb 11, 2018)

Question to fellow authors and would-be authors: the notes at the back of Weir's book describe how his book became a commercial success. Does anyone agree with me that the initial blogging approach that Weir took was incidental to the book's success? I think his publishing on Amazon Kindle was a far greater catalyst for success..


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## Rodders (Feb 11, 2018)

Nice review.

I must confess that I thought the movie was a little overrated and have accused Ridley Scott of being a bit of a lazy film maker with this. 

I might have to give this a second chance and download the book.


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## REBerg (Feb 20, 2021)

Just finished this outstanding book, and my conviction that print should follow screen versions has been reconfirmed.
I don't remember being as engaged by the movie as I was by the book. I re-watched the movie and enjoyed it more than the first time.
Now, I have to stop myself from being caught in an endless movie-book-movie-book loop.


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