Ashley's Reviews > The Martian

November 2017: Another comfort re-read. I'm beginning to sense a pattern here. I read the hardcover this time, but weirdly, I still heard the audiobook narrator's voice in my head the whole time. I listened to that back in 2014, so I guess he was just a super memorable narrator. Thankfully, I did NOT have Matt Damon in my head in any form. Though, weirdly, all the other actors from the movie were there. Except for the main character (and Venkat Kapoor, whose race they just changed entirely, but Chiwitel Ejiofor, so I forgive them), I think the casting in that movie was spot on.

Things that make me enjoy this book enough to re-read it:

1. Mark Watney. His fundamentally good natured personality, his refusal to give up against staggering odds, his vulnerability, his smartassness. I love it all.

2. There is something weirdly soothing, especially in audiobook form, about Mark telling you exactly what science he is doing and why. I also love the extremely practical nature of the book. There is no handwaving or technological deus ex machinas to be found.

3. I love all the NASA geeks. I love the way they bust their asses to save Mark, and how professional and good at their jobs they are. I also love how Mark teases them constantly.

4. It still amazes me how Weir managed to sustain interest and tension throughout a book where, for the most part, it's just one guy stranded on a planet by himself.

Not much else to say here because I wasn't reading it for thinking purposes, but for a little pick-me-up. It's nice to imagine a world where everyone truly cares so much about saving the life of one guy on a planet far away.

December 2014: Yeah, I still really love this book. (The audiobook is really good, by the way. R.C. Bray does a great job with voices and personalities, even if it did take me a while to get used to him. His voice was much gruffer than I had pictured Watney's voice being. I particularly liked his Venkat Kapoor.)

August 2014: Holy shit, this was good. Like, REALLY good. Instant favorite.

Which is really funny because I had myself pre-convinced that it didn’t sound like something I’d be interested in when I first heard about it. Like, ugh. Who wants to read about an astronaut stranded on Mars who has to use his wits to MacGyver his way to survival and it’s all tense and smart and thrilling and stuff. Ugh, ugh. ugh.

I’m not sure what drugs I was on when I formed that opinion, but it happened. And thank God for Jen and Nataliya’s reviews, which informed me that not only was the book totally awesome, but it was FUNNY, and funny like how I think things are funny, and the main character is a total smartass nerd, which is my favorite kind of person. So I reserved the book at my library, and proceeded to wait almost six months before it was available. That should also tell you something. Anyway, when I did manage to finally get ahold of it, I pretty much fell in love instantly and was entirely consumed by it until I finished it. I then talked about it non-stop to anyone who would listen to me, including my boss, who basically only reads weird inspirational and business type books.

It’s sort of hard to describe this book without using the word ‘awesome.’ It’s told mostly in astronaut Mark Watney’s first person POV, as he writes a log as a way to pass time, and to document his attempts to stay alive. You know, just in case the log is all that’s left of him when the next mission to Mars in FOUR YEARS comes along. (This is a problem because Mark doesn’t have four years of food left and everyone thinks he’s dead.) There is a lot of science in all of this (as Mark is a scientist and solves his problems with science), but by no means is it inaccessible. Mark’s voice is very human and very lovable, and he gets so excited about all the science and he explains it really well that you can’t help be just as excited about everything as he is.

Normally the nature of this type of story (man has to survive perils thrown at him) would just exhaust me and stress me out, but Andy Weir makes the incredibly smart decision to have Mark’s problems be ones that derive naturally from both his actions and his situations. He doesn’t just throw shit at Mark for dramadrama. Everything that happens to him makes sense. Mark is so resourceful, it’s thrilling to watch him overcome these obstacles, all while creating (knowingly or unknowingly) more problems for himself down the line. I finished the book and pretty much wanted to start it all over again (which wasn’t an option because: library, six month waiting list).

Plus, how can you not love this guy?

“’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.”

It’s apparently being made into a movie by Ridley Scott, with Matt Damon attached to play Mark. And honestly, I’m not happy about that at all. Matt Damon is a good-looking and fancy movie star with a sort of deadpan sense of humor. Mark Watney is a nerd with a seriously goofy sense of humor, and they are totally not going to mesh well together. I’m very upset because Mark Watney is my book boyfriend and I would like him to be a movie boyfriend as well, but it’s probably not going to happen. Also, also it’s hilarious that the guy who wrote this book is a total genius prodigy, and he wrote this book for funsies basically in his downtime from being a supergenius prodigy scientist.