Lian Tanner's Reviews > The Martian
The Martian
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Are there adults in this world with no perceptible inner life, and the apparent personality of a ten year old boy? Yes, of course. Do I want to read their diary? No. Not even if they are trapped on Mars in a life and death situation? Nope, not even then.
This has to be one of the most boring books I have ever given up on. The one star is for the idea, which is a good one. But a complete lack of character development, and the replacement of scenes with the technical manual for how to survive on Mars made it unreadable, for me at least.
This has to be one of the most boring books I have ever given up on. The one star is for the idea, which is a good one. But a complete lack of character development, and the replacement of scenes with the technical manual for how to survive on Mars made it unreadable, for me at least.
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
June 14, 2014
– Shelved
June 14, 2014
– Shelved as:
did-not-finish
June 14, 2014
– Shelved as:
science-fiction
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message 1:
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Hell
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rated it 3 stars
Mar 11, 2015 08:16AM
![Hell](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1504372659p1/2593154.jpg)
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![Lian Tanner](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442502144p1/4205259.jpg)
It's horribly dispiriting reading all the glowing reviews, isn't it.
![Kat Bordwell](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1405628225p1/1059149.jpg)
![Lian Tanner](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442502144p1/4205259.jpg)
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![Jon Pacella](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1359733326p1/3303193.jpg)
I personally loved it, but to each their own!
![Lian Tanner](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442502144p1/4205259.jpg)
![Susan](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1494049956p1/17918017.jpg)
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![Lian Tanner](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442502144p1/4205259.jpg)
![Timothy Miller](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1359513719p1/16951535.jpg)
![Lian Tanner](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442502144p1/4205259.jpg)
![Timothy Miller](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1359513719p1/16951535.jpg)
Thanks for the quick response. You have some good arguments so I can't disagree with you on that. I do disagree about the writing and the character development. It's very sparse on character but that's what I like about it. It let's you the reader fill in the gaps. I feel like I know exactly what type of person Mark is just from the way he talks and acts. I don't need 5 chapters of his personal life before or his bad relationship with his dad to enjoy his adventure on Mars. I read the whole thing in like 5 days. Lately I've been reading a lot of lengthy books where they throw in all this bad personal history and it's kind of predictable and boring. I recently read The forever War which is on Science Fictions top 50 lists and I didn't think it was anything special(of course if I had read it in the 70's I might have) but I still enjoyed it. On the other had I've been reading Great Expectations for months now and although the writing is fantastic I'm bored to death after 1 to 3 chapters and I have to stop. What science fiction book is your favorite? If it's on my to-read list I'll read it next. I would recommend the Kiln people by David Brin, if you havn't read it. It's a great idea and execution is B+ ( I didn't like his other books though. Dolphins in space? What was he thinking.
![Lian Tanner](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442502144p1/4205259.jpg)
![Timothy Miller](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1359513719p1/16951535.jpg)
Thanks for the recommend I'll give it a try. This morning I'm thinking that since I've read hundreds of movie scripts that may affect the way I think of books. The martian reads more like a movie script and I'm totally fine with that because I'm used to reading scripts and filling in the gaps and visualizing the movie. That's probably why the movie companies picked it up so fast, they knew it would be easy to adapt.
Anyway, have a great day!
![Timothy Miller](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1359513719p1/16951535.jpg)
![Lian Tanner](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442502144p1/4205259.jpg)
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![Lian Tanner](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442502144p1/4205259.jpg)
The dialogue is dreadful. It's all part of the lack of character development, I think.
![Shyue Chou Chuang](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1488959755p1/13342534.jpg)
![Lian Tanner](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442502144p1/4205259.jpg)
Totally agree. I still have no idea why so many people loved it.