Sign in with Facebook
Justin's Reviews > The Martian
The Martian
by
by
Well, here goes nothing.....
This is not a good book.
I tried. I really, really tried. I wanted to love it at first. Then, I wanted to at least like it. Then, I wanted to at least have something good to say about it since everyone loves it and it's everywhere right now. Maybe it's just the hype, I thought. Maybe things pick up and the story gets better, I hoped. Maybe the book just sucks, I ultimately decided.
Maybe my expectations were off. I guess when I read about how an astronaut was stranded on Mars I didn't expect to feel like he was actually on vacation somewhere. Mark's sarcasm and sense of humor about the situation added some comic relief in the beginning, but it never ended. He never seemed to be afraid, and he always, always, ALWAYS had a witty one-liner to end his log entry or other communication. It never ended. Stuff about gay space probes, space pirates, disco, etc. just kept coming. I felt like Marc was on vacation with a perfect plan for everything he needed to do when things started to go wrong. Even when his plan didn't work, he had another plan.
He's in SPACE! He is TRAPPED all by himself on MARS! I wanted to care, but I couldn't stand him. And he didn't seem to care either. The only thing that kept me reading was the stuff from Earth, but all of those characters had almost zero development. The dialogue was choppy and uninspired. Even when there was supposed to be some type of emotion or desperation expressed, I didn't feel it.
You could also take out 95% of the log entries from Mark and still follow the story. Mark does this. Then, he does this. Next, he does that. Finally, his plan works and he watches TV. Then, he does this. He calculates that. He waits. He moves rocks. He does some other stuff. It just never ends. It also adds nothing to the story, just to the length of the book.
Anyway, I was either bored or annoyed most of the time. The author is obviously a space nerd, not a writer. I gave it my best shot, but this one is awarded the prize of First One-Star Rating of 2015. Congratulations.
This is not a good book.
I tried. I really, really tried. I wanted to love it at first. Then, I wanted to at least like it. Then, I wanted to at least have something good to say about it since everyone loves it and it's everywhere right now. Maybe it's just the hype, I thought. Maybe things pick up and the story gets better, I hoped. Maybe the book just sucks, I ultimately decided.
Maybe my expectations were off. I guess when I read about how an astronaut was stranded on Mars I didn't expect to feel like he was actually on vacation somewhere. Mark's sarcasm and sense of humor about the situation added some comic relief in the beginning, but it never ended. He never seemed to be afraid, and he always, always, ALWAYS had a witty one-liner to end his log entry or other communication. It never ended. Stuff about gay space probes, space pirates, disco, etc. just kept coming. I felt like Marc was on vacation with a perfect plan for everything he needed to do when things started to go wrong. Even when his plan didn't work, he had another plan.
He's in SPACE! He is TRAPPED all by himself on MARS! I wanted to care, but I couldn't stand him. And he didn't seem to care either. The only thing that kept me reading was the stuff from Earth, but all of those characters had almost zero development. The dialogue was choppy and uninspired. Even when there was supposed to be some type of emotion or desperation expressed, I didn't feel it.
You could also take out 95% of the log entries from Mark and still follow the story. Mark does this. Then, he does this. Next, he does that. Finally, his plan works and he watches TV. Then, he does this. He calculates that. He waits. He moves rocks. He does some other stuff. It just never ends. It also adds nothing to the story, just to the length of the book.
Anyway, I was either bored or annoyed most of the time. The author is obviously a space nerd, not a writer. I gave it my best shot, but this one is awarded the prize of First One-Star Rating of 2015. Congratulations.
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
The Martian.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
December 2, 2014
– Shelved as:
to-read
December 2, 2014
– Shelved
January 3, 2015
–
Started Reading
January 10, 2015
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 64 (64 new)
message 1:
by
Matthew
(new)
-
rated it 5 stars
Jan 12, 2015 06:37AM
It surprises me that you disliked this one so much, but I think it is kind of cool to see a one star perspective. Shows how the same source material can affect people in different ways. I stick to my 5 stars! :)
reply
|
flag
Dang - your 1 star rating broke up a string of 4 and 5 star ratings on my friend's list! ;)
Oh no! I really wanted to at least give it two, but I just couldn't do it. In definitely in the minority on this one.
"I gave it my best shot, but this one is awarded the prize of First One-Star Rating of 2015. Congratulations."You made me laugh out loud. I enjoyed reading your perspective.
Sorry, I didn't like this one either.
I started reading this book the other day and I'm not sure if I want to keep going... So far it's just so incredibly dull!
Save yourself some time and stop now!
Save yourself some time and stop now!
It is an awesome book! (Had to support the opposing viewpoint!)
Damn. I already "liked" your review. I was going to "like" it all over again. Cheers for having standards!
I'm only giving 1 and 5 star reviews from now on to keep the comments interesting.
While I personally really enjoyed this book, your review was great!
Libraries and book shops all over the world would be rather dull and uninteresting places if we all liked the same thing and I like my sojourns into my local "readery". I totally get and appreciate why someone might dislike this book - I think most of my own family would hate it. I'm a nerd though so I'll stick to loving it.
Great review though.
I absolutely agree, and my soon to be written review will echo some of your points. I wanted badly to give it two stars, too. But alas...
I'm loving it! I'm sorry you didn't. Maybe it was mood?
No, it was definitely the book. :) But, I must have missed something since the rest of the world loves it.
Justin wrote: "No, it was definitely the book. :) But, I must have missed something since the rest of the world loves it."Sometimes I hate a book everyone else loves, but more often it's the opposite. I love a book no one else does. Not sure which is lonelier.
In this particular case, Justin is not entitled to his opinion! ;)
I really want to know what others think, so I apologize for spewing on your thread Justin, but am I the only one conflicted by the BILLIONS of dollars being spent to save this ONE GUY? I mean, yeah, I like him and have come to care for his welfare in the day I've invested in this book, but...BILLIONS!!!
He's a very important member of society. The world wouldn't be the same without with intellect and impeccable sense of humor. And he is obviously scared to death out there and losing his mind because he's stranded on another planet.
*without his intellect
Justin wrote: "*without his intellect"So you think it's worth the expense? Maybe I am heartless, but I don't think so.
No I don't. That was straight up sarcasm.
Hard to "get" sarcasm in text. ;) I'm glad I'm not the only one.
You could put #sarcasm after a lot of my posts! :)
haha... Yeah, I almost did something like that. I could use #nosarcasm in the rare instances that I may need it. :)
My husband's favorite t-shirt says "Sarcasm- just one of the talents I offer!" with a Mad Men/60's looking guy.Maybe # should signify sarcasm from now on.
Lovely review, well said.
Terrific review, helped me decide once and for all to avoid the book.
The movie actually looks like it could be better than the book. :)
Justin, I tried and tried to enjoy this book. Your review and observations are spot on. I couldn't read beyond 20% or so.
Really I thought it was good. Damn hate it when good looking books appear to be bs
I'm amazed! I finished this book today and I just read your review! I couldn't agree more with you. I thought I was going to be the only one to dislike the book.
Yeah, I still don't and never will understand why it's so popular. At least the movie was decent.
Awesome! just read your review, too... Glad you were able to look past the stuff that bugged you and enjoyed the book overall.
Although you and I don't have the same opinion on this book I respect your review. You backed up everything you felt. All the things you disliked about the book are all the things I liked about the book. Hats off to you for an honest review.
Thanks Leslie! We can agree the movie was good though, right? :)
Oh absolutely! I went two times!
I can't believe I didn't like this review before now considering all the times I commented on it - and even though it (and your opinion) are completely wrong! ;)
Justin, abut 2/3rd through, I'm totally feeling this way about the book. I'm kind of amazed at all the hype over this book....I'm waiting for the main character to take a selfie and post it on Instagram. Your review sums up my feelings.
Nice to see someone go against the masses with your score, I gave up after about 50 pages, couldn't keep my eyes open!.
Go for it, Megan! Don't let my negativity sway you! People love this book. I thought the movie was much better since it cuts all the log entry science junk out.
I agree that this book is not perfect, but I feel that this book deserves better than a one star rating. The feeling of repetition that you noticed is quite true, but I think it adds to the authenticity of the story because he is stuck on Mars, what else can he do? The one liners he adds on to the entries for comedic effect can become very annoying by adding fake optimism.
Hey Nathan... those things bugged me too much to bump up my rating. The whole thing just wasn’t well written to me. I did enjoy the movie a lot though!
Fair enough, I respect your opinion and I know it's probably much more qualified than mine, thanks for response on a not so recent review!
No problem man. Definitely not more qualified though. 😃
