The Martian by Andy Weir

The Martian

by Andy Weir

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Brilliant . . . a celebration of human ingenuity [and] the purest example of real-science sci-fi for many years . . . utterly compelling.”—The Wall Street Journal

The inspiration for the major motion picture

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 and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and 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—and 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?

NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST NOVELS OF THE DECADE

“A hugely entertaining novel [that] reads like a rocket ship afire . . . Weir has fashioned in Mark Watney one of the most appealing, funny, and resourceful characters in recent fiction.”—Chicago Tribune

“As gripping as they come . . . You’ll be rooting for Watney the whole way, groaning at every setback and laughing at his pitchblack humor. Utterly nail-biting and memorable.”—Financial Times

Reviewed by thepunktheory on

4 of 5 stars

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Book vs. Movie:
I'll start of with the novel. A huge shout out to Andy Weir for putting so much effort into not only writing a fascinating story but also trying to make it as accurate as possible. I even ended up researching some of the stuff on the internet!
It definitely is hell of a ride. We experience what Watney goes through via the logbook, working as a form a diary. I read Robinson Crusoe a year ago and didn't fancy it too much, so I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy Weir's novel. Surprise: it has a great pace, a great sense of humor and you actually learn something. As you can imagine, the book contains lots of scientific stuff and you have to concentrate while reading to get it all right. However, Andy Weir tried hard to explain everything in a way that you can understand it. Watney's character is very relatable and I just loved his jokes.
So, let's move on the adaptation. Matt Damon was the perfect choice to embody Watney. He had already proved his acting skills in other splendid roles but with the Martian I had the feeling that he really captured the essence of Mark Watney. Well, the actors also really fitted their roles, I swear some looked exactly the way I imagined them. I had to laugh so hard when Sean Bean explained why the call that one secret thing Elrond.
Furthermore it was really cool to see all the technical stuff on screen. I don't know about you but I have no clue what an MAV actually looks like. So I had a hard time to construct a picture in my head for a few things while reading.
When it comes to the plot itself, they stuck rather close to the original. Some things were left out, but the managed to still make sense with the whole thing. I also enjoyed the little epilogue we got in the movie. To be honest, I wondered "That's really supposed to be it? Nothing more?" when I read the final page.
Last but not least I want to shower the soundtrack with a little praise. The original music for the movie is amazing but what I liked best were the disco songs they incorporated. It's actually a running gag as the only music Mark has on Mars is some 70's disco stuff the mission commander had on her personal hard-drive.

I have to say, The Martian is one of the best adaptations I came across in a long time. Both the book and the movie are very well made and fascinating. They complement one another perfectly!

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 7 October, 2016: Finished reading
  • 7 October, 2016: Reviewed