The Martian by Andy Weir

Format: eBook

Category: a book outside of your (genre) comfort zone #mmdchallenge 2019

"Also, I have duct tape. Ordinary duct tape, like you buy at a hardware store. Turns out even NASA can’t improve on duct tape. "

     I never would have picked up this book on my own. I do enjoy some sci-fi, but the kind that is more fantasy-based, and I won't turn down a good space opera. Star Wars, anyone? The Martian is outside of my comfort zone for two reasons. Firstly, it's about space travel, and not the fantasy kind. I tend to get bored with this subject because of how lifeless space is. I mean, I think it's interesting, but I don't want to spend hours reading about it. I remember, when I was a kid, I was the only person I knew that was bored with the movie, Apollo 13. I did like Gravity, though. Secondly, it's heavily based on physics/chemistry, which are just different names for math. Don't give me beef on this, it's math. I was good at math in school, and I even got an A in chemistry, but it was always a struggle. I do not enjoy math. Still, I like a good man versus nature story.

     Overall, I think the book was ok. I wasn't thrilled with it, but I did enjoy certain aspects of it. The Martian did surprise me in some ways. Weir uses real science/math throughout the book, makeing it highly plausible that Astronaut Mark Watney is able to survive being stranded on Mars. I liked Mark's ingenuity and problem-solving skills. I didn't like the in-depth technical explanations. They were far too "mathy", far too many, and I ended up skimming through a lot of those sections because I was getting bored. It was just way over my head. I can understand the ideas behind the solutions. I don't need all that technical jargon to get the point across. It's overkill.

     I didn't care much for Mark Watney's personality. He's funny at times, but not laugh-out loud funny. Mostly, he comes off as an immature frat boy. Rape jokes? Really? No, thank you. I'm also not a fan of crude humor and profanity. It's not pervasive, but it's enough to leave a bad taste in my mouth. Despite this, I was deeply invested in Mark's struggle to survive.


C- 4
A- 7
W- 4
P- 8
I- 6
L- 9
E- 5
Avg- 6.1 = ⭐⭐⭐