The Martian

The Martian by Andy Weir
Published by Crown on February 11th 2014
Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Adventure, Thriller
Page: 369
Source: Library
Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Review by: Tina

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

To start, I was not planning to read this book. When I heard it's actually funny after I had just seen the movie trailer in theaters, I decided to give it a go. What's 369 pages?

First of all, the novel radiates hope. It is not gloomy or self-deprecating; a major plus! Second, I'm completely thrown by Mark Watney's sense of humor and attitude. His letters to his crew mates are a crack up. So are his conversations with Houston. Sometimes it seems like he can't catch a break; whenever he succeeds, something happens. Not to mention what a brilliant genius he is! Who can comes up with solutions to such difficult tasks??

I was thrilled when he first made contact with Houston. Again thrilled, when he lost contact with Houston haha. They were getting annoying so good move Andy Weir!

Some memorable quotes:

"First guy to climb that hill (on Mars. First guy) to kick that rock. That rock hasn't moved in a million years."

"I can be a product tester for Mars rovers."

“We are the first to visit Mars twice. Even Watney can’t say that.”

To sum up this humorously intelligent story from the mouth of Andy Weir, "it's MacGyver in space!"