Review: The Martian

This week I am writing about a book turned into a movie and the movie premiered this month in the Netherlands! I am actually going to see the movie tonight, so I might post an update below this post tomorrow. So which book you may ask? The Martian by Andy Weir.

What’s the book about?

The Martian tells the story of Mark Watney an astronaut, mechanical engineer and botanist who is stranded on Mars. He has food left for about a year and help comes in four years. So the book tells about his journey in surviving on Mars and it involves growing potatoes on Mars and a whole lot more. I won’t write too much about the plot, because it will spoil it.

What did I think of it?

I really enjoyed reading it. The book is written mostly in diary posts from Watney and ‘his’ writing style is really funny. He tries to keep his hopes up and is very actively making sure he will survive. He also thinks outside the box for new ways to survive and is not afraid to do some DIY. I also really liked the science that was incorporated into the book. I felt like it was real/true science and it is pretty complicated stuff, but written down in a way that even people who don’t study Aerospace engineering can understand.

Should you read it?

Yes. If you are into technology or into space or into a funny book, then you should read this. The writing is interesting, the technology is advanced but not complicated to understand and Watney is hilarious. I am going to see the movie tonight and from the trailer it looked really good. However a colleague told me she thought the movie was quite boring, but she had not read the book so this might make a difference. I can understand that, since most of the book consists of diary entries, it might be difficult to translate into interesting movie material. It also involves 1 person on Mars, so dialogue might be difficult too.

UPDATE: The movie is awesome! Great adaptation. Although they had to change/leave out a bunch, they did it in a good way. So go see it! Because if there is one movie that looks better on a giant screen instead of your tv/computer screen, it is this one! SPACE! MARS!

Book: The Martian, Goodreads page

Writer: Andy Weir

ISBN: 9780804139021

PS If you want to know what I am reading now, add me on goodreads!