A review by singalana
The Martian by Andy Weir

adventurous lighthearted tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I have seen the movie first, and I wonder whether I would have liked the book better if I hadn't. Since the movie is a pretty faithful adaptation, all the key plot points are essentially the same. And I kept imagining the main character as Matt Damon. 

The book is about an astronaut named Mark Watney, who gets left behind on Mars, because everyone thinks that he's dead. Surprise, he's not, and now he has to survive. 

I'm not an expert, but the science behind this book sounds plausible. It's a bit technical, but not so much that it would greatly impact my enjoyment of the book. This book is told mostly as log entries, but other types of narration are also used, and I think the narrative choice makes this a faster and easier to read. 

The main character is mostly likeable, and since he narrates the story using logs, we aren't actually inside his head. On the other hand, we don't get to see his loneliness, fear and desperation that much, but it makes the tone of the book lighter. 

However, I do have a few criticisms: almost all of the characters in this book banter with each other, so it would have been nice to have the characters have different voices. One character is German, and he uses stereotypical exclamations like: Ja! and Mein Gott! And there's one throwaway mention of rape I could have done without. 

I've heard some reviews about Andy Weir's other book Artemis that say it's misogynistic. There are some hints of it in this book too, but not so much that it would affect the overall experience. I'm planning on reading Artemis as well, so we'll see. 
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