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| Andy Weir is actually the author, not the eponymous Martian. |
"The Martian" is a feel-good book about human perseverance, ingenuity, and coming together to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges. It's also a Matt Damon movie I haven't seen, but I liked the book enough that I may just give it a shot!
A few minor details below.
Despite what the title may imply, no aliens appear in "The Martian". The title character is astronaut Mark Watney, crewman on a mission to Mars. Just a few days after landing the mission is canned due to a severe dust storm, and during the emergency departure Mark loses consciousness and is lost somewhere in the swirling sand. Presumed dead, he is left behind by his crewmates and must survive and await rescue. Mark is a Martian in the sense that he must live on Mars, but he's definitely human. One might even say "The Martian" is a bit of a misnomer because really "it earth man" (anagram!)1.
Stranded on the planet, Mark must hope someone on Earth notices he's still alive and figure out how to stretch a month's worth of food and whatever materials his crew left behind to survive the three to four years it would take for a rescue mission to arrive. Of course, as a literal rocket scientist2, he scrounges, invents, MacGuyvers, and generally sciences his way through the various problems that occur.
A couple passages I particularly enjoyed:
I need to ask myself, "What would an Apollo astronaut do?" He'd drink three whiskey sours, drive his Corvette to the launchpad, then fly to the moon in a command module smaller than my Rover. Man those guys were cool. (315)Verdict: "The Martian" is a smart, engaging read that celebrates the best of humanity and has you rooting for the characters' success. Highly recommended.
I've looted that poor Hab for everything it could give me, and in return it's kept me alive for a year and a half. It's like the Giving Tree. (334)
1 Yes, I came up with this anagram myself! (back)
2 According to NASA there is no such job title, but work with me here? (back)
I remember thinking about seeing the movie but didn't. Local library has it; Helen & I might check it out soon. It's long though, 2:24 (avg feature film is 1:24 I think).
ReplyDeleteSeems there have been a lot of long space movies recently. I saw "Interstellar" in the theaters. It was great, but even longer at nearly 3 hours!
DeleteI saw the movie and thought it was great! Matt Damon and the writers wove a few threads of humor into the drama that I thought made an ideal blend.
ReplyDeleteExcellent, hoping to see it at some point! I found the book to be surprisingly funny – the mission logs did a great job fleshing out Mark Watney's character.
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