I thought it was very good. The tech was solid and well explained.
Yup.
The premise sounded pretty dull. I was expecting an Apollo 13 type of scenario.
Boy was I pleasantly surprised!
Per Ardua Ad Astra.
So he is going to die on Mars?
I did. It was an excellent book. It kept me riveted until completed.
I do want to see what Hollywood has done with the special effects on this one.
The book sounds like a really good read — but the movie has Matt Damon in it...
Thanks, but I'd pass...
These libtard whack jobs will no longer get my money...
I'd just read the book..
This was the first audio book I ever bought. (Wanted something different to listen to on my long runs and in the car. Well worth it.
Kind of hard to insert a love story into it when he’s there alone. But it’s definitely on my list of movies to go see. “The Intern” this weekend and “The Martian” next weekend.
The movie looks a remake of Robinson Crusoe on Mars minus the Martian monkey creature thingy...
I read at least 20 books a year. This one was far and away the best book. I can’t stand Matt Damon. But I can’t wait to see the movie. I have some movie passes that have been sitting on my desk for about 2 years. I will use them for this one.
Best book I read last year. Or this year. Everyone I’ve talked to loves this book. Hoping the movie doesn’t suck but even if it does, read the book, it rocks.
I read this also. Also thought very highly of it. An excellent piece of work.
Read it. Loved it. Passed it on to my son. Every
Now and then he says, “I’d love to find another book
As good as “The Martian.”
I respect the fact that it was initially a self-published book and that it sold enough to become a big-name-publisher title and eventually a Hollywood film. Imagination turned into piles of cash.
It is, in many ways good and bad, a novel that reflects our current state of mind and means of communicating. The intermingling of blog posts, limited narration and omniscient narration is clever at times but also a concession to our collective attention deficit.
Watney’s gallows humor is enjoyable at first and generates sympathy (as intended by the author) but after a while becomes tiresome and/or a bit too unbelievable given the dire circumstances. If Damon adopts his Jason Bourne obsessive demeanor given the isolation then perhaps the smart-aleck Watney will become a bit more likeable on film.
As a critic pointed out elsewhere, some do’s and don’t’s of fiction are trampled or ignored altogether, especially in Mission Control where characters are introduced and, at best, remain utterly static or, at worst, are forgotten altogether. The personalities and backstories of Watney’s crewmates are occasionally mentioned but ultimately left unfinished and unrelated to the story arc.
Robinson Crusoe has been told and retold countless times (e.g. ‘Castaway’) and a high-tech version can’t hurt even if the rather obvious denouement isn’t worth the suspense.
I’m waiting eagerly for the movie!