This book was recommended to me by my co-worker Paul, who was reading it at the time. The movie looked good too; in my experience I almost always enjoy a book more than its movie counterpart. I think in order to enjoy the book without being influenced by someone else's interpretation of it, you have to read it before watching the movie. Hence why I got it on my Kobo and started reading!
Overall, I loved this book, despite the fact that it was fiction. I don't read a lot of fiction anymore, but I like to slip in a fiction novel after reading a few non-fiction novels just so things don't get repetitive. I read non-fiction because I love learning, and in general I think I'm more engaged in books written about real life and real things. Now that I'm considering it, I think I should say I'm less engaged in a fictional book precisely because its not real. Doesn't really matter; semantics.
Regardless, The Martian reads very much like a non-fiction novel. The author, Andy Weir, works as a software engineer (in addition to writing books I guess) and apparently he tried to make the story as realistic and scientifically accurate as possible. I'm not an astrophysicist, botanist, or NASA employee, but I was convinced that what I was reading was at least conceptually plausible. This, to me, makes a much more interesting story.
Quick Plot Summary: A Manned mission to Mars in the near future involves a crew of 6 astronauts. The plan was to be on Mars for 31 days, but the mission is cut short on day 6 when a heavy dust-storm risks damaging the "ascent vehicle". 5 of the 6 astronauts make it to the ascent vehicle in time but the 6th, Mark Watney, is struck by a flying piece of debris and the crew presumes he is dead due to the puncture in his space suit (they can all view each other's bio-monitor data provided by their suits). Watney survives, while the rest of the crew leaves in the only way off Mars. He has to figure out how to survive on Mars for 4 years until the next planned mission arrives. There is only a years supply of food.
What I loved about this book was that Weir didn't try to incorporate too many thematic elements into it. Within the first twenty pages you understand exactly how the story is going to be told, and what you're getting into. The book is written as a series of journal logs and audio logs recorded by Watney while stranded on Mars, interspersed with narrated scenes from Earth as well as the spacecraft carrying the other crew members back to Earth. Set-up this way, the book gives the feeling of an intimate connection with Watney as he plans his survival.
As an engineer, I love problem solving. In the book, Watney is a mechanical engineer and botanist, which provided him with the ideal foundation of knowledge to maximize his chances of survival. Watney approaches all the problems he encounters with an emotionally-detached, logical view that I can relate to. He understands that, facing death as the only other alternative to escaping the planet, he simply has to line-up the problems standing between him and escaping, and do his best to solve them.
Watney takes you through his thought process as he works, top-down, to formulate his plan of action and slowly accomplish tasks. The story is a great example of the engineering problem-solving process. It should be recommended reading for those "professional engineering" courses that are part of most engineering undergrads.
Considering that the premise of the book revolves around a lone man, left to die on a planet 54.6 million kilometers away from Earth, with little chance of survival, I could picture the story focussing on Watney's emotions, state of mind, or mental well-being. This isn't the case at all though; Watney sticks to the facts and reality of the situation. He takes you through the exact process of how he survives and leaves no room in his journal logs to wax philosophical or go off on tangents. While these themes could've been explored in a story like this, that's not what The Martian is about. It's left up to the reader to develop their own views and to appreciate Watney's bravery and resilience.
In essence, what I'm saying is that The Martian is a story built around technical details. It's not for everyone, especially those who don't have any interest in technology or space exploration. But if you do like those things, or you have some sort of STEM background, then I would recommend it to you, non-existent reader of this blog post.
Weir's writing style is definitely influenced by his background in computer programming. His prose isn't exactly the most illustrative, but he manages to convey the details necessary to build each scene in your head and to understand the character's motivations without having to explicitly describe them. Weir wanted to make the details of Watney's survival plan and the Mars mission as realistic as possible—and this is really what makes it stand out as an exemplary work of sci-fi fiction. It's like you're reading " A Survival Guide to Mars".
I'm going to go see the movie in theatres on Friday. I'll update this post with my thoughts on it after.
Update: I thought it was excellent. It was one of the more faithful book-to-movie adaptations I've seen. Ridley Scott managed to keep the main storyline almost completely the same and made very few concessions. Many of my favourite lines of dialogue from the book made it into the script, and the actors delivered them well too. I really liked how they retained the humor from the book too.