From the Bookshelf of Drop Everything And Read…

The Martian

Andy Weir

Start date: April 1, 2017

Finish date: April 30, 2017

Discussion: Read

Why we're reading this: It won the BOTM Poll.
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What Members Thought

Jun 19, 2015 Cathie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: you-ll-love-this-challenges, science-fiction, 2014-releases, perks-being-bkworm-botm, choiceawards2014, 2015-reads

Clearly, from the fact that everyone raves about this book, i am not a Sci-Fi fan. And i suspect i will get responses from people that will try to explain what the science goobly-gook was all about (save yourself your precious oxygenated breath) or from some that will be really pissed at me that i'm not giving this book 4 or 5 stars; such is life.

I found this read to be ok; but that was it, just ok. Way too much info about potato crops and scientific equations that I couldn't wrap my head around ...more

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Apr 01, 2024 Veronika rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

(view spoiler) ...more

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Jun 18, 2016 Humaira Shaikh rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, fiction

So I’m guessing that everyone already has an idea about the story since it’s a major film now. But in case you don’t then to sum it short it goes like this. An astronaut gets accidentally left behind on Mars by his crew, who think that he was dead. But was quite alive and all alone on a deserted planet. He then has two choices, One. Kill himself and avoid facing the misery of living all alone without hope, or Two. Find a way to survive all on his own! As human instincts kick in he decided to pre So I’m guessing that everyone already has an idea about the story since it’s a major film now. But in case you don’t then to sum it short it goes like this. An astronaut gets accidentally left behind on Mars by his crew, who think that he was dead. But was quite alive and all alone on a deserted planet. He then has two choices, One. Kill himself and avoid facing the misery of living all alone without hope, or Two. Find a way to survive all on his own! As human instincts kick in he decided to prevail. He grows food on the Martian surface, creates water, for the food and himself. Establishes communication with the people on earth by fixing and old communication system that failed in 1997 called Pathfinder, and tries to make an escape from his godforsaken, abandoned HAB. It was an interesting story of human survival and instinct in the face of calamity, either man-made or natural!

Even though it was a serious concept, the story had a humorous tone to it, to keep the reader entertained because the book dealt with a lot of outer space technicality, which otherwise would have been a dry read.

Mark Watney was stranded on mars and this was unknown to the people on earth or his crew. He planned on living for as long as he could, -till the next mission which was 4 years in the future,-with limited resources all alone on Mars!

With intelligent planning, ingenuity and calculating he was able to sustain life on the harsh Martian environment for a very long time! But will that be enough for him to be rescued in time before he runs out of supplies?

There were strong and realistic characters in the book like Dr. Venkat, Vogel, Dr. Beck, Mindy, and Johannsen, Commander Lewis and Mark! The kind of people you would meet on the street. And they could be related to. The book is not too futuristic as it talks about technology which is pretty much prevalent even today. At one point I wondered why the protagonist used drills instead of lasers as that is what is considered ideal in futuristic scenarios. At the same time the story seemed very real. The situations Mark faces in the book are described with alacrity and something that could actually happen in real life if you were stuck on Mars! And even though the author goes into technical details a lot in the book, he dumb's it down for the average person to understand what’s going on. And to my surprise and relief the book did not have actual Martians in it, which would have killed the book for me.

Also this book experiments with what lot of other Sci-Fi novel deal with, -which is finding humanity in the farthest reaches of space which are completely devoid of life. And still appreciating the human race as it, no matter how fucked up!

I loved this book. And hope to read more by this author. Anyone interested in Sci-Fi, this book should defiantly be on your list to read list! Five Stars!
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Oct 23, 2015 Julia added it · review of another edition

The Martian

Every once in a while a book comes along that reminds you that a 5-star rating should be used sparingly. 5 stars are for books that everyone should read and that inspired you. 4 stars are books you just really liked. The Martian is a bona fide 5 star book. It's amazing and informative and stressful and great and inspiring. I loved it. It's also a rare book where the movie fits with it great and it might be more beneficial to read the book before seeing the movie!! ...more

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