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What Members Thought
This was just a FUN read and is best enjoyed without too much scrutiny. I enjoyed Mark's voice a lot, it was always funny and clever and sarcastic. I feel like it is hard to get a sense of the amount of time that Mark actually spent on Mars. In my head, I kept thinking it was like a year, but it was like 2+ and it doesn't really seem like that is the truth. However, there is plenty to keep the plot moving and to keep the intensity high. I admit to skimming some of the science sections though.
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If you do not cheer and fist pump for Mark Watney you have no soul.
I liked that his journal entries sounded like blog posts instead of dry scientific jar-gon. It really helped his personality come through, and when it's one man against the world (literally) personality goes a long way. I liked that he was funny, but in surgically precise amounts, not an over-the-top always-on goofball. He was a multi-layered human character, who accidentally made trouble for himself (as do we all, some days).
Minor plot spoiler but not really(view spoiler) ...more
Minor plot spoiler but not really(view spoiler) ...more
Mark Watney swears like a sailor. I guess he's a space sailor, but if you're sensitive to the swears consider yourself warned.
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Dec 02, 2014
Sarah
rated it
it was amazing
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review of another edition
Shelves:
good-books,
tequila-mockingbird
Fantastic book! Everything you want in a good story and a dynamic lead character with a sense of humor.
I read this in two days. Sometimes, the voice got a little strange for me (he says things like "ugh" and "bleh"), so I felt like I was reading the diary of a late-teenager/early-twenty-something rather than a NASA engineer/botanist. However, that strangeness didn't make a big difference with a story so compelling and inventive. There's a pretty large amount of suspension-of-disbelief (see: "ragtop" reference near end as an extreme case), but it didn't bother me much. The balance of creative-prob
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this started out strong, then got very repetitive. i actually looked forward to the non-martian sections, just for some variety. it may make a strong film - though i'll be interested in how they tackle the math.
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I loved Mark Watney. Awesome character with excellent wise cracks. This was such a great book.
Audio
3.5 stars.
This book made me nervous. Seriously, the dude couldn't get a break. He gets left, he gets his habitat blown up, his potatoes die, his rover tips over. Come ON!!
It was a great story! Funny writing, exciting, interesting plot. There were lots of grammar and editing errors, but not so many that it detracted from the story.
This could have been written by Robert A Heinlein if he was still around and got over his chauvinism. Just a good, fun story all around. ...more
This book made me nervous. Seriously, the dude couldn't get a break. He gets left, he gets his habitat blown up, his potatoes die, his rover tips over. Come ON!!
It was a great story! Funny writing, exciting, interesting plot. There were lots of grammar and editing errors, but not so many that it detracted from the story.
This could have been written by Robert A Heinlein if he was still around and got over his chauvinism. Just a good, fun story all around. ...more
