Today Caramel reviews The Martian by Andy Weir, the 2011 book that was the basis of the more recent movie The Martian. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.
Sprinkles: So today we are talking about The Martian by Andy Weir.
Caramel: Yes, Weir talking about The Martian.
S: That’s a good one, Caramel! Okay, so let us get to it. Would you start by telling us what the book is about?
C: Sure. It’s about a guy named Mark Watney, who goes to Mars, and gets trapped there.
S: So the Martian is a human then? It is not quite sci-fi with aliens and such?
C: No, no aliens, but yes sci-fi, we can’t get a spaceship full of people to Mars just yet. We haven’t even sent an unmanned ship there for a while, though NASA still has some rovers there. I even reviewed a book about them a while back.
S: True, you are right of course. Sci-fi does not have to have aliens, but space travel a bit beyond what we can do today also definitely counts. So this guy Watney went to Mars alone or as part of a team?
C: He was part of a NASA team, but he got impaled during a really bad sandstorm and the others had to leave before they could find him. But thankfully his accident was not deadly so he survives, and then he has to survive the planet all on his own. All the while everyone back home is sure he is dead, so they are not even looking for him or not even planning to come back to look for him…
S: That sounds pretty dismal.
C: Yes, but this Watney guy is a very creative guy and he figures out how to grow potatoes on Mars and all kinds of other engineering trickery and eventually he manages to get the NASA folks realize he is not dead, so they try to save him.
S: That sounds like a pretty tense story.
C: Actually, it is very funny, he tells a lot of jokes.
S: So the story is told through Watney’s perspective? Oh then at least we know he will most likely not die in the end.
C: I believe yes, mostly. Every now and then we read the story through some folks on Earth, from NASA headquarters, and sometimes from the astronauts who were with him on Mars. And there is a lot more I can say, but to quote the amazing River Song, “Spoilers!”
S: Alright, maybe this is enough then about the plot. What can you tell us about the rest? You already said the book is actually funny.
C: Yep, though it does have some bad language. The guy is trapped on Mars after all, so he is a bit frustrated and is writing for nobody in particular because he expects he will likely die. So I didn’t mind the language really. And he is hilarious!
S: I know you also saw the movie based on the novel. Did you think the two were similar? Did you like the book and the movie both?
C: Yeah, the only really interesting difference is he doesn’t begin the movie with the same line.
S: I guess they wanted to keep the movie PG-13!
C: Yep! But in actuality there were some differences later on, but i thought that was funny.
S: I agree. It summarized his frustration very well.
C: Anyway, the movie is pretty awesome too. I enjoyed reading the book and I enjoyed watching the movie. Maybe we can put a link to the trailer here.
S: Sure, here we go:
C: Thank you!
S: Okay, so maybe this is a good time to wrap things up.
C: Sure, why not?
S: Great! So what do you want to tell our readers?
C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!
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