Book Club is back (again, haha)!
After a five month hiatus we're back to reading and chatting! This year we've decided to do one book every two months as many of the girl's have extra things going on. So our first book for this round was over September and October and it was my pick. I chose The Martian by Andy Weir.
We don't read a lot of science fiction for book club so this was a bit of a change of pace. The book follows Mark Watney an astronaut who gets accidentally stranded on Mars and how he copes with survival on the desolate surface. His humor and smarts help him navigate the loneliness while he hopes for rescue.
I personally really enjoyed this book and was on the edge of my seat for the duration. I kept thinking, "What else could happen next!?". When I started it I inadvertently read like 100 pages in that first sitting. I just could not put it down. Weir's writing is engaging but not overly complicated and I didn't feel lost during the really scientific parts. It was nice to hear that all the other girls enjoyed it as well. I sometimes feel like I am off in left-field compared to what everyone else likes.
There are a fair number of characters in this book but you're not really supposed to connect to any of them but Mark Watney. He is the main character and the one trapped on Mars. However, most of what we get from Mark is from the mission logs he submits to track his time and actions. It was noted how this kind of makes his character a little 'flat' as far as growth, but he has what arc he can without other human contact. Some other character standouts are: Annie, the PR Director of NASA and Rich Purnell, a physicist. Annie was so crass and tired of everyone's crap to the point where it was hilarious. She wasn't afraid to call other characters out. Now, Rich, he was a hero of the book. I would go into this more, but its a spoiler.
I want to make a specific note about this book: the science fiction felt plausible. I know some sci fi fans want far out there things, but I appreciated the closer to home feel of The Martian. It was not-too-distant-future science fiction and I think it was done very well. There weren't any big space ships, or space battles, or aliens, or intergalactic politics, or things like that going on - and it was still good!
Normally we spend most of our time talking about the book, but for The Martian, we spent a decent amount talking about the 2015 film adaptation. Which, in my opinion, has to be one of the most faithful book-to-screen adaptations I have seen in a long time. It was so close to the book and took out or added in things in just the right places and amount that it enhanced Weir's story. My one nit pick is that the ending of the film changed who went out of the airlock. I get why it was done, but it still bugged me.
I applaud the diversity and star power of the film cast. Donald Glover as Rich Purnell was *chefs kiss*. The way some of the events were shown on screen helped me visualize parts that I couldn't quite get straight in my head due to some of the science in Weir's writing. I appreciated the bits added in depicting Mark's solitude and loneliness, they helped round out the character from the selective-mission-logs Mark of the book. I also liked the added bits to the end of the film that expanded on the abrupt ending of the novel.
Would definitely recommend this one. There are two other novels by Andy Weir that are set in space and form a sort of trilogy perhaps. I've heard good things about the third one and that it is on par with The Martian. I may have to check it out a later date.
