I’ve just finished The Martian, by Andy Weir. I’ve started another book club. It’s an addiction. I love to read and to talk to my friends and so book clubs are really my jam. When work permits, of course. This new book club has only has two members so far – me and one of my smart, funny coworkers who loves the nerdy books that I do. We are being selective in our membership. One of the most important factors to consider when contemplating joining or forming a book club is the kinds of books the other members like to read. One ill-fated book club years ago with a friend (who shall not be named to protect her street cred) chose as the inaugural book Sweet Valley Confidential, which is a sequel ten years after the Sweet Valley High books ended. And that was the beginning and the very quick end of that book club. I’m looking for a little bit more substance, a little less silliness. So we decided to start with The Beak of the Finch and follow it with The Martian. I’m about halfway through the Beak. That’s a kinda dry, super factual, interesting but not page-turning book about Darwin and Natural Selection.
The Martian, by Andy Weir, however, I finished in a weekend. A friend let me borrow it and I devoured it page by page. It is a story of an astronaut stranded on Mars and his struggle to survive. I came THISCLOSE about 50 times to flipping to the back to find out what happens to him in the end.
Mostly narrated via journal entries through the main character, Mark Watney, Weir’s writing is witty, smart and endearing. A story that leads you to root for the main character in every step that he takes. In reading this book I felt like I was talking directly to the main character and that I could imagine exactly what he was like, what he might say next. I have a feeling that Mark Watney is pretty close to Weir’s own quirky personality.
My favorite thing about The Martian is how much I learned about space and science and physics. It’s a highly researched book and every chapter is filled with such good space science. And I hope it’s mostly true because I’ll be spreading the things I learned for years I’m sure. On Monday I had a 10 minute conversation with a coworker about RTGs and radioactivity and we completely geeked out. I imagine that for some the scientific details might be a bit dry – somewhat akin to page after page of flowery prose describing the scenery in a Victorian novel. But I never felt like I wanted to skip a page for lack of interest or descriptions that were too technical. Sure I wanted to skip pages but that was just to see what happened next. The 10-year-old astronaut-wannabe in me ate up every word. Ok, let’s be honest. It’s the 31-year-old astronaut wannabe in me. Too late for me to be an astronaut? Maybe they need a lawyer up there at the International Space Station. The science in this book is the right balance of interesting and intellectual – I was entertained and I learned something. That’s the best combination for any book.
At the end of the book, there’s a quick Q&A with the author Andy, in which I learned that he self-published the novel online and it was free for download for months. And then I loved this book even more. What a great first novel to write. Just a nerdy science guy who wanted to write an interesting and well-researched story, which then became a phenomenon and turned into a movie starring Matt Damon. That is a lovely story.
It’s been a while since I was so entertained by a book, especially a quick, easy, smart read. Highly recommended!
Now time for the movie! Matt Damon strikes me as the perfect actor to play Mark Watney. Did you read the book? Or see the movie? What did you think?
BY Jackie
LOCATION San Francisco, California
