Recently I finished a book that I have placed second on my favorite books ever created ever list. (Name may be subject to change depending on if I feel like it.) Being second on my list is even more incredible than it would be in any other situation, because I tend to look at everything in layers. To give an example: A book from a series can't be my favorite book, because they belong on my favorite series layer of favorites. (If that makes any sense maybe leave a comment saying "I love yogurt".) Basically, I have ONE and only one favorite book ever and that is, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle written by the wonderfully talented Avi. One day I will go into deep deep detail of every reason why I love that book,
BUT TODAY IS NOT THAT DAY! BECAUSE TODAY WE TALK ABOUT MY SECOND FAVORITE BOOK EVER EVER!
WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE MARTIAN, PEOPLE!!!
The Martian by Andy Weir.
(My beautiful copy pictured below)
FREAKING YAY!!
(This book was so absolutely fantastic I can't even begin to imagine how I am going to put how much I love it into words. Wow.)
Let me start off by saying that the cover is absolutely magnificent! Alright, so I see this beautiful book in Target (Target's great). I had previously laid eyes upon it on amazon, added it to my wishlist, and decided I wanted to buy it. All good things. So I finally buy this magical piece of artwork. I didn't even realize that in my hands I held one of the best LITERARY CREATIONS I WILL PROBABLY (maybe? this is kind of a large statement, but I am feeling it) EVER READ!!
Andy Weir is a handsome nerdy little science genius.
We are introduced into the whole book with the first four words, "I'm pretty much fucked."
In that second in time I had to close the book and just, internally victory screech, because immediately I knew I was hooked.
Mark Watney, an engineer and botanist on the newest mission to Mars, Ares 3, ends up (as he put it) being pretty much fucked. Sixth day on the planet and a sandstorm drives his crew back into space, and eventually back to earth. That was the plan for all six of the crew until a flying antennae catches Mark off guard and he falls off the radar of his friends. When he finally wakes up he finds out he is alone on Mars. Alive for now, the next mission doesn't arrive for another 400 days. Everyone thinks he is dead, he's even pretty sure he'll probably die, but he has hope. His incredible skills of botany and engineering come into play while down on earth a caffeinated satellite monitor might have just found evidence of his survival.
It's not long before an earth filled with grief for the loss of a beloved astronaut comes to find their might be hope to bring him home.... or on the other more morbid hand, a devastating broadcast of the first mans death on mars.
You just have to read it. It is brilliant, if I have ever seen anything brilliant. The characters are wonderful and the dialogue is great. Our main character Mark is sassy and hilarious. Although the book is fiction it feels so real when you are reading it which makes growing an attachment to the characters even easier. I just highly recommend this book. Everything about it is a good time.
*SPOILER WARNING*
Do Not Read Further If you Hate Spoilers!
(Fun fact! I love spoilers!)
This book was absolutely amazing, because of many things.
So I'm going to list them.
#1. I love when a story doesn't need to end happily. Throughout this entire novel I was seriously questioning whether he would live in the end or not and that gave it such an interesting element. I was so attached to Mark, I was of course rooting for him, but the story was so real and believable that I thought he might actually die. Which made everything so much more epic! Thankfully he didn't and we got that amazingly hilarious scene when the crew was saving him where he mentions Iron Man. (For future reference Iron Man is my favorite Avenger, Tony Stark, favorite superhero, Robert Downey Jr, Favorite actor, favorite favorite.)
#2. I love every single one of the characters in this book. Absolutely every character. The men from NASA, the rest of Marks crew, the media lady. All of them had distinct very memorable personalities and character traits. One of my favorite NASA guys is Teddy , he is always late and is always "squaring his papers". I didn't even really know the guy, but I feel like I know the guy! Even though you know mark the best and you get to hear things from Marks pov the most I still feel like I know the other characters well and that makes me very happy.
#3. Mark Watney now and forever will be, possibly, my all time favorite male character. In this moment in time I can think of no one I like more. His entire outlook on the situation was so incredibly funny and blunt and just so fun to read from. He made this terrifying situation into a fun trip. He used his time wisely and was fantastically intelligent about pretty much everything he did. He is an engineer, and a bit of a scientist I'd like to say, so there was loads of "if I fail just try try again". He was so tenacious and fervent about his work. His character made the book incredibly humorous I cried from laughing at least 100 times.
#4. When a character is gifted with dumb luck. One of my favorite elements of this book was Marks dumb luck. While he is incredibly smart, sometimes things don't work out, but he still manages to survive. The best part about his dumb luck is that he recognizes it! He may tend to be a bit less cautious, because there is already a huge chance he might die (especially in the beginning.) But he is always so surprised when he lives after a near death experience and is so happy when things work out for him. It is just so great to read.
#5. He makes a potato farm in order to survive! He is so unconventional in his methods, but it works! He is so incredibly intelligent and I love that about him. I have always envied people who are good at math and science and he excels in both of those subjects. Plus, Botany? The botanist is ALWAYS the best character when it comes to space adventures. Their title is supposed to sound so lame, but it is so fantastic what they are there to accomplish! Is it possible to grow food in order to sustain human life on Mars? Mark can now let earth know that potato's work. It is just so interesting to see what is obviously Andy's thinking process transferred onto these pages and read as Mark's ideas. Everything he does is something I would never have thought of. I'd be dead if I was ever in his situation. (That's not saying much because I'd die in any situation where the goal was to survive. Hunger games? I'd be dead at the foot of the cornucopia.)
Main point I mean to get across:
Andy Weir is brilliant.
Mark Watney is incredible.
*SPOILER ENDING*
(Thank you for being lovely!)
In conclusion.
Everyone just needs to read this book. You don't need to love it as much as I do obviously, and maybe go in expecting not to love it. Expect it to be pretty damn good and definitely interesting, especially if you love science things and the possibility of an absolutely perfect main character.
10/10 do recommend.
TONS OF LOVE FROM MARS!!
No comments:
Post a Comment