The Martian

I was able to watch the movie a while ago and enjoyed it very much. So, I decided to read the book for this month's blog post.

The Martian opens with the most iconic sentence I've seen: I'm pretty much fucked. The book's main character is Mark Watney, who is the resident botanist in NASA’s mission to Mars. While the crew was scheduled to spend a month on Mars, they were forced to leave the mission early due to a violent sandstorm causing damage to the transportation vehicle which the crew needed to return to their ship, Hermes. While evacuating, a stray antenna punctured Watney’s suit and cut into his side, causing him to pass out. Thinking he died, the rest of the crew returned to Earth. After regaining consciousness, Watney returned to the Mars base and began to make a survival plan until NASA would return to rescue him.

Watney rations his meals and finds a way to grow food. As the botanist, he had some Earth soil with him. Mixing in his feces and the leftovers from his meals to use as compost, he mixes Martian and Earth soil with the compost to create his very own crop soil. Using potatoes that NASA sent for a Thanksgiving dinner, he grows them in the shelter. As for the water, he uses the shelter's oxygenator to convert carbon dioxide from burning fuel into oxygen and uses hydrazine fuel to get nitrogen and hydrogen. He plans to combine hydrogen with oxygen, to make water.
He modifies his rover to go to the Pathfinder, an unmanned probe sent by NASA a while ago. He then boots it up and gets its communication system online. Mark communicates with NASA and returns home. 

Overall, I loved this book since it had an original story and a unique way of storytelling. Mark's character is very realistic and humorous. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in space and sci-fi. I gave this book a 9.5/10.


Comments

  1. RishiMarch 8, 2023 at 8:50 PM

    I watched the movie and really enjoyed it. I'll have to check out the book.

    ReplyDelete
  2. SahnanMarch 10, 2023 at 9:37 PM

    This mix of Sci-fi/realistic seems really interesting, and it sounds like it could immerse you much more than any old sci-fi book that you know is completely fake. Starting the book where the character is in a life threating situation seems like a really good way to grab the readers attention, and keep them reading. I liked this review, and your description of how he was able to survive in the first scene.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Chloe N.H.March 12, 2023 at 2:38 PM

    Nice article! The Martian has a pretty cool premise, and it seems interesting to read about how Mark Watney survives. Though I've never seen the movie or read the book, it seems like a good book to read someday.

    ReplyDelete
  4. DizaMarch 12, 2023 at 11:38 PM

    Nice review! I disliked this movie, since the initial surgery scene went on for quite a while and I was in the middle of eating :P, but it is interesting to see other perspectives. The first sentence of the book is very unique and I think that the book might be more fun than that movie scene..

    ReplyDelete
  5. SriMarch 17, 2023 at 8:23 PM

    Great job! I had heard about the movie but didn't know that it was based on a book. The story of this book seems pretty interesting, especially that first sentence. I will definitely put this book as a must read.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Chizara OnyemereMarch 20, 2023 at 11:31 AM

    Great Review! I haven't heard of this book before but it sounds very interesting and I'll definitely add this to my movie and book lists.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Olisa AllanahMarch 27, 2023 at 2:49 PM

    Good Review! I like space stuff so I might read

    ReplyDelete

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