Book Equivalent # 3
Words: around 131,362 words.
Date: Oct 29th, 2015
Title: The Martian
Author: Andy Weir
Genre ~ Non-Fiction / Fiction Type: Science Fiction
Opening Sentence: I’m pretty much [past tense form of the ‘f’ word].
Favourite word / phrase / sentence: (Get ready, I have a ton of them:)
“Yes, of course duct tape works in a near-vacuum. Duct tape works anywhere. Duct tape is magic and should be worshiped.”
“He’s stuck out there. He thinks he’s totally alone and that we all gave up on him. What kind of effect does that have on a man’s psychology?” He turned back to Venkat. “I wonder what he’s thinking right now.”
LOG ENTRY: SOL 61 How come Aquaman can control whales? They’re mammals! Makes no sense.”
“I admit it’s fatally dangerous,” Watney said. “But consider this: I’d get to fly around like Iron Man.”
“I don’t want to come off as arrogant here, but I’m the best botanist on the planet.”
“Maybe I’ll post a consumer review. “Brought product to surface of Mars. It stopped working. 0/10.”
“I’ll spend the rest of the evening enjoying a potato. And by “enjoying” I mean “hating so much I want to kill people.”
“It’s true, you know. In space, no one can hear you scream like a little girl.”
“‘Oh,” Lewis said, “well if you won’t let us then – wait…wait a minute…I’m looking at my shoulder patch and it turns out I’m the commander. Sit tight. We’re coming to get you.”
aaaand… a serious quote: “I would only be ‘in command’ of the mission if I were the only remaining person. What’d do you know? I’m in command.”
Vocabulary and new terms (with part of speech) and definition:
MAV (noun) – stands for Micro Air Vehicle
Reflection, Connection & Personal Response:
Wow. How do I even start? I first read this book because 1.) my friends said it was good, and 2.) because the movie was coming out soon (and it had Sebastian Stan casted in it!) But oh god, The Martian is such an amazing book, it hooks you straight from the beginning. The main character, Mark Watney, is stuck alone in Mars most of the book, and writing a story with a main character that has little interaction with others is very hard and Andy Weir managed it nicely. Mark is such a funny character, despite the serious situation he’s in. The book is also very science-y and goes into detail about how Mark tries to survive using different pieces of space-technology and such. (I didn’t get some parts, I just kinda skipped over them.) But it’s more than definitely worth a read.
Update: I have just watched the movie!! It’s very nice, some shots of space were really pretty and amazing. Matt Damon is an amazing actor, so was everyone else. (I thought Mindy Park would be Korean, but guess not.) They changed some parts of the movie (like Lewis getting hold of Watney instead of Beck) but all in all, it was still very nice. The book is better, though. The characters is waaaaaaaay more developed (Mark is much funnier in the novel.) But please!!! Definitely watch the movie (even if illegally on the internet.)