The Martian (by Andy Weir) is an excellent read - I started it today, will finish it today too

quack.

 

When I started reading the Martian, I could not put it down - great read!

DBCassidy

 

I'm in.
I was waiting for it at the library, but for ten bones I think I'll buy it instead.

$%$%#! Amazon prime!!!!

 

Quite so. Gaffers' tape and duct tape have different backings. Same adhesive or so I'll guess.

 

HOLY CRAP!!

Well I didn't actually read the book.
Some guy named R.C. Brey read it to me, since reading while driving is even more stupid, dangerous, and thoughtless than texting while driving. The only reason I didn't blast through this book in one sitting is that I could not "read" the book faster than Mr. Bray could talk . Also, I started this book late in the day and it's nearly 11 hours long. Days on Mars are an extra half hour long, but it still wouldn't have been enough.
I was rewarded with dramatization that added true sarcasm to all of the sophomoric humor that makes the book so great!!

Cost: $10 and a night's sleep.

Really....
READ THE BOOK!
Or....if you're reading challenged yet blessed enough to be near a decent library or Cracker Barrel....or if you have an Amazon account, get the audio version!!
I can't recommend this book more highly.

It probably helped that the book I read before this one was "The Last Ship" by William Brinkley.
Yeah....'that' Last Ship.
I got through the book but it was about twice as long as Weir's book and it told a much simpler story.
Honestly......those Navy pukes can go on and on and on about nothing at all....
I'm far less likely to see the TV show after having read the book, btw.
Just sayin.

The Martian I plan on seeing RIGHT AWAY.
Hollywood probably butchered the story.....those jerks usually do, but I'll have to see how they compressed (dumbed down) an 11 hour narration into a two hour show.

If you haven't seen the movie yet....DON'T.
Really.
I promise that you won't regret reading (or listening to) the book first.

 

Watched the movie after reading the book. It's a cliche, but the book was better. Nice martian landscapes, but otherwise the movie didn't do much for me. The book is all in the details, most of which are left out of the movie. The movie falls down in trying to bring the characters to life.

 

Off topic:

Books are almost without exception better than the movies. Not just due to the movie being compressed either. Examples that come to mind:

The Bonfire of the Vanities.

Sliver.

OTOH, most any book-based Kubrick movie is pretty good.

 

I love old movies because they didn't have gee-whiz tech or the nine figure budgets.
You had to actually tell the story.

I'll definitely give The Martian a tumble, but I might wait a bit and catch it on Netflix or Amazon.

OTOH.....Star Wars is getting good reviews, so I might just make up for not seeing a movie in 2015 by seeing two in 2016.

 

Yeah, we watched Double Indemnity lately, good example. Hollywood couldn't go far wrong with a resurgence of that genre: keep it black and white, spin a good crime/mystery drama. Nice change of pace from the mindless blockbusters.

 

star wars was excellent for staying with the old tech. the story was a bit boring, not much creativity. i'm hoping it's just setting up 2 & 3.

 

Speaking of Fred and Barbara, I just watched Remember the Night courtesy of....hmmm....Daily Motion, I think.

Good Stuff.

 

I read the book when it first came out and thought it was terrific. Saw the movie in 3D when *it* came out, and liked it quite a bit.
As others have said, the book is almost always better - the movie has to leave out most of the book or be ten hours long - but I enjoyed them both.

 

No posts since 2016, huh?
Honestly I thought that Weir would have more fans in the PC community.

I just finished Hail Mary, and I can recommend it about has highly as The Martian.
Weir's sophomore work, Artemis, was pretty good too but I enjoyed The first and third novels much more.
Rumor has it that they're going to put HM to film - which will be interesting to say the least.

Yeah.
I know....he wrote at least one short before The Martian, but I still consider Artemis as the dreaded sophomore slump novel which means that Andy has a pretty dang bright future as a writer.

Thoughts?
No spoilers, please.
I finished the novel myself, but nobody likes spoilers....