That Mars' supposedly barren environment actually produces foodstuffs of a sort. This space explorer also ultimately discovers Martian's almost hallucinatory setting of auburn tinged cliffs and dusty dunes ( Robinson Crusoe on Mars filmed its exteriors inĭeath Valley, while The Martian opted for some more distant locales, including Jordan), Haskin's opus has a number of fancifulĮlements, including an astronaut who learns to 'breathe' (with a little help) Mars' atmosphere. It's perhaps worth comparing The Martian's relatively rigorous scientificĪnchoring to another film that dealt with a castaway on the Red Planet, Byron Haskin's 1964 opus Robinson Crusoe on Mars.

Will not be disclosed due to my wish to remain living). Taking my own family as just one example in an obviously non-scientific survey, Weir's book completelyĬaptured the fancy of both my 19 year old computer programming, coding wizard son, as well as my somewhat less tech savvy wife (whose Watney resiliently states his solution to his troubles in one of his video journalĮntries, calmly saying, 'I'm going to have to science the s*** out of this,' a statement that some readers might want to apply to Weir's ownĪpproach toward his novel. Watney knows will take years to realize-can be mounted. There's a humorous little moment in Ridley Scott's film adapation of The Martian where stranded astronaut andīotanist Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is reviewing the challenges he's facing while trying to survive until a rescue operation-one which To accomplish with The Martian was making science really and truly cool for a coterie of readers from all generations andĭifferent walks of life. But perhaps the most laudable thing that Weir was able Not just the cojones to self-publish but the courage to offer up a work that eschewed a number of science fiction tropes to deliver aĪccounting of what being stranded on a 'neighboring' planet might actually be like. Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, January 9, 2016Īndy Weir deserves congratulations for any number of issues surrounding his debut novel The Martian, including having

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