Saturday, March 1, 2014

The Martian by Andy Weir



I had been intrigued enough by early reviews of this book to pick up a copy at the public library and suggest that my husband read it. When he realized that The Wall Street Journal’s review described The Martin by Andy Weir as “the best pure sci-fi novel in years,” he agreed to give it a try. I knew the book was exceptional when he was reading it for several hours straight in the middle of the night. Since then, three generations of our family have read the book and are eagerly waiting for the movie (recently optioned by Twentieth Century Fox).

Don’t believe us? There are close to 1,500 5-star reviews on amazon and here’s what the pros say: Booklist: Riveting; Library Journal: a snarky and wise-cracking nerdy hero; Kirkus Reviews: Sharp, funny and thrilling, with just the right amount of geekery. [New Trier Librarians, remind you of anyone?]

I’d like to share more, but I do not want to give away any of the problems (and there are plenty!) with surviving on Mars (low temperature: -225o F; average distance from Earth: 140 million miles).  You will be surprised and impressed with many of the solutions and with the main character’s efforts to survive.  Whether or not Gravity wins best picture this year, give yourself a treat: grab The Martian by Andy Weir and travel to Mars with stranded astronaut Mark Watney.

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