Now, normally I wouldn't bother you with a post about a book I haven't finished. I don't think it's fair to judge a book without reading it all the way through and I want this to be a positive project full of useful reviews and book-ish ideas. But I think you deserve an explanation as to why I've given up on 'The Martian' by Andy Weir, a recent international bestseller.
'The Martian' is the story of NASA astronaut, engineer and botanist Mark Watney (MSc. etc). Injured and unintentionally abandoned during an emergency evacuation from Mars, he's caught in a desperate struggle to stay alive. He believes he knows when the next Ares mission landing is due, so he's working hard to source, create or ration every resource he needs. The odds seem stacked against him, but he's intelligent, focussed and determined to stay alive. But will the next expedition arrive on time? Can he stay alive until then? Will he make it back to Earth?
In all honesty, I don't really care.
I should have loved this book. It's a fantastic idea that offers lots of opportunities not only for brilliantly tense narrative, but also the sort of practical application of science and mathematics that could get people interested in these subjects. But I just couldn't connect with the narrator at all. I got to page 40, a little bit into chapter five, his 38th day on Mars, but there had been no mention of the people he'd left behind on Earth. I had absolutely no sense of the emotional ties that made him want to get back there, only that it was what he wanted to do. The nearest he came was slagging off the music and entertainment tastes of his former colleagues. Wouldn't it strike you as a bit strange for someone not to talk about the people they loved and hated if never seeing them again became a real possibility? Yes, he's focussed on surviving, but such thoughts would be motivation for him, surely. And he's not working ALL of the time. He's on his own, so surely he'll get reflective and introspective? There can't possibly be that many episodes of 'Three's Company' to drown out his inner monologue.
This was the biggest of a number of factors which made it difficult for me to suspend my disbelief and want to remain with this character. He's a trained Mechanical Engineer and Botanist, qualified at least to post-graduate level. Seriously? Not only do I find it hard to believe that anyone could successfully combine study of these areas to such a high level, plus the exceptional physical fitness required for space travel, he talks like he's not left high school. Not only does he swear a lot (understandable I suppose in his desperate situation), he uses words and phrases which would suit a teenage boy better than a highly qualified scientist. Not awesome. Really not.
So, unfortunately, I was so disappointed by what I read of the book that I gave up on it. Fortunately, I have one or two others to read first. So hopefully this is just a blip and I'll have something much more interesting to tell you about soon.
Now, what next..?
