REVIEW: The Martian - Andy Weir

• Year first released: 2011
• ISBN of the edition I read:  9781101903582
• Publisher of the edition I read:  Crown/Archetype
• My rating (out of 5): 2.5

The chronology of my experience with The Martian went something like this:

1. By the end of the first page, my impression was “Andy Weir likes his f-bombs.”
2. Around page 10, I was thinking, “I kind of wish Weir would dial back the non-stop jokes.”
3. 20 pages in, I was already telling my wife all the horrible things about Weir’s writing style.
4. …then somewhere around page 100 or so (which was not long at all later), I…got something in my eye…ahem…
5. …then, coincidentally, I kept getting things in my eye here and there throughout the rest of the book, and for some reason my heart was beating a little extra fast…
6. …and, finally, once I finished the book, in between sniffles (I mean: things in my eyes), I thought “Oh, thank goodness! 
7. …but Andy Weir sure likes his f-bombs.”

So then.

Ultimately, The Martian is a very exciting, suspenseful story – about our hero, Mark, trying to survive alone on Mars for a year and a half until rescue can finally come – mixed with a really off-putting style of writing. Oh, and lots of f-bombs* (have I mentioned those yet?) and exclamation marks.

Yes, on the whole, Mark’s incessant humor was a good counterbalance to the reality of the story. Without it, the book would have been a hopeless slog of grimness. On a more page-to-page level, though, the individual jokes definitely overstayed their welcome. 

Of course this begs the question: was Mark’s character just really consistent, or can we expect this style of humor in all of Weir’s novels? (Since this is his first, we can’t know the answer to this yet.) If this humor was designed specifically for Mark's character, I can accept that. It wasn't ideal, but we certainly don't have to like every aspect of a persona for it to be a well-crafted character. But if this style of humor is actually more Weir than Mark, I’m, frankly, going to shy away from Weir’s forthcoming books.

And speaking of characters: the protagonist is the only especially strong one (his humor aside). The others all seem to blend together a bit; I found the population of Mission Control especially hard to keep apart.

That said, there are a few things that Weir does right, and I don't want to ignore those. For example:

• The book is highly thrilling and very well paced. I was rooting for Mark all along, desperately wanting this to end well for him. 
• It's clear that Andy Weir is a literal genius, which is fun to be around (even if only vicariously, via a book). The situations he creates - and the solutions to them - are sheer pleasure for the intellect. This might have been my favorite aspect of the book, in fact.
• Some of the jokes are legitimately quite funny. Probably no more than half, but they're there. 
• And, importantly, it's incredibly rare that sci-fi is handled this realistically, which makes me appreciate The Martian that much more. (Not that sci-fi needs to be realistic, of course, but it's certainly a nice change-up to have on occasion.)

That said, it wasn't all bad. It was a fast read (because of its well-played tension) and kept me glued to the page all throughout. I'm glad I read it. If I'm going to check out any of Weir's future books, though, it'll definitely be from the library, or else in a nice comfy chair at the bookstore (before putting any money on the line). 

*By the way, apparently there's a "classroom version" of the book which features "classroom-appropriate language." I can't vouch for it (since I read the regular version), but that might at least take away the sting of Weir's over-the-top use of profanity.