Talk of the Town discussion

And finally, did The Martian leave any lasting impression on you?

I think the author wanted us to picture ourselves trapped on a planet all by ourselves, but he didn't fully achieve this for me. I had to force myself to imagine what that would be like, and because I know nothing about how to fix things or survive AT ALL, I pictured myself dying on that first sol.

I just... I feel such deep, lasting disdain for this book. After reading it and finishing a month or so ago I actually felt furious about this book's success. Recently, I watched the movie, which actually helped me like it more, something that rarely if ever happens.

I simply thought that the characters were so flat and one dimensional that I couldn't be intrigued. I wanted to read a story that actually delved into the psyche of human loneliness and resilience, and what we got was an almost cartoony take on it. The humor was also a huge miss on my part ('disco', Pirates, etc. -.-). Overwhelmingly, I was way more into the moments on Earth than the life of Watney because the Earth characters had things to overcome that felt high stakes--- which is absurd considering the main character is on Mars. Any event that happened to Watney was solved so swiftly in the narrative that it lost focus. Problem-Solution-Problem-Solution with no emotional turmoil? Exhausting.

Christie wrote: "I just... I feel such deep, lasting disdain for this book. After reading it and finishing a month or so ago I actually felt furious about this book's success. Recently, I watched the movie, which a..."
I agree with a lot of the things you said, but I actually liked the book overall. I think you're right that the problems were numerous and solved too quickly, and we didn't really make an emotional connection with Watney or his loneliness on Mars. When he was rescued, sure it was sorta tense but it wasn't like "Oh thank God, I can breathe now."
I didn't really consider that the characters on earth faced tougher obstacles, but that does make sense.

Caele wrote: "I think the author wanted us to picture ourselves trapped on a planet all by ourselves, but he didn't fully achieve this for me. I had to force myself to imagine what that would be like, and becaus..."

YESSS. AGREED. From the first few chapters, I already pictured myself dying! I would have lost all hope from the beginning, just because I didn't think I had that much survival skills.
But then the more I thought about it, maybe I would have survived for a while too. Humans were just born to survive. I don't think I would have just sat there and wait for my death. I think I would have tried to figure something out too... but I probably would not last as long as Mark Watney did. He sure was resilient!!

Christie wrote: "I just... I feel such deep, lasting disdain for this book. After reading it and finishing a month or so ago I actually felt furious about this book's success. Recently, I watched the movie, which a..."

Hmmmm... very interesting take on it, Christie. And that's why I love book club discussions!

I feel totally the opposite way. I don't know, I felt like because of Mark Watney's humor, I felt more emotionally connected to him... he had those times where he self-pitied but he got over those, because I think that's how it is when you're trying to survive. You realize that you don't have time to wallow in self-pity because all the time you have is for thinking of solutions (esp. if you're a man whose brain is wired to think of solutions, and if you're Mark Watney who is a scientist conditioned to think like a problem-solver)...

For me, the multiple mini climax made it so much more exciting for me (and that's saying a lot, considering I had so much trouble understanding those highly technical passages).

The ending was good. But I would have really liked to see a more detailed ending... (view spoiler)[to see them land on Earth and be welcomed by their families, for example (hide spoiler)]