Lit Nit Wit The Martian

Right OK I had not heard about this book before the movie came out
I'm fairly sure. Before I read it I heard from Hank and John Greens Podcast that this was a book made to be a movie but I knew I wanted to read it before I saw it which I thought was interesting and actually made me want to read the book more (cause really I might never see it, I'm awful at seeing movies, I always say I'll watch more but I never do). It was put firmly on my Amazon wish list/ list of books for my brother to chose to buy me for Christmas ( I give a list he picks one, that way there is still some surprise Christmas morning) but then just as I was leaving the library with two other books (reviews to come) and there it was looking at me, I promptly borrowed it also, I was very excited as I did kinda want the other books on my wish list slightly more than this one.....and also if a book is being made into a movie, it usually is an alright book......mostly.

This book follows Mark Watney, a botanist/astronaut (yes the botanist side is important) who is mistakenly thought to have died on Mars, and so is left behind again ON MARS. Thankfully (stay with me on this) the trip to Mars was cut short so there are quite a few left over supplies and a lot of the mechanical things are working, except the communicator of course. A lot of the book is written in log form from Martins perspective. He's a funny man, he swears a lot for an astronaut, I'd probably swear a lot if I was left on Mars so it is understandable. I really liked his character, he explains everything he does (because he thinks he'll be dead by the time the log is found) and somehow has humour, he never blames the others for leaving, they were only following protocol after all, but he is forever looking at ways to do things, whether its trying to find a way to communicate with earth or ways of extending his food rations further (yes I have read the way he did it wouldn't work, this is not a how to survive in Mars handbook, it's fictional)

Without putting major spoilers in this, when it is discovered he is alive (not a major spoiler) the political aspect of his rescue I found very interesting and things lost and sacrificed for the greater good, the life of the botanist is more important than an entire countries glory I suppose.

I still haven't seen this movie but again I have heard that the science/engineering side of the book does carry over into the movie and the movie just won two Golden Globes for Best Movie and Best Actor. I would recommend this book, even with a science/ engineering/ botany jargon, it doesn't go over my head very much. I'm very glad I read it