Stuck on this Rock

When it was announced in 2015, The Martian seemed like a bold idea for a story (and, in 2015, a film): a man trapped alone on Mars, the only person stuck there from a failed mission, desperate to find a way to survive. It was compared to Robinson Crusoe (and the sci-fi novel Robinson Crusoe On Mars), but it approached everything from a scientific perspective. Plus the film had an absolutely killer cast and told it's story with whip-crack efficiency.

Before the film, though, there was the 2011 novel, The Martian. Written by Andy Weir, the novel tells essentially the same story as the eventual film to follow. The film did make some cuts, and changed a few minor details around, but for anyone (like me) that first read the book before watching the film, the movie was a very faithful, and very solid, adaptation of the source material. For most fans, I'm sure, it was everything we could have hoped for in a book-to-film work.

Recently (between my stints reading the various books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series), I went back to reread the original The Martian. I've watched the film a number of times -- seriously, it's so good -- but I'd only ever read through the book once. Going back, I understood why I enjoyed the novel when I first read it but I also saw a number of flaws (from a critical, writing perspective) that, thankfully, didn't translate to the film. The book is good, but I think due to tightening of the story, and getting a solid cast in place to tell the story more effectively, the movie actually ends up being the superior version of the tale (even if, as Hollywood so often does, the science isn't quite as good on film as in the book).

That's not the diminish the strengths of the novel. The book tells the same basic, harrowing (and yet, because of the lead character, funny) story of astronaut botanist Mark Watney. One of six crew-members part of the Ares 3 mission to Mars, Mark is trapped on the planet when a massive sandstorm sweeps across the region, putting the entire crew in danger. Just six days into their 31-day mission, the crew is forced to bail and go back into space to head back to Earth, Unfortunately, Mark is caught by debris while trying to make it to the MAV (Mars Ascent Vehicle) and is presumed dead on the ground. He wasn't dead, though, and NASA only realizes this days later when the ship (and her crew) is already out of orbit and on its way back to Earth. Mark is stranded on a planet, all alone.

The next Ares mission isn't for another two years, which leaves Mark with 31 days worth of supplies to stretch across that whole stretch of time. What can he do? Figure out a way to survive by taking the technology that was already dropped on the planet and using it to: grow food, repair communications, and find other ways to travel and survive. With NASA's help, Mark might just be able to survive until rescue could arrive, and with a little ingenuity he might just be able to keep himself fed and cared for until NASA's assistance can reach him. It's a fight for survival on a barely livable surface.

The best parts of the novel are also the best parts of the movie. Mark is a great lead character and his running monologue, told here via written logs in his personal mission computer, give us a sense not only of Mark as a person, but also the ordeal he's undergoes. He's resilient, but funny, and the balance between the drama he's feeling and his ability to roll with it and still keep a happy disposition (generally) is part of his charm. I don't know how realistic that would actually be -- someone in real life trapped in that situation might not be able to take it -- but it works within the confines of the book.

And there's the story of his survival, the things he has to do to make Mars livable (or, at least, make the portion within his base, and the surrounding region, for for him and his needs). Mars is a cold, dead rock, and there's no actual "living" on it, but the science involved in making the planet functioning in a way is interesting. The book lays it all out, and has Mark go along with it as he does what he has to as he survives. What works is that razors edge between science lesson and harrowing drama as you understand what it takes to live just as Mark has to deal with yet another issue on the red planet.

Unfortunately that science talk can become a bit of an overload in the novel. This is one of the things the film corrects for, of course, as the movie had to keep things interesting for general audiences, but the book can be just a little bit dryer than the film. Mark will do a lot of lecturing to his log, telling us in detail about how he manages to create water, or grow crops, or adapt a surface vehicle meant for two hours of roving into a long-term, cross-planet transport. We need to know some of this, but at a certain point the novel (and its author) does fall in love with hearing Mark explain all the science behind everything.

Weir clearly loved the science, and it shows as the book is certainly well researched and well thought out. There are still times, though, where it feels less like an adventure on the red planet and more like a textbook. Some passages do get a little tedious, and after a while, when we're three-quarters of the way through the book and Mark still feels the need to explain everything, you just want to yell at him, "get on with it!" It's interesting, in fact, because the movie excises parts of the last section of the novel (speeding up the process of Mark's transit from Ares 3 to the Ares 4 landing site), showing that the screenwriter, and producers, understood the story needed to be tightened up to reduce that feeling of "drone".

The book is still a solid read. I think the biggest issue is just that there's a better version of the story out now. If you've seen the movie and then go back to the book, the original version feels slower. It's a situation where I'm not certain if I'd go back and read the novel again. The film hits all the solid beats and even if it isn't quite as scientifically sound in places it is breezier and much more enjoyable. I really enjoy this story in general, and I think either version is good; the film, though, is just better.