But you have to balance all that against the fact that itâs a left-wing plot, and water something climate change.
Huh, I thought the nerdery was very engaging in the book. Watneyâs narrative voice is pretty hilarious, and he describes things in a way thatâs both technical and accessible.
But Iâve got tickets to the fancy booze theater for tomorrow, so letâs see how I like the movie!
@Leigh_Alexander was talking about this on twitter last night. Also Reader Player One.
Thatâs good to hear. I thought that the book was an interesting series of puzzles, but that it would make a poor film because of that.
My goto case study to compare what movies are good at versus books is Remains of the Day. Because itâs a very short book the comparison doesnât get bogged down with how much was cut from the book. In the book we have this internal narrative which ends up being a very funny window in to the main characterâs thinking. In the movie we can SEE when his emotions are completely at odds with what the character is sayingâŚThey are both very good in different waysâŚ
Itâs not that uncommon for a film to be âbetterâ than the source book. Pretty much anything by Stephen King seems that way to me. I guess the Harry Potter ones were too as the prose was so dreadful. In contrast it would be very difficult for His Dark Msterials to exceed the novels, despite the wonderful cast, as the writing itself was so good.
The really interesting cases for me are when I find the original excellent and the adaptation exceeds it. Billy Budd Sailor is one I thought that of, I like the Melville novella a lot but I preferred the film.
But the notion that film is an inherently more efficient way to tell stories is among the stupidest, really flat out dumbass, first lines to lead with. Iâm annoyed at that level of cretinousness being quoted.
Peopleâs tastes differ. And Iâm usually one for all the âhard scienceâ in books, but to say the writing in The Martian isnât even competent is a bit of a stretch.
Absolutely agree⌠and the audiobook really highlights that well.
âAt one point, I actually spent an evening doing my taxes just to avoid delving into another chapter of The Martian.â
I kind of had to stop at that point in her thesis. I read the book in 2 days - for people that actually read books, they will find it written plenty tight.
I am looking forward to seeing the movie and I do think that books can absolutely be made into excellent movies.
One of the greatest American movies of all time is Shawshank Redemption. But itâs great because they kept so much FROM Kingâs novella including direct dialog, and of course, Redâs first person narrative.
FANCY BOOZE THEATER!?!?!?!!!
That sounds amazing.
Sorry, no way! I disagree quite strongly, right up to the point of saying âBullshit!â But not for the reasons one would imply.
Letâs say you just made a comparison of your favorite beverage to your favorite food, your favorite stretch of Highway 1 with your favorite hiking trail, etc; The input received are two different animals. The book allows for much more of a narrative, much more of a breakdown analysis of the science involved in a trip to Mars and surviving it. (I will bring this Andy Weir interview up here, not just because it âexplainsâ how the book came about but also because itâs plain fun and educational.)
The movie allowed for the epic scenery to take place, it allowed for more dramatic moments and it was a beauty of a movie. But it cut away explanations that made the book. Yes, they were too long-winded for the movie. They cut out a lot of Watneyâs humor. Again, long-winded for a movie. But thatâs why the book is so great.
And whatâs best, unless a person is illiterate or doesnât have a televison we can consume both. And thatâs something I highly encourage.
Iâd rather watch a Tony Scott The Martian.
The only film I can think of that was better than the book it was based on was Jaws. But then I just like books more. Although I love films.
Itâs an iPic. They offer âpremiumâ reclining seats where ushers will bring you fancy food and cocktails during the movie, or regular seats which are like cushy armchairs with a side table. You can still bring in food and booze from the bar, but you canât get service during the movie.
And you pay out the nose for it either way, but it was the only place I could get reserved seats instead of showing up and fighting the crowd.
Weâve got an ipic and a few other theaters that do this âfancy booze theaterâ experience up here in Seattle.
It has gotten to the point (crowd wise) that I will gladly pay the premium to get a good seat. Having a beer and fancier snacks along with is just an extra bonus.
(Seattle people: If you havenât been to the update Cinerama yet do yourself a favor and do so. The Martian or Star Wars in December are your best bets for doing so)
The rampant nerdery sure felt more entertaining to read and better justified in the plot than most tech-happy-author-novels I can think of. Seveneves, Iâm looking at you.
Whining about the details in the martian. Have space suit will travel had suvat equations in it and that was a kids book.
Pathetic.
Tell her to try Greg Egans corpus then come back and tell us theres too much technical detail in the martian.
ENDS RANT!!!
I confess, I stopped reading The Martian because it truly was
a relentless description of some guyâs science project, as dry as the soil on Mars.
So I am happy to hear that the movie may redeem the authorâs idea with a far more engaging telling of itâIâm one of those guys who was captivated as a child by Robinson Crusoe on Mars, so Iâm ready to return to that state of innocent awe, in that awesome place, except now with more science.
My only problem was Watneyâs narrative voice in the book. He was typing in a log not recording a video/audio log the way he (thankfully) seems to be in the movie. The way people write and the way they speak are very different. Example: Saying âBooyah!â is one thing, typing it out is another. Watney (in the book) typed/wrote the way a person would talk and that bothered me. Also, why IS he typing log entries in and not recording them?
Does it keep the rifraff out?
I think I quit reading Egan after Schildâs Ladder. The characters were just too alien.
