Mars aint the kind of place to raise your kids
A day late and a dollar short, I'm finally getting around to doing my Wednesday reading. Of course, my plans for more consistent posting have gone out the window. I just never feel my life is exciting enough to justify a post. Like, I mowed the lawn yesterday. Yay!
What I just finished
The Martian by Andy Weir. I'd enjoyed the movie, so, when I saw the book at the library book sale I figured it was worth the $1 investment. In retrospect, the movie was an incredibly faithful adaptation with sections of the dialog and narration said verbatim on screen. Like the film, the book is witty with lots of tense science action and survival stuff. Mark Watney is a fun and funny character as a modern-day Robinson Crusoe. One thing struck me about the book though: the lack of descriptions. Oh, there's a lot of technical descriptions about equipment or Mars' atmosphere, but at no point are any of the characters described physically. The topography of Mars gets talked about, but not, like, the vistas. Part of that comes from the fact most of the book is Watney's log describing his activities, but even the 3rd person narration bits are really terse when it comes to setting the scene or describing the people in it.
What's Next?
One of my co-workers lent me a copy of The Power by Naomi Alderman. On the other hand, the Friends of the Horseheads Library book sale is this Friday. I may end up getting something I want to read more.
What I just finished
The Martian by Andy Weir. I'd enjoyed the movie, so, when I saw the book at the library book sale I figured it was worth the $1 investment. In retrospect, the movie was an incredibly faithful adaptation with sections of the dialog and narration said verbatim on screen. Like the film, the book is witty with lots of tense science action and survival stuff. Mark Watney is a fun and funny character as a modern-day Robinson Crusoe. One thing struck me about the book though: the lack of descriptions. Oh, there's a lot of technical descriptions about equipment or Mars' atmosphere, but at no point are any of the characters described physically. The topography of Mars gets talked about, but not, like, the vistas. Part of that comes from the fact most of the book is Watney's log describing his activities, but even the 3rd person narration bits are really terse when it comes to setting the scene or describing the people in it.
What's Next?
One of my co-workers lent me a copy of The Power by Naomi Alderman. On the other hand, the Friends of the Horseheads Library book sale is this Friday. I may end up getting something I want to read more.