My life is such a mess right now. I can't keep up with my reading plans and so instead of reading a challenging classic I picked up The Martian by Andy Weir. A SciFi-novel that was hyped up two years ago. Eeeehhh. 
 Well, it got the job done. I finished The Martian within two days and I have to say that I had a blast reading it. The writing style is extremely readable, the plot is easy to follow and the novel definitely had its suspenseful moments that had me gripping the book and catching my breath. 
 A lot of people praise Mark Watney for being one of the funniest characters of all time but I can't confirm that. Sure, he had several good one-liners and it was refreshing that he wasn't moping around being all depressed and shit... but overall, his humour was not necessarily my kind of humour and a lot of his jokes went over my head because he kept referencing 70s-culture. 
 On the one hand, I appreciated the light mood of this novel, on the other hand, I found it a bit unbelievable. I mean... after discovering that you're stranded on Mars, all on your own, wouldn't you freak out a bit? And when every plan backfires, wouldn't you lose your hope and start throwing temper tantrums? We see Mark crying maybe three times throughout this entire novel. I wanted the novel to explore the psychological terror of being the only person on a far-away planet with super low chances of survival a lot more deeply. 
 However, I appreciate the time and research that went into the scientific aspect of the novel. Even though I am in no position to judge that, it felt extremely realistic. I did a little bit of research on Andy Weir and it turns out that he is the son of a particle physicist and that he has a background in computer science. He began writing the book in 2009, researching related material so that it would be as realistic as possible and based on existing technology. He also studied orbital mechanics, astronomy, and the history of manned spaceflight. Holy shit. So that man knows his craft. I am very impressed! 
 In regards to the structure of the book, it was chosen well. The mix between Mark's log entries, the POV of the Ares 3-crew and the officials on earth was very gripping and added to the suspense of the novel, especially at times when the three couldn't communicate with one another and give warnings of potential dangers. Mark's log entries got a bit boring after a while because apart from fixing shit and making sure he can breathe and eat properly, the man didn't have much to do. 
 However, I really appreciate that Weir decided not to glamorize Mark's stay on Mars and paint him as this "manly" hero. It was cool that he talked about shitting and peeing in a bag. Like, for real. That's what makes it realistic! 
 So in the end I have to say that this book won't stay with me, but it was definitely fun while it lasted, and if you're in need of a quick and well-researched SciFi-book, I would recommend it. (Even though I think that it will probably work better as a movie - so I'm going to watch that now. Bye.)