A Martian Odyssey by Stanley Weinbaum

A Martian Odyssey set the career of Stanley Weinbaum off like a bomb, since he wrote a story like none had done before: it was about an alien who is sentient and intelligent rather than a mindless barbarian. He also added the twist that despite the creature's intelligence, it didn't have human logic or reason. The story features a four-man crew who have crash-landed on Mars, and one of them, Dick Jarvis, who sets out on his own. He meets Tweel, a sympathetic creature who shows him the ways of the planet. A strange pyramid building creature, a tentacled "dream beast," and broken record cart people. Check out for yourself why A Martian Odyssey came in 2nd in the best science fiction stories of all time, right behind Asimov's Nightfall.